Vegan Chicago: Restaurant Review of iCream cafe

Instagram Photo (User: veganmiss)

iCream cafe is a really neat ice cream parlor in Wicker Park. They make the ice cream from scratch in front of you with liquid nitrogen. It's a cool experience for the first time (get it? cool?). They carry soy ice cream base and a variety of vegan toppings to choose from. On Friday and Saturday nights, they're open pretty late, so it's a cute place to get some ice cream after dinner.

You begin by choosing a base (soy ice cream), then a flavor, and lastly toppings. They have candy, fresh fruit, and other toppings like nuts. You can chose to dye the ice cream too (say pink or blue). For a medium ice cream with all the works, expect to pay about $6-7.

iCream also has coffees and teas to chose from as well on their menu. 

Vegan Chicago: Restaurant Review of MANA food bar

Instagram Photo (User: veganmiss)

MANA food bar is a small Wicker Park vegetarian tapas restaurant. I was first introduced to this gem several years ago and have yet to be disappointed. About half their menu is vegan and very inspired by Asian flavors as well as other world cuisines. You can order small plates or large plates of most dishes. I would recommend getting a variety of small plates to try out different items. Don't go overboard, though! Get a couple dishes and see if you are full and then order more if you'd like. The items can rack up in price if you don't do it that way. MANA is moderately priced so expect to pay about $50-$70 a meal with alcohol.

The last time I went there, I took pictures with my iPhone, so excuse their quality. The lighting in the restaurant is not the best. Be warned also that this restaurant is pretty small, so you might be waiting for a table (unless you go during good weather seasons when they have a small outside table area too). 

For appetizers, we had the pickled veggies, caponata, and the sesame noodles, all small sized. The pickled veggies were good - tomatoes, green beans, and mushrooms. I didn't care for the tomatoes as much as the other two. One of my favorite dishes at MANA is the caponata. If you are not an eggplant person, do not get this dish. If you love eggplant like myself, you will thoroughly enjoy this tapas plate. I highly recommend one tries this item! The sesame noodles were pretty good as well. It was my friend's least favorite of the variety of small plates we got, but I'd get it again. In the past, I've also tried the spinach and pear salad and it is also one of my favorites on the menu.

For hot plates, we got the curry dish, ma po tofu, and gyoza, again all small sized. The gyoza are really good - just your standard fried veggie dumplings, but delicious. I preferred the curry dish over the ma po tofu. Once again, if you don't like eggplant, don't get the ma po tofu dish. The lentils in the curry plate were a nice added touch too. In the past, I've had the tofu bulgogi dish and it is one of my favorites on the menu. I highly recommend trying out that plate. My friend also had the tamale and the potato pancakes. He really enjoyed them both, particularly the potato pancakes, but be warned neither are vegan (he's a vegetarian).

If I had to go with a top three favorite dishes at MANA, I would choose: bulgogi, caponata, and gyoza. The sesame noodles run a tie with the gyoza in my opinion.

Be sure to check out this quaint Wicker Park establishment for a nice vegetarian meal!

Pictured: top left - pickled veggies, top right - caponata, middle - curry, bottom left - gyoza, bottom right - sesame noodles.

Vegan Chicago: Chicago VeganMania Festival

This year, Chicago VeganMania added a new workshop: Ask a Vegan Expert. It is a rotating table where every hour there is a different topic. Your blog doll will be answering any questions you may have about vegan home cooking and baking from 2:30-3:30 p.m. For more information, please see their website here. Be sure to come check it out!

Below is the press release for this epically awesome all vegan festival in Chicago! 

The 4^th Annual Chicago VeganMania Celebrates with the Vegan Black Metal Chef, Artisan Vegan Cheese and More

After three amazingly successful years, Chicago VeganMania returns as a free, day-long celebration of vegan culture, commerce, community, cuisine and couture. The event takes place Saturday, September 29, between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. at a new, bigger location – the Broadway Armory, 5917 N. Broadway in Chicago. The previous three events have drawn thousands of attendees.

Nationally known presenters will be featured at Chicago VeganMania again this year, including YouTube sensation, the Vegan Black Metal Chef, whose hilarious and appropriately disorienting videos have gone viral. In addition to the VBMC, we will be welcoming best-selling author Victoria Moran, who wrote the recent book Main Street Vegan, and Miyoko Schinner, author of the new cookbook, Artisan Vegan Cheese, whose innovative and wholesome recipes are currently featured in VegNews Magazine. In addition, Chicago VeganMania is bringing respected dietician Ginny Kisch Messina and Ellen Jaffe Jones, author of Eat Vegan on $4 a Day. 

Cooking demos are back again this year, and Chicago VeganMania is very excited to announce that we will be featuring people who are creating some of Chicago’s most innovative purely plant-based cuisine, featuring chef Kendall Huff of the popular Native Foods, Kat Barry of Kat’s Hot Cakes, Chicago Vegan Foods and others. Everything demonstrated and sampled will be free of animal ingredients. [VBMC and Miyoko are giving chef demos]

“We are thrilled to be putting together another event,” says Marla Rose, Chicago VeganMania co-founder. “It is a really positive and fun celebration of vegan culture and community but it’s also very appealing to those who are just curious about the vegan lifestyle. Anyone who enjoys a free, lively festival with diverse vendors, great speakers and entertainment as well as, of course, delicious, healthy food will enjoy Chicago VeganMania.”

