Sugar Plum Vegan Cafe

Open just one month, Sugar Plum Vegan is proving to be just what the Dr. ordered for midtown.  Now, full disclosure:  I am friends with Melissa the owner, and I nanny for her as well…BUT I am something of a Vegan Food Expert so I feel totally qualified to review the cafe.  🙂

The locale is perfection, nestled in Midtown Sacramento in the old True Love 2 coffee-house.  There is a nice size front patio, and a huge covered back area that practically begs  you to hang out for longer.  Inside is cozy, with a sofa seating area, and indoor dining area as well.  SPV is perfect for big groups, meet-ups, receptions…and a big plus for us is it’s kid/family friendly.

Now, Sugar Plum Vegan is known for its baked goods.  Or was because the menu is holding its own against the whoopie pies, muffins, cakes…oh my.  But this review will focus on the new savory fare.  Of course you would not be disappointed in ANY way if you just came in for desert and coffee.  You would just be missing out on some seriously good food.

Soups, salads are a main staple of the menu, but Melissa is adding different specials weekly as well as weekend all you can eat brunch buffet.  So far we have tried the nachos (several times), a variety of the sandwiches and panini’s.  On this day, I was sad to hear they were out of sauerkraut for the tempeh ruben (I will so try again for that sandwich…those are one of my all time favs!), so today I tried the grilled ‘chicken’ quesadilla.  My dish was chocked full of grilled Match brand mock chicken, daiya mozzarella, topped with lettuce, tomatoes, olives and the most generous glop of vegan sour cream ever.  Thank you!  My eyes lit up, I swear. Next time, Ruben…you will be mine but I wasn’t disappointed at all with my 2nd choice.

Shawn was happy to see that a gluten-free bread was available for each sandwich.  His sandwich was the Portobello mushroom complete with the daiya brand vegan cheese.  His only comment between bites was something that sounded like “this is amazing” but I can’t be sure. I was hearing a lot of “yummy” noises, though. The mushroom was cooked perfectly, not slimy or overly oily.  The vegan cheese made it even better than you thought you ever could make at home.  I suggest don’t even try, because you don’t have the kitchen gear and you would make a mess.  🙂

Each plate came with a garden salad that was perfectly dressed and fresh, which we finished with relish.  Eat yer greens!  As I digested,  I looked around and noticed a man taking his GINORMOUS half-eaten nachos to go (that dish is more than enough for two people to get stuffed), a college study group drinking coffee and eating cupcakes while chatting and typing on their laptops, a couple of young punk girls relaxing on the couch area.  The thing they all had in common was they were relaxed, diverse and happy.  And VEGAN.  All walks of life, all types of people, no pretentiousness.  It seems we got smiled and nodded at more times than I can remember anywhere in midtown:  I think it’s because we are in on the little Vegan Secret of eating with compassion.  Or maybe it’s that Sugar Plum Vegan is the only place that serves Daiya vegan cheese…you decide!  It could be a little of both.

Sugar Plum Vegan Cafe, 2315 K st., Sacramento Ca.  916-706-3302. Check the website for days and hours of operations.  Call ahead for big groups/meet-ups.

 

Why I am vegan and hope you will be also.

When I was a young child I found the family cat dead in front of my house, he had been hit by a car and tried to crawl back home. I remember feeling a immense sense of loss and always missed my cat. A couple of years later I meet a kid visiting his family at my grandparents neighbors, he had a BB gun and thought it would be fun to shot a rabbit.  I remember shooting it and then watching it die, I could see the pain in the rabbits eyes and I felt horrible , I could see the life drain out of the body as the blood flowed. I cried and the kid made fun of me, I am still haunted by this event to this day.

As I got older I meet some people and we joked about being a vegetarian and I got dared to not eat meat for a month.  I did but at the time I was still stupid and thought fish and chicken where not meat (I am sure we have all heard this before). I made it past the month and kept going, about a year later I discovered one of my favorite bands The Smiths and heard a song of theirs called Meat is Murder, it changed my outlook. I quit eating meat altogether and learned about the cruel treatment of animals.

As fate would have it in 1990 I sprained my ankle skateboarding and got stuck on the couch while I was watching bad day time TV shows I came across a Oprah episode with River Phoenix and Lisa Bonet and a guy who I had not heard of named John Robbins. John  was talking about his book Diet for a New America. I was amazed to see other people like me and I went out and got a copy of the book from the library, I read it on the way to my first Animal Rights march. I went vegan that weekend and have not looked back 18+ years later.  I am living proof that a person can lead an active healthy and very happy vegan life.

I hope if you are not vegan you will give it a chance. Please watch this movie, it is called Earthlings. It is really graphic but it is worth watching if you don’t know or already know and just need a reminder of what the world of farm animals is like.

*post by Shawn

 

Capital Dawg

Sometimes you just want a hotdog.  And not a nasty mystery meat dog (gross!), a GOOD veggie dog.

Capital Dawg, vegan dog!

