Date Night Dining

Who: VN Editorial Assistant Alexandra Chang
What: Happy Hour at Dash Café and Dinner at Asqew Grill
Where: San Francisco, Calif.
When: April 19, 2011
Why: To go out and have a relaxing time with the boyfriend, while eating plenty of delicious vegan fare.

The Scoop: After moving in with my boyfriend we started spending the majority of our time at home, which is hardly a problem. But getting out is important too (at least this is what people tell me), so I decided to take advantage of our local café’s weekday happy hour. VN Office Manager Lyndsay Orwig also recently gave me two meal tickets to Asqew Grill, turning my evening into a complete date night extravaganza.

While parking myself on my couch in front of the TV is great respite from a day’s work, there is nothing quite as relaxing and refreshing as grabbing a drink and snacks for discounted dollars. We headed to Dash Café, which recently started carrying vegan cupcakes (pictured below), cookies, and coffee cake*. For happy hour, the appetizers go for $4 and the wine and beer is a dollar off. To top it all off, the staff is friendly, the décor is cute, and the vibe is just the right amount of casual. Granted there were UCSF medical students studying nearby as we chatted away, but they didn’t seem to mind. Or at least they didn’t glare. We ended up ordering a plate of deliciously seasoned fries, a beer, and a vegan chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting to share. Dessert before dinner is always OK in my book.

Vegan cupcakes and cookies at Dash Caf

é

Enjoying some fries and beer

After filling up on all the necessities (sugar, salt, booze), we took a pleasant 20-minute walk to Asqew Grill in the Haight. I had never noticed, let alone been to, the restaurant tucked away between clothing shops. As soon as we stepped inside, however, I felt immediately comfortable. The whole place has a Western feel with a touch of SF quirk. A giant wooden menu is complemented with lopsidedly hanged photos and awards, all lit under vintage lighting fixtures. For dinner I ordered one seasonal vegetable skewer, which included slices of squash, zuchinni, tomato wedges, broccoli, and button mushrooms, and one portabello mushroom skewer. Every order also comes with a side or salad. The restaurant has three vegan options: citrus cous cous, coconut cilantro jasmine rice, and organic baby green salad. I went with the cous cous and ended up enjoying a very delicious meal!

The skewers over cous cous!

With a satisfied appetite, we took the walk back home. Either the food had gotten to us or we were just plain tired, but it took us nearly twice as much time. We meandered through UCSF, went up and down stairs around deserted medical buildings, admired views of city lights, until finally we reached the comfort of yes, our couch and TV. All in all, the night was a success, and we’ll be trying to go out more often than not.

*Dash Café says that they will only continue carrying vegan pastries if they sell well. So if you live in the area, get over to the Inner Sunset and show them how much vegans love sweets!

Adventures in the Inner Sunset

Who: VN Office Manager and VN Editorial Assistant Alexandra Chang

What: The Bay Area Anarchist Book Fair and lunch at Loving Hut

Where: The Inner Sunset, San Francisco, Calif.

When: April 10, 2011

Why: To get a break from the bustling Tenderloin, and check out some cool books!

The Scoop: I have now been a resident of the historical Tenderloin neighborhood for more than a year, and let's just say that I have many stories from this eclectic part of San Francisco. I've also been spending a lot of time at home lately, if I'm not at work, and I personally haven't been to the Sunset in months. When I heard about the Anarchist Book Fair taking place in the Golden Gate Park, I decided it was a good time to venture out, and meet up with my friend and co-worker Alexandra to check it out.

Checking out AK Press' awesome selection.

It was a lovely day, so I decided to ride my bike, and although I made a few wrong turns, I made it to Alexandra's humble abode in good time. We then set out to the book fair, which took place at the same location as the World Veg Day Festival, which usually takes place at the beginning of October. There were plenty of books for fair prices, which always makes me happy, and Alexandra and I took our time scoping out each booth. Our favorites were the booths of PM Press, AK Press, and Food Not Bombs, but all the booths were great, and offered good selections.

Alexandra with her fun purchase.

Hunger eventually got the best of us, and unfortunately there was not food at the book fair, so we decided to head out into the Inner Sunset for a late lunch. After much deliberation, we finally decided upon Loving Hut, because neither of us had been to the one in the Sunset before, and they were voted the 2010 VegNews Readers' Favorite Restaurant, so why not give it a try? Everything was good, but our favorite was our appetizer, which was the Ocean Basket. It was a fried basket of yam shrimp, mushrooms, seaweed fillet, green beans, served with a dill and Vegenaise sauce. It definitely hit the spot!

Loving Hut's Ocean Basket.