Included in the day’s festivities will be our popular Culture Café with coffee and an alternative milk bar and live music, a full day of Q&A panels addressing everything from vegan health and wellness to using one’s creative talents for animal advocacy, a “Vegan Rock Star” photo booth and cruelty-free swag bags for the first one hundred people through the door.

In addition to all this, there will be a huge food court featuring delicious options from a dozen of Chicago's best vegan restaurants, caterers and food companies, as well as an exhibit hall packed dozens of diverse vendors, featuring everything from jewelry to body care products, candles to high fashion. All vegan, of course! 

Check out Chicago VeganMania's Facebook and Twitter.

Vegan Chicago: Restaurant Review of El Nuevo Mexicano

El Nuevo Mexicano is my go-to restaurant for some vegan Latino food. Of course, there is also several other places one could go like Quesadilla Mexican Vegetarian Cuisine and La Cocina. El Nuevo has vegan menu options throughout (marked "V") and they use Daiya cheese as well as local seitan heros, Upton's Naturals (chorizo seitan and chicken variety).

For appetizers, one could start with guacamole and chips. When I went, I asked them to make vegan quesadillas for an appetizer (as they had regular on the menu and I knew they had vegan cheese) and these were good although it's a lot of Daiya. I'd recommend splitting with a friend for sure!


Entree's include:

• Enchiladas with seitan chorizo, potatos, and carrots with tomatillo salsa and topped with Daiya cheese. Side option of quinoa or white rice and beans.
• Flautas filled with veggies, seitan chorizo, and Daiya. Served with chipotle and tomatillo sauce, spring salad with mango and jimica, and white rice or quinoa.




Flautas


• Chimichangas vegano: Flour tortillas stuffed with seitan chorizo, mango, plantain, bell pepper, onions, almonds, and raisins then flash fried. Served with chipotle peach salsa and spring mix of mango and jimica. Also served with yams roasted with agave nectar and dusted with chile powder.

• Fajitas with a mixture of vegetables. Served with pico de gallo, guacamole, and tortillas. Ask for no sour cream.
• Quesadilla vegano: tortillas stuffed with veggies, seitan chorizo, Daiya cheese, mango, plantains, and pico de gallo. Served with a spring mix of mango and jimica.

Of course, there are the tasty margaritas too! Can't forget those.

The quinoa that came with the entrees was spiced like Mexican rice so it has a kick to it, be warned! I prefered the white rice instead. It is nice they offer another type of grain other than rice, though. I do like that the entree's generally come with a spring salad mixture of mango and jimica. It gives the meal some lightness to it, especially if one gets the fried entree's. The flautas were really good, although I am not a huge fan of chipotle! The other picture at the top I don't think is listed on the menu. They use Upton's Naturals chicken style seitan that is marinated and put into the mini tortillas with some vegetables. I really liked these! I just wish I could find it on their menu online. Perhaps it was a new item when I went there.

Pricing is a bit on the moderate side especially if one gets appetizers and drinks. I would prepare to pay at least $60 for a total bill of two people with appetizers, entree's, and drinks. If you want a nice Mexican dinner, though, I very much recommend El Nuevo Mexicano!

Vegan Chicago: Restaurant Review of Fritz Pastry

Fritz Pastry recently changed ownership and not only do they have vegan donuts (!!) and other goodies, but now Saturday & Sunday brunch as well as wraps. I checked out brunch the second weekend they announced having it. I really enjoyed it and will be back to try other menu options (the menu has changed since I was there - I think they change it every few weeks). If you're looking for a quaint brunch with a coffee & pastry shop vibe, this is your place! They also have an outdoor patio for the spring/summer/fall and while small, it's still cute.

Now, when I went there, the brunch menu had carrot cake pancakes and a tofu scramble as their vegan options. As of today, they have blue fennel hash (purple potatoes, carrots, onion, zucchini, baked tofu and red pepper ketchup - $8.50) and lemon cardamon pancakes (with seedling fruit blueberry syrup and whipped cream - $9). I'm not sure which menu sounds better! My tofu scramble was really awesome. It came with a variety of veggies - red potatoes, carrots, onion, zucchini. There was also a red pepper sauce (I'm pretty sure it was this - I ate this a bit ago so if memory serves!). I love ketchup on my tofu scrambles, so I piled that over the potatoes and such. The tofu was also baked. Super tasty and a great scramble over all. 

I also split a raspberry tart with my friend. I love raspberry desserts! This was a perfect ending to my brunch along with my soy latte.

