Sunday, October 4, 2009

Ich kaufe.


Last night we decided to try out the vegetarian restaurant Garden Cafe. It's right in the center of Woodstock and it seemed a wonder that none of us had gone there before. I never knew it was vegetarian and always thought it was pricey like most other things in Woodstock.

Well, we got there and it's a tiny little store front and since we were on our way to a movie waiting didn't seem like an option. Then they told us about the garden.

We went out back to find a gently lit lovely little oasis. Why would anyone not want to eat back there?
After seeing how amazing the dessert menu looked I asked our waiter if any of them were vegan. He answered that everything at the restaurant was completely vegan. Much to my internal chagrin however, there was casein indicated in one of the dishes with chiz. I like that it was indicated and the menu doesn't lie but then what about the other chiz dishes? Why would a restaurant use a non-vegan cheese in one dish and not others? I didn't believe they would.

For this reason I stayed away from the cheese dishes or planned to request a dish without the typical chiz.
I ended up getting one of their specials: a cornmeal bread crusted pot pie (F'AMAZING.) with tempeh triangles drizzled with a hummus-like gravy (tempeh was a little too dry and lacking flavor), and sauteed greens (delicious!).

S got a black bean and sweet potato burger topped with chiz, came with guac and a side of roasted potatoes:


C got quesadillas which she said could make her not miss cheese:


Sh and Su both got portabello mushroom and onion paninis with aioli on them:


From the moment I saw the dessert menu I knew what it was I desired on a brisk fall night. Sure, they had ginger apricot crisps and strawberry short cake but the night called for the brownie with chocolate sauce and whip cream (and for my friends, a side of ice cream with theirs). Our waiter was an obvious salesman and convinced most of us that we needed our own brownie and it wouldn't be enough to share.

Let me warn you: The brownie was more like a mini cake or a thin brick. Had we even just had a light lunch we would have been uncomfortably full after these brownies. Having just consumed so much food, the brownies ended up being unfinished because none of us could find the room.

If it hadn't been for Sh refusing to order one the brownies would have been a complete waste.

But they were more than amazing and delicious. Sweet, moist, rich but not too rich and with a hint of cinnamon...they were everything I wanted in a brownie:


Today for lunch we went to this hidden place on the side of the road that looked more like a regular grocery store. Inside was a really cute juice counter but it didn't have much in the way of vegan options. I ended up with a delicious papaya, mango, grapefruit and rice milk shake and the guac dish. It was supposed to come with veggies and some chips. Instead it came with three slices of cucumber, three pieces of carrot and more tortillas then guac. Mind you, I was a little spoiled from the night before:


Before we left we made a stop to our collective favorite: the Woodstock Flea Market. I bought triple berry jam from the delightful man who provides samples for all his (atleast 20 varieties) jams. I could kick myself for not also getting the Quince flavor.



No comments:

Post a Comment