However, we were not yet satisfied, and longed for dessert. I have been dying to try Holy Gelato! for some time now, which serves up to 12 flavors of vegan gelato on a daily basis. There was no stopping me, so we were off to this sweet spot, and once we stepped through the doors, I was in heaven. How have I not been here before? There were so many flavors, and I wanted to try them all, but I finally chose the Mint Cookie and Charlie Brown's Nightmare served in a waffle cone. It was so good that I gobbled it up before taking a photo—so sorry! Alexandra opted for a warmer dessert, and grabbed a vegan cupcake and a tea from a nearby café.

After a day's worth of adventure, we walked back to Alexandra's house, and we said our goodbyes. Luckily, much of my bike ride home was downhill, and I arrived back in the Tenderloin in record time, feeling refreshed. I love my crazy neighborhood, but sometimes it feels great to get out—even for a little while.

Cupcakes for Choice

Who: VN Editorial Assistant Alexandra Chang

What: Baking, buying, and eating vegan baked goods to support Planned Parenthood!

When: Outside Mission Bicycle in San Francisco

Where: March 6, 2011

Why: Nothing's better than tasty treats for a great cause!

The Scoop: I love eating baked goods, and have yet to encounter anything too sweet for my sweet tooth. But what I love more is baking for a cause that’s other than filling my stomach. Cupcakes for Choice, organized by Laura Hooper Beck of vegansaurus.com and Robin Doolin, and supported by dozens of volunteer workers and bakers (myself included), all started because Congress voted to cut Planned Parenthood off from federal funding. Thank goodness for government checks and balances; at least now we can hope that the Senate doesn’t let this pass! In the meantime, as the Cupcakes for Choice event site notes, “we’re taking our anger and turning it into something good.” Since I know several women who don’t have health insurance and rely on organizations like Planned Parenthood for reliable healthcare, I decided to join in and spend my Sunday morning baking two-dozen cupcakes.

My beautiful (OK, I love them too much) vegan vanilla coconut cupcakes!

Sure, my kitchen got ridiculously messy and I woke up four hours earlier than I normally would, but it was completely worth it. As the boyfriend and I arrived outside Mission Bicycle on Valencia, we were greeted by rain and a smiling Laura Beck. It wasn’t exactly the weather we’d all been hoping for, but the table of baked goods was growing and looking better with every donation. A crew of UC Berkeley journalism students were also there with their cameras, ready to film the event’s every action and interview people on Planned Parenthood work and Congress’ decision. I overheard one girl saying that the House of Representatives was “turning back time and making archaic decisions.” I wholeheartedly agreed as I packed a box full of whoopie pies, doughnuts, cupcakes, and cookies—which all happened to be vegan—and handed my money over.

People buying vegan baked goods to support Planned Parenthood.

Even with the rain, people were drawn in. By the end of the four-hour bakesale, my beautiful cupcakes were gone, and Cupcakes for Choice raised a total of $1,500 for Planned Parenthood! Here’s to more events that help raise money for those who need it most!

"Oprah Goes Vegan" Watch Party

Who: VN Editorial Assistant Anna Peraino

What: "Oprah Went Vegan" watch party hosted by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

Where: Harvey's Restaurant, San Francisco, CA

When: February 1, 2011

Why: Oprah going vegan = big reason to celebrate

The Scoop: So I guess you could say Oprah is a pretty big deal, right? Right. So then is it an even bigger deal when Oprah (and almost 400 of her staffers) go vegan for a week and devote an entire episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show to it? You bet your Tofurky. When VN asked fellow Editorial Assistant Alexandra and I to attend a watch party, we said yes faster than one of Oprah's Favorite Things sells out during the holidays. A party hosted by lovely VN columnist Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, complete with tasty bites from Local Love and Colleen's own vegan recipes served up by the Harvey's kitchen? Don't mind if I do!

Mushroom caps with walnut paté from Local Love

The place was packed with excited vegan viewers. I heard one dejected onlooker, when finding every seat taken, say "This must be what I get for eating meat!" Watching was a delight--cheers, boos, and laughter erupted throughout, the most exciting of which was the hooplah surrounding Oprah's announcement of Meatless Mondays at Harpo. (Um, awesome?!) During commercials there was a HUGE raffle, with everything from t-shirts to cooking classes. Alexandra and I had our eyes on the Cinnaholic gift certificates but unfortunately fell short.

Alexandra and some vegan viewers

The watch party and the episode were both a huge success. I mean, we ended the evening with free cookies from Eat Pastry, including one called chocoholic chunk which tasted like brownie batter. Need I say more? Actually, yes I do: Oprah should go vegan more often.