Their only prepackaged vegan wrap is the balsamic roasted veggie wrap (though the bbq tofu sandwich is vegetarian - there is cheese). The wrap has eggplant, red pepper, zucchini, soy mayo, organic greens on a tomato wrap. It comes with chips and a pickle all for $7. There is also a seasonal salad for $6.25 which comes with seasonal veggies, fruits, and lemon-balsamic vinaigrette. 

Brunch is served on Saturday's and Sunday's from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Go check it out, Chicagoans! 

Vegan Chicago: Review of Chicago Health Foods Store

Chicago Health Foods store replaced Maple St. Market a little while ago and I admit, I hadn't been in really since the change in ownership. Maple St. Market was not far from my apartment and school, so I used to go in there every once in awhile to pick up some odds and ends (say if I ran out of vegan toothpaste and didn't feel like going to Whole Foods for it, stuff like that). It was your general health food store, more geared towards hygiene products and supplements, if anything. The owners were not friendly and rather off-putting. They had a sandwich bar at one point and changed it only to a juice bar eventually. I wasn't too sad to see Maple St. Market close. 

Now, Chicago Health Foods store is an entirely different story. I go in here all the time. It's nice to support a local health food store versus giants like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. The new owners are way more friendly and helpful. They redid the inside layout and it looks much better and brighter. The place carries a variety of hygiene products, a lot of them vegan, like shaving lotion, shampoo and conditioner, soaps, face products, lotions, toothpaste, mouthwash, etc. They also carry candles and incense in this area. The middle section of the store has all the supplements and raw powder products. There is your standard selection of every vitamin you can imagine, powders like wheatgrass and spirulina for juicing, and protein powders. There is a snack wall with a whole slew of different types of chips and crackers.

Towards the back is the small food section. On one side, there is the frozen section with a bunch of vegan options like Amy's dinners, Tofurky pizzas, Tofutti ice cream bars and pizza, meatless burger patties, and frozen vegetables. The thing I like about Chicago Health Foods store is that they have somewhat obscure vegan products that you don't always find other places like the Tofutti pizza and their "Marry Me" ice cream bars. On the far back wall is the refrigerated section with vegan cheeses, butter, various drinks, and a line of their own pre-packaged food like raw cauliflower salad, raw kale salad, curried seitan, etc. I really like their raw cauliflower and raw broccoli salads. In the middle of this back area are packaged food items like spices, breakfast foods, canned food, pasta and grains, dried fruit and nuts, etc. 


Lastly, Chicago Health Foods store has a small sandwich spot inside and a juice bar. I may be addicted. The sandwich menu is primarily vegan with a seitan sandwich, veggie wrap, housemade black bean burger, and a falafel sandwich. There are vegan smoothies and of course, juices, as well as vegan soft serve (Chicago's own Temptation). The seitan is from Soul Veg and you can add vegan cheeses (they have several different types) like Daiya and local cashew cheese company, Ste Martaen. The seitan sandwich kicks major ass. It comes with a delicious vegan basil aioli (made with Vegenaise). I get it with Ste Martaen cheese to call it a meal. The black bean burger is huge for $5. It's also really good. I come in this place when I don't feel like making a meal for myself and know I'll have a tasty vegan sandwich for lunch!

Seitan Sandwich

Chicago Health Foods store also does monthly lectures and demonstrations. They vary from month to month on the topic, but all are health-conscious related. I recommend you check out this health food store if you are in the Old Town or Gold Coast area!

Vegan Chicago: Restaurant Review of Soul Vegetarian East

Like many other Groupon users, I waited until the last night to use my Groupon to Soul Vegetarian East Restaurant over on the south side of Chicago. There are a number of soul vegetarian type restaurants on the south side, but this one is the most talked about and the oldest. Other restaurants include: Sistah's Vegan Restaurant, Brother Tim's Vegetarian Fast Food, and Yah's Cuisine. 

Both times I've been to Soul Veg the wait has been awfully long. I will admit the first time was also with a Groupon within a week of it expiring and this last time was the night it expired, so my wait time may have been altered due to that. From reading Yelp reviews, though, it seems like the service is always pretty slow and the servers are rather scatter-brained. 

Aside from the restaurant, there is a juice bar and a take out bar. The take out bar has various kinds of salads, seitan, greens, etc. The juice bar is pretty much your standard juice bar with carrot juices, green juices, and additives of wheatgrass and spirulina.

Before I begin, let me just say that this is southern cooking. It isn't healthy, even if it is vegetarian. A lot of it is fried or it is made of seitan. They do have salads which are pretty awesome. More on that later.

To start, my friends and I split the battered cauliflower. Pretty much most vegetables battered and fried are tasty and the cauliflower didn't disappoint in this aspect. It is definitely something to be split among 3-4 people, though, because it would be too much fried food for just two people. Other appetizers on the menu are more battered things like mushrooms, onion rings, fries, and tidbits (seitan).

We got a side of carrot supreme salad which was absolutely amazing. If you get anything at this restaurant, get this salad. For $4.50, it could have been a meal! It was gigantic and packed full of awesome veggies. We got the creamy garlic dressing with it and I'm thinking they use fresh garlic because it was super garlicky, but the creaminess balanced it out.