Sometimes you want someone else to make you that veggie dog, too.  When I heard about Capital Dawg, we had to swing by and check it out.  This particular building has been a few things to my recollection–one of them being a rib joint way back in the day.  The location is midtown, the destination:   to fill my belly!  When you walk in, it has that 50’s diner vibe with lots of hot dog, diner and signed quasi-celebrity headshots.  (hey–check out Byrd from Judge Judy’s!  I love him!)

The menu is totally overwhelming and I knew going in there would only be ONE choice for my dog, but lots and lots of topping combos to chose from.  We enlightened ones can choose the number 3, the “govenor vegan dawg”.    (Now, who does a girl have to #%*@ to get them to make the “senetor veggie dawg on a stick vegan???  Get that whey and egg outta that batter and I promise you I would be in on the regular to consume that vegan corn-dog!!!)

I only see one thing on there that is edible!

The gal at the counter eased our confusion and was very vegan-friendly and knowledgeable.  She knew the chili was vegetarian, but not vegan, and also informed us the buns are different for the vegan dogs than the omni’s.  Heck, I am liking this place more and more just for having a vegan selection, and that they know their stuff.  And the fact they have beer 🙂

There are kids meals available, but forgo the gummy hot dog, which much to my kids shagrin, has both agar-agar AND gelatin.  Why the ground up cow, gummy hot dog makers?  HMMMMM????  Oh, and the yoohoo.  Noonoo on the yoohoo–luckily they offer a juice box.

Pricing was kind of steep, at $6.59 for the adult basket meal (drink and fries).  But for a simple one-handed clutch-able meal you can do just the dog for $3.09.  $5.29 for the kids basket.

We decree Capital Dawg 3.5 tomatoes.  They could easily get the top honor of 5 if they re-thought up their corn dog batter!  I am serious, please listen Capital Dawg!

 

AU LAC vegetarian food

Landing back in Sacramento we where pleasantly surprised to find  a veggie restaurant about 5 minutes away.

Au Lac Vegetarian restaurant* is your normal veggie Asian place.  Our first visit we got the fried tofu appetizer, which is basically tofu cubed and fried until brown with soy sauce.   It is plain, but a nice start to your meal.  We also got the wonton soup which was really nice and flavorful with a  clear broth and nice big chunks of vegetables (carrots, broccoli  and cabbage) and really delicious wontons. Jen got her favorite Mongolian beef– done perfectly with a nice spicy sauce, chopped green onions and peppers and “beef” chunks.  The girls got chicken chow mein it has a  mild sauce,  good mix of veggies (carrots, onions, bok choy) and a decent chicken replica.   I got the **fish clay pot which was a simple dish of sliced of veggie gluten fish in a really flavorful sauce.

We have been back a few times and we deiced to try out the lunch menu which is the best value around:    $4.95 for a cup of soup (soup of the day), one crispy roll,  an entree of your choice and white rice (.50 more for brown rice).  So far we have had the sweet and sour chicken, the mixed veggie with tofu, the Mongolian beef, the grilled chicken and tofu with eggplant and basil. The food is the perfect portion, you leave full but not stuffed.   My favorites are the grilled veggie chicken which comes with a salad.  The chicken is a delight with the  salty sauce and green salad.   My other favorite is the mixed veggies with tofu:  the tofu is lightly fried, a good mix of veggies including carrots, broccoli and cabbage in a simple clear sauce. You really can’t go wrong for the price– if you are on a budget but still want to eat out from time to time this lunch menu is perfect.

I give them 4 tomatoes!  The service is always fast and polite, the food is consistently good and they have vegan thai ice tea :)!  woohoo!

*pictures of our food have disappeared into the vortex, so jen will add them when found!

** Bad news the “fish” is not vegan also the “ham” both contain whey. Sorry for any confusion.

 

Hello and welcome to our Sacramento Vegan food guide!

Our family is coming back to Sac!  After 3 years and some odd months of living in Portland, OR we are a mixed bag of emotions returning to California.  We have been spoiled ROTTEN with all of the effortless vegan delights to be had on every street corner.  OK, it wasn’t quite like that, but darned near I tell ya!

We poked around on the internet to find precious few places you can find vegan eating guides for the Sacramento area.  We thought we would take a page out of several comprehensive sources in PDX for vegans (and veggies alike) we use often, and compile our own list with more in-depth reviews, pictures and links.  Since we have young kids, we will also be interested in the “kid-friendly” factor.

So let me introduce ourselves and tell why we feel ever so qualified to lend our take on all the various eateries:  we LOVE food.  We love talking about food.  We love going out to eat and being merry.  We also love our fellow earthings, the animals.  We are a vegan family with a nice camera, compassion and a serious appetite!

Shawn will be making most of the informative posts regarding animal rights and vegan activism–he has his finger on the pulse of veganism!  I, Jen, will be amateur photog and restaurant/food reviewer.  We will review separately and together, as it is necessary.  I just may throw in a few recipes from our perpetually in the works cookzine when going out to eat is not possible.

I hope you enjoy our take on the vegan food scene in Sac!  I know we will enjoy going back to some old favorites that have been on the corner of such and such forEVER, and the new places that have popped up in our absence.

Jen and Shawn