For sandwiches, we had the East Coast BBQ Roast Sandwich and the Hand Burger. The BBQ sandwich was as to be expected: messy. They use their signature seitan tidbits and coat them in their own bbq sauce. Overall, it's a good kind of messy sandwich. I'd get this again for sure. My friend had the Hand Burger and he said it's the best veggie burger he's ever had (and he's an omnivore)! It is made out of lentils and various spices. My only problem with the sandwiches are that they come with no sides. It feels a bit like an incomplete meal to just have a sandwich. Of course, you can order a side, but you get what I mean. The last time I was at Soul Veg, I got the gyros and I didn't care for them too much. It was too dry for my taste. They sell their Jerusalem Steak sandwich and Tofu Salad Sandwich at the local Whole Foods here and those are pretty good even pre-packaged. I imagine having them fresh at the restaurant is even better. 

My other friend had the dinner special. This dinner was something like $12 and for that price, there was SO much food. All three of us could have eaten this for dinner and been stuffed. It came with greens, steamed broccoli, breaded tofu (think catfish fillet style), a whopping piece of lasagna, and a choice of soup or salad (he got the soup, bean curd veggie, with fresh cornbread). I've had the greens from Soul Veg before and I always find them a bit too musky from the liquid smoke they use. I only use a pinch of it when I make greens and that may be why (if I even use it). Otherwise, they are perfect. The steamed broccoli was pretty standard, tender and healthy. Now, this breaded tofu business. Wow, you would think it was real breaded catfish strips the way they have it done up. I've never had breaded fish like that in my life (what? I grew up in San Francisco. Fresh fish from the ocean... who breads that?!). One of my friends who was with me is from the south and the other grew up eating breaded catfish and both of them were as impressed as I was with the breaded tofu. They have a breaded tofu sandwich and I bet that thing is amazing. The lasagna was alright. I didn't love it or hate it, but I wouldn't order it again. Just wasn't my thing - something about the taste of it. My friends liked it though. Lastly, the soup and cornbread were really tasty. I've never had bean curd soup before (I've had bean curd in Chinese dishes at restaurants before, though) and this was a great introduction. The cornbread passed the Southerners test from my friend meaning it was pretty damn good.

We had tons of food and took a lot of it home so we couldn't possibly have dessert. I had a Beta Green juice drink from the juice bar, so I suppose that was my dessert (carrot and spirulina juice). They do have soy ice cream and a variety of cakes and pies for dessert, though.

Our fair city of Chicago is blessed with the Vegan Food Truck. It is run by the people over at Ste Martaen (one of the best vegan cheese companies out there, trust!) and Soul Veg. You can get a number of Soul Veg's sandwiches and entree's on the food truck. Also on the truck are goodies from Canary Confectionery, a local vegan baking team. It is run during lunch and dinner hours and their menu changes daily. Find them in the city or request they come to your area through their Twitter account or Facebook account. They also sometimes make Saturday day trips up to Milwaukee. Check their Twitter and Facebook to find out when.

One last note: the Soul Veg mac 'n cheese. Aside from their carrot salad, this stuff is addictive. It is, hands down, the best vegan mac 'n cheese I have ever had. I challenge someone to find a better one. Seriously, this stuff will change your life.

Vegan Chicago: Restaurant Review of The Bleeding Heart Bakery & Cafe

Popeye Cake

A few months ago, local punk rock baking heroes, Bleeding Heart Bakery, opened their new bakery and cafe in West Town. Prior to this, the company had only been a bakery. I've always been a big supporter of this place because: 1. it's local and they get a lot of exposure on the Food Network competing in challenges, 2. because a lot of their stuff is vegan, & 3. it's the only punk rock bakery I know of! The past two birthdays I have gotten my cake from Bleeding Heart. One was a vintage poodle design and the other was of my oldest cat, Popeye, who has only one eye. Both were completely delicious and filled with raspberry jam and yummy icing. They stood 3 layers tall and man, that was a lot of cake I ended up freezing! While it may be a bit pricey to order one of their cakes, it is most definitely worth it as they are genius bakers and designers. One day I was having coffee with a friend at their old location and someone came to pick up their cake. It was a gigantic life-like heart that bled raspberry jam. Amazing.

If you can't tell, I really like Bleeding Heart so I was excited to try out the new cafe that has a number of vegan options on their menu. I mean, a vegan s'mores pancake?! Yes! It exists here. The inside of the cafe is rather big and has a 1950's diner feel to it along with their signature artwork of "punk rock" themed things like skulls and slogans like, "Shut Up And Bake!", in the typical tattoo font (if you have seen the owners, you will understand the theme - they are literally quite the colorful bunch!). Oh, and if you are wondering why Bleeding Heart decided to branch out to savory food, it is because one of the owners, Chef Michelle, has a background in savory cooking despite being a baker and wanted to broaden her career horizons (she was on Food Network's Chopped twice in the last year). The service was kind of slow and we waited for 20 minutes or more for our food, but the atmosphere and quality of the food did not disappoint. 

The Farmers Skillet

For brunch, I had the farmers skillet and my friend had the housemade vegan biscuits and gravy. We split an order of roasted potatoes too. The farmers skillet had mushrooms, spinach, broccoli, carrots, and twice-baked tofu, all topped with wild mushroom gravy (which I added) and homemade fresh toast. I really enjoyed this skillet. It was reminiscent of a tofu scramble sans the scramble-y part. The bread was really delicious. I'm a sucker for homemade fresh bread. The carrots were a little underdone, but otherwise I would order this again. The roasted potatoes I believe were supposed to come with it, but didn't, so I ordered them on the side. These were really tasty. They were roasted with herbs and had just the right crunchy consistency on the outside.

Housemade Vegan Biscuits & Gravy

My friend's housemade vegan biscuits and gravy were super yummy too. The wild mushroom gravy has a lot of depth to it and is not just a simple black pepper gravy. The biscuits were fluffy and combined nicely with the gravy. Since it was made vegan, my friend got a big pile of twice-baked tofu which tasted great, but it was just way too much tofu. If they take away half the tofu from this dish and add roasted potatoes to it, it would be a winning brunch in my opinion. I left them a comment card which says just that!


If you check out their drink menu, you'll notice all the specialty coffee drinks have titles referring to A Clockwork Orange which I thought was cute. My friend and I both got the Agent Orange Mimosa (it's spiked with vodka as well as Prosseco and fresh O.J. and has muddled oranges) and they were really good (although probably not worth $10, but hey, it was a splurge brunch). 

Not vegan but cute!

As far as other vegan options on the brunch menu go, there are a couple skillets one can get with tofu including the seasonal squash and the roots (root veggies). As I mentioned, there are s'more pancakes as well as "plain jane" vanilla bean pancakes and seasonal fruit pancakes. Sides include apple slaw, roasted potatoes, and caramelized grapefruit. There are, of course, baked goods up at the bakery counter one can get. They always have a variety of vegan cupcakes, cake balls, donuts, fruit bars, and brownies. Bleeding Heart also carries fresh bread that they sell at this location.

So, everyone in Chicago, go check out Bleeding Heart Bakery & Cafe in West Town and have a really awesome punk rock brunch. Eat or die! xo

Vegan Chicago: Restaurant Review of LooseLeaf Lounge

A few months ago Mercy For Animals worked with LooseLeaf Lounge to create a new vegan menu. This cute cafe already had a great veggie sandwich, the Original Vegan (tomato focaccia, basil pesto [w/o Parmesan], artichoke hearts, black olives, cilantro, spinach, tomato, and red onions). In addition to this sandwich, they added:

• Chorizo Wrap: flour tortilla, Upton's Naturals chorizo seitan, romaine, avocado, tomato, onion, cilantro, lemon juice, garlic hummus and Daiya mozzarella
• Vegan Grilled Cheese: pumpernickel, romaine, buttery spread, garlic hummus, onion, tomato, and your choice of Daiya cheddar or mozzarella
• Ground Seitan: pumpernickel, Upton's Naturals ground seitan, romaine, avocado, tomato, red pepper, basil Vegenaise, and Daiya mozzarella
• Portobello: rosemary ciabatta, portobello marinated in a balasalmic & basil vinaigrette, with roasted red peppers, tomatoes, red onion, and mozzarella (sub Daiya)
• Eggplant Delight: white ciabata, organic eggplant marinated in a red wine vinaigrette, with basil thyme, garlic, and jalapeno pepper. Served with spinach, tomato, red onions, and mozzarella (sub Daiya).

In addition to sandwiches, LooseLeaf also has salads such as mixed greens, Asian, and hearty veggie. There are also a number of vegetarian soups, though not all are vegan. Vegan soups include miso, lentil, and hearty vegetable. 

I tried the chorizo wrap. It came with a choice of veggies or chips. I got the veggies. The wrap was pretty good. It was pressed such as a panini which toasted the wrap and melted the cheese, adding a nice touch to the ground seitan. I'm not sure the hummus was really needed, though. I didn't feel it and it didn't seem to add anything. Overall, I'd get it again, but I'd love to try a different sandwich. Will be back soon!  

Pampering in the City [Vegan Style]

What girl doesn't love pampering? This vegan chick certainly does. There are two places I regularly go for my primping. For my hair, I go to L'Etoile Salon on Broadway near Diversey. I get my hair dyed with their organic, vegan, herbal hair line, Colour Herbe. It's ammonia-free and feels great on your hair. I've never had a burning sensation or any problems with using this herbal hair dye. It does wash out more quickly than normal hair dye as it is vegetable based. Small price to pay for having your hair still look lovely and not dead in 50 years. The products they use in-house on hair are organic too. They also carry organic makeup and hair products for sale. I buy a red shampoo and conditioner to have the life of my dye last a wee bit longer. They also do facials, peels, and waxing. I've never had any of those things done, though.

For my spa services, I go to Allyu Spa Chicago. This place is fantastic. I'm a member which allows you to get discounts on services, birthday gift certificates, free sauna time, and discounts on merchandise amongst other benefits. I go here to get my nails done. They use vegan nail polish brand, Zoya. VegNews Magazine just had a great article in one of their recent editions that talked about vegan nail polish (regular nail polish has toxins in it usually and some companies test on animals). During your manicure or pedicure, they do scrubs which sometimes contain honey (they change it up by season - but they make all the scrubs themselves). You could ask for a different scrub or something else instead. I get my eyebrow threading services done here too. They do a perfect job on my eyebrows! I've also had a hot stone massage which was so relaxing, I literally fell asleep. It felt amazing after coming in from the bitter Chicago cold. If you want a day with your girlfriends or some quality "me" time, I recommend checking out Allyu. Beyond normal spa services, they also specialize in reflexology and chakra balancing. As far as facials go, I've never had one here yet, but I've been meaning to check it out. The place I used to go for organic facials does not do them anymore, so I'm going between both L'Etoile and Allyu now. We shall see which I end up checking out!

To my knowledge, Aveda is vegan-friendly and there are a couple places in the city that specialize in Aveda products and services. 

If you get your vegan pampering on in Chicago, let your blog doll know where you go as she's mighty curious of the other options out there. :]

Vegan Chicago: Restaurant Review of Santullo's Eatery

Santullo's Eatery in Wicker Park has some great vegan options. If you are looking for a vegan pizza pie, look no further (especially if you don't feel like dealing with the Wrigleyville crowd to go to Ian's Pizza but of course, there is always Pie Hole Pizza Joint, Mista, or The Boiler Room). They use Upton's Naturals seitan products and Daiya cheese for their vegan delights. Vegan menu items include a house salad, the vegan Santullo sandwich, spicy buffalo chicken seitan sandwich, veggie sandwich, build-your-own-sandwich (choose from vegan cheese, various seitan styles, veggies, and condiments), linguine portobello (no cheese), vegan potato salad, vegan pasta salad, and of course, pizza. The pizza options are veggie flat iron barbeque (seitan chicken, barbeque, veggies, vegan mozzarella), veggie brickhouse (seitan pepperoni, seitan sausage, veggies, vegan mozzarella), and spinach to the finish (veggies and sub vegan cheese). There are a couple more pies on the menu that can be subbed to have vegan cheese and you are set. 

The pizza pies are huge! Bring at least 3 people with you, if not four. My friends and I shared the spinach to the finish pizza gone vegan. As you can see from the picture, it is covered in Daiya. While this was a nice treat, it was a lot of cheese for me. I think I would prefer to get something with either extra veggies or more seitan products next time. Don't get me wrong, it was delicious! Definitely going back to try other menu items. I'm also mighty curious about this vegan potato salad and pasta salad.

One of my friends came late and she ordered the spicy buffalo chicken seitan sandwich as well. She liked it but said it could use more sauce as it was kinda dry. 

Super excited about this place. There are so many options in Wicker Park to choose from! Native Foods, the Handlebar, Sultan's Market, Penny's Noodle Shop, Estelle's Cafe 'n Lounge, and of course, most places in this neighborhood have a vegan-friendly option or two.

Vegan Chicago: Restaurant Review of Ethiopian Diamond

Spinach, Lentil, & Potato + Carrot Sambusa

Yatkilt Watt

If you have never had Ethiopian food, you must try it! I always take guests to Ethiopian Diamond for their first taste of this delicacy. While there are other Ethiopian restaurants in the city such as Demera and Ras Dashen, I primarily go to Ethiopian Diamond. When I lived in Roger's Park, this was so close that I never really ventured further to Edgewater and Uptown to try the other two places. Ethiopian food is very naturally vegan-friendly. They serve food in a communal-style way. Everything is eaten with your hands by using a certain bread called injera bread (it is somewhat like crepe sourdough bread). Greens, potatoes, and lentils are a big component of vegan Ethiopian cooking. Another must is the Ethiopian spice mix, berbere. I have tried making injera on my own and it was a total disaster. Luckily, if you want to have your own Ethiopian feast at home, there are a number of African groceries in Roger's Park & Edgewater where you can buy injera.

Quosta

Towards the end of the menu at Ethiopian Diamond, there is a whole page of vegetarian selections. They are all vegan! One can choose any of these entrees, a combination, or a "Taste of Ethiopia" for one or two people. To start, I love to get the veggie combo sambusa. If you've never had sambusa, they are basically like a flat, triangular samosa. The veggie combo includes the lentil, spinach, and the potato and carrot sambusa's.

Veggie Combo with Injera Bread

For entree's, I usually go with a friend and get two orders of the veggie combo. It is cheaper than getting the "Taste of Ethiopia" for two people. We get six of the seven options to choose from on the combo. The options we usually get are the yemisir watt (spicy red lentils), kik alicha (split peas in sauce), gomen (collard greens), tikel gomen (cabbage and carrots), yatkilt watt (string beans, carrots, and potatoes in sauce), and dinich alicha (potatoes and carrots in sauce). The seventh option is quosta (spinach). This whole dinner comes on a large platter a top of injera bread with a salad in the middle. I love the salad dressing at Ethiopian Diamond! They also bring extra bread to eat the dishes. My favorite is the gomen. I really love greens, though. My friend's favorite is the yemisir watt, but he loves spicy foods.

There is also a special dish on the vegetarian menu which I have never tried. It is the shimbra assa. It is chick pea dough that is formed to look like fish watt (stew). There is also the tofu tibs which is grilled tofu with vegetables in a sauce. I'm usually way too full for dessert, but I believe all the desserts have honey in them.

Tikel Gomen

Dinich Alicha

On Friday's and Saturdays, there is usually a live band playing Ethiopian music at the Broadway location. There is another location on Clark St. near the Howard Red Line stop (Ethiopian Diamond II).

I give Ethiopian Diamond a 4.5/5 stars. They loose half a star because it can be really busy sometimes and the wait staff suffers in service. If you get the chance to try Ethiopian food, I strongly recommend it! It is one of my favorite types of food, for sure.

Kik Alicha

ETA: Oddly enough, I decided to use my Groupon I had for Demera last night (was going to Drew's Eatery, but it has sadly closed). We had the veggie sampler sambusa which were spinach and lentil. They were more flaky than the ones at Ethiopian Diamond and the sauce was spicier. Overall, I think I liked Demera's more. The entree was similar to what I get at Ethiopian Diamond - a mix of six different dishes with a salad in the middle. I finally had shimbra assa! I really loved it. Definitely a fan. Overall, I prefer Ethiopian Diamond's entree dishes to Demera. The ones at Ethiopian Diamond are much more flavorful and robust. The salad dressing is better there too (I really like salads!). It wasn't bad by any means, just comparing the two, I did not prefer it. The Groupon came with a dessert, so we had a dessert sambusa. Be warned it comes with raspberry sauce and a load of white chocolate sauce and whipped cream which I didn't realize. I was told the sambusa was vegan, so I had a few bites of it with raspberry sauce. It was also very flaky like the appetizer sambusa's. It was filled with an almond paste type thing which was the perfect amount of sweet. I give Demera a 3.5/5 stars. If Ethiopian Diamond is super busy (which it tends to be on a weekend night) and you don't want to drive all the way to the Howard stop, I would check out Demera. Plus, The Green Mill is just across the way. Love that place!

Gomen

Also, I stopped by Tai Nam Market last night after I wrote about how many mock meat options they sell in my previous post. Wow, Yelp was right! They had three freezers full of all kinds of faux meat. Be warned, some of it has eggs and whey powder in it. So, not everything is vegan, though it is vegetarian. I ended up getting a bunch of things because weird mock meats kind of make my laugh and hey, it's vegan. I got "chicken", "pork", and "shrimp". They also had vegan pork belly, salted fish fillets, tuna slices, etc. It is worth going there just to check out the crazy selection they have. Vegan mutton, anyone? It's there.

Vegan Chicago: Restaurant Review of Karyn's on Green & Karyn's Fresh Corner

One of my favorite places to dine in Chicago for a high quality all vegan dinner is Karyn's on Green. Ever since I heard about it opening, I've been pretty excited. The only other fancier restaurants that I can think of to go to that are specifically vegan-friendly are MANA food bar and Green Zebra (which I still have never been to, sadly). Of course, there are restaurants of upscale dining that can make vegan options (just call and ask, usually). For example, Charlie Trotter's has a vegetarian menu that can be made vegan upon request. The same applies for Vermilion (if you watch the Food Network, the executive chef, Maneet Chauhan, was featured on The Next Iron Chef and judges on Chopped), TRU, Coco Pazzo, and Crofton on Wells. If you really want to try something special and different, there is the art of molecular gastronomy. Chicago has two restaurants that feature this, Alinea and moto. They both can create vegan menus upon request. Be prepared to shell out the big bucks, though. For a 12-course tasting with wine pairing, tax, and gratuity, the average person spends $350 at Alinea. A 20-course meal is around $500. You could split this with a number of people; though, I'm not sure how full you'd be. Lastly, there is vegan afternoon tea at The Lobby in the Peninsula Hotel. This hotel is probably the loveliest in the city and is worth checking out alone. They have a nice jazz bar that I've been to before for some after dinner drinks. Another tea spot with vegan-friendly options is the Russian Tea Time restaurant. I've never been, but have been meaning to go for years now. One day! I would recommend placing reservations for all the above restaurants. Be warned, you'll be spending at least $100 at any of those restaurants if you include drinks.

Bread & Butter

While Karyn's on Green can be very expensive, if you cut out the alcohol your bill will probably be about $60-70 for two people. With alcohol and desserts, you are looking at about $125 (they do have organic liquor which is nice). It is the place to go for a vegan who wants to splurge, take someone out on a very nice date, or show an omnivore the classy side to plant-based dining.

Roasted Foraged Mushrooms

The menu at Karyn's on Green changes here and there (I believe it is seasonally). The menu sort of combines the other Karyn's restaurants, Karyn's Cooked and Karyn's Raw, plus added options. Karyn's Cooked is more like home cooked food (ex: barbeque pork and the crispy mixed basket) and Karyn's Raw is quality raw dining. For starters, I always like to begin with the roasted foraged mushrooms. They've changed this dish in the past year, though. It used to come with a sauce which it now desperately needs. While it is still enjoyable, the polenta that the mushrooms sit on is quite dry. The taro sticks give the dish a nice crunch, though. Of course, you're going to have to love mushrooms for this dish and I am definitely an avid fungi fan. This causes a problem for me because I always order this dish (despite I think it needs that sauce)! I have heard the aged raw cheese plate is to die for, so one day I will order that instead. Crossing fingers.

Butternut Squash Soup

Caesar Salad

My friend and I got soup and salad before our entree's. If you tell your waiter that you'll be splitting those, they will bring each out on two separate plates. For soup, we had the butternut squash. This was really good. In the past, I've had soups from this restaurant that have been way too salty. They have apparently fixed this problem. The oil drizzle adds a nice complimentary touch to the soup itself. Much like my problem with the appetizer round, I always get the Caesar salad at Karyn's. I really enjoyed Caesar salads prior to becoming vegan which I think is the root of my problem here. Again, I have found in the past that this dish can be salty, but the last couple times it has been perfect. The dressing is fantastic and you have to love those croutons. I have also had the chopped vegetable salad in the past. It was pretty good, but if you are looking for a special vegan salad, I would really recommend the Caesar salad (you don't see a vegan Caesar that often!).

Pumpkin Risotto

Marinated Portobello Steak

Ah, the entree round. I've had a number of the options on their menu on previous dining outings. This time, we tried the pumpkin risotto and the marinated portobello steak (my staple here - told you I have a fungi addiction!). The risotto was prepared beautifully. Creamy and perfect for fall weather. Since I took these pictures, they have modified the marinated portobello steak on their menu. As you see in the picture, it came with fingerling potatoes and wilted spinach. Now it comes with horseradish mashed potatoes and creamed spinach with the same balsamic reduction. I've had both version since they changed the menu (they deliver to me!) and was surprised they changed it. The previous version with fingerling potatoes was much better. The new version is okay, but I was sad to see it modified. Perhaps I have to try it at the restaurant to give it a better chance. Other entree menu items I have had are the crab cakes and the fra diavolo. The crab cakes are a nice meal. Not too dry and the sauce gives the crab cakes a great flavor boost. I've only had the fra diavolo once a long time ago and from what I recall, it was great as well. I'll have to try it again, though, since it has been a while! I've also heard the chicken legs are a real treat. Never had them, but definitely willing to try them one day too.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Any place that I can get a dessert cocktail that is vegan is the place for me. Karyn's not only has a small dessert libation menu, but fantastic sweets too. They used to have a chocolate cake with raspberry sauce and some kind of ice cream that was to die for. For our dinner, we had the pumpkin cheesecake. This was really tasty. I loved the ice cream that went with the cheesecake. The crumble gave the dessert an added crunch which it really needed due to all the creamy elements. A couple was having the doughnuts and coffee ice cream near our table and that looked very cute and yummy too!


If you can't tell from my review, I really love Karyn's on Green. It is one of my top five vegan restaurants in the city. The service can be spotty, though. I've had some really great waiters and some really snooty ones. I give the place a 4.5/5 because of this.

Raw Salad Bar

Karyn's is somewhat of a mini vegan empire here in Chicago. The owner has the three previously mentioned restaurants plus Karyn's Fresh Corner, Karyn's Inner Beauty Center, Karyn's at Home, and a book. The beauty center has organic spa services, holistic procedures, and lines of organic/vegan beauty products. Karyn's at Home is a meal service program.

BLT Sandwich

Karyn's Fresh Corner is where Karyn's Raw is located as well as the holistic wellness center, and a small market with a juice bar. The market has raw and organic products plus some of Karyn's food to-go. If you need some rather obscure raw items that you can't find at Whole Foods, this is the place to go (ex: detox items). They also have a raw salad bar and a juice/smoothie bar. It's a nice place to stop by for a quick pick-up lunch and an organic juice. The salad bar is $7.99 a pound or $12.95 for all-you-can-eat. I got the raw salad bar and a BLT sandwich (be warned, some of the breads the sandwiches are made of have honey in them, but they are marked). I have to say, I think I'm not a fan of raw sandwiches. I've had them from raw before and now from Karyn's and both times I have found them too acidic and just off tasting. I much preferred the raw salad and the juice. The juice was a lovely pick-me-up. I had the summer cooler, though the employee recommended the peaceful warrior.


Just a quick mention: There are a couple other juice bars in the city that I love. Peeled Chicago had a great cleansing Groupon a little while ago (3 day juice cleanse - all vegan and organic). I was just in about a week ago and they said they may be having one again soon, so be on the look out! Green Corner is also great. Newcomer Vegetarian Express also has vegan juice available. Kramer's Health Foods has a number of vegan options of their menu as well as a juice bar.