Vegan Ice Cream Fix

Who: VN Editorial Assistant Brooke Still

What: A late-night sweet treat
Where: Holy Gelato! San Francisco, Calif.
When: August 3, 2010
Why: It was 8pm on a Tuesday—obviously I needed some vegan ice cream.

The Scoop: While the rest of the country is trying to escape the summer heat, we here in San Francisco are still trying to convince ourselves that it's not winter. It's hard to get in the summer-lovin' mood when the sun hasn't come out in weeks and your day-to-day attire consists mostly of thick socks and turtlenecks. Slight exaggeration, but really, it's cold. So in an attempt to pay homage to my third favorite season, I went out for some vegan ice cream last night.

I'd heard from some fellow VN staffers that Holy Gelato! in the Inner Sunset would be a great way to spend a weekday night—it's near my apartment, the neighborhood is adorable, and the vegan ice cream is decadent, some varities of which are supplied by Maggie Mudd. So roommate in tow, we headed over to the corner of 9th and Judah, soaking in the charming Inner Sunset along the way. We didn't manage to leave the house until after 8, but unlike the small-town Midwestern life I hail from, places in SF are open past dusk. Holy Gelato! welcomes customers until 11pm, which is exciting for me.

The gorgeous display of vegan ice cream and sorbet at Holy Gelato!

The décor was precious—an ice cream joint with a boutique-like feel, selling clothing and mugs across from the ice cream case. After sampling nearly all the vegan ice cream they had to offer, which comprises about half of their total selection, I settled on a small bowl with two scoops: One of Charlie Brown's Nightmare—chocolate, peanut butter, and cookies—and one of The Bomb—chocolate, peanut butter, marshmallows, and fudge brownie bits. Not to sound like Rachel Zoe, but when I had my first bite, I died. Literally.

My Charlie Brown's Nightmare and The Bomb dessert

Overally, Holy Gelato! was a monumental success. Delicious vegan ice cream in all the flavors I love. Now to keep this from being a regular Tuesday-night occurance...

Me enjoying the treat!

VegFest: Part Two

Who: VN Editorial Assistant Sara Constantineau and the rest of the VegNews crew

What: World Veg Fest Weekend, Day Two

Where: San Francisco County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, Calif.

When: October 4, 2009

Why: To kick off Vegetarian Awareness Month

The Scoop: Liz and I arrived bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to work the VegNews table at World Veg Fest 2009 this Sunday.

Liz and Lyndsay staff the booth

There were lots of different displays to peruse as the day went on, with everything from juices to sweet treats to therapeutic massage. Trader Joe's had an all-vegan display of some of its best offerings for the veg-inclined, including the very delicious Maple Leaf Cookies. Rainbow Grocery had bushels of complimentary bananas, and Parma was dishing out free samples of our all-time favorite condiment.

After some deliberation, I grabbed some tasty Filipino food for lunch courtesy of No Worries: a plate of rice, adobo (soy chicken in sauce), and apritada (a stew with veggies, soy chicken, and tofu). Refreshed and refueled, I manned the VegNews booth with Frankie while VN-contributor Rory "Skinny Bitch" Freedman held a talk/Q&A session in the main auditorium with VN Publisher Joseph Connelly.

Me, Elizabeth, Rory, Colleen, and Liz

Rory's book signing drew quite a crowd to our table, where readers and fans purchased all four of her paperbacks, including the latest incarnation, Skinny Bastard, a book that shows guy's-guys everywhere why an animal-friendly diet isn't just for chicks.

Before we knew it, it was six 0'clock and time to pack up. All in all, it was a busy, fun-filled day of chatting with readers and trying lots of yummy food. So what better way to cap it off than with some Maggie Mudd sundaes?

Honorary VN Team Member Peter Ryan, with sundaes

Starry, Starry Night

Who: VN Editorial Assistant Charlotte Gordon + VN Office Manager Lyndsay Orwig
What: Vegan Prom
When: Saturday, July 11, 2009
Where: San Francisco
Why: To dance the night away!

Who could forget the magic of prom night? The large stars hanging from the ceiling, the huge vegan ice-cream cake, and that really tall guy wearing that pink jumpsuit made of faux fur. I'm talking about first annual Vegan Prom put on by Vegan Outreach, of course. And somehow, Lyndsay and I were able to pull our awesome ensembles together in two hours flat for this event. Unfortunately, there was no limo waiting for us outside, and mommy and daddy weren’t in town to chauffeur us, so it was the typical mad rush to the bus stop—this time wearing heels. Guess what? Not one ankle was fractured. Amazing!

A medley of Michael Jackson’s greatest hits was bumpin’ when we arrived, and cookies and chocolate delights were abundant and just begging to be stuffed into our tummies and my pamphlet-sized purse for late night snackin’. Now, a resolution of mine has been to get at a Maggie Mudd ice-cream cake … somehow … someway. This evil plan must have been written all over my face that night, for Lyndsay and I were approached with the news that a two-layer ice-cream cake (bottom layer: chocolate, top layer: chocolate-mint goodness) was sitting neglected on a table, melting away. Of course it was our duty as fine upstanding vegans to help with the dilemma! We joined other prom-goers in devouring the delish dessert before it melted onto the pink table linens.

Oh no! It's melting!

We two-stepped our way through the night, mingled with some amazing folks from the Bay Area—such as Brian Grupe of Vegan Outreach (whom you may remember from our "20 Under 30" feature in our March+April issue) and VN Contributor Mark Middleton—and admired some '80's-inspired ensembles. Personal trainer Darren Middlesworth was also in attendance to see who would win his training session, which was up for grabs as a raffle prize.

Jesse and Erin pick the winning ticket!

We both anxiously held our tickets and hoped for the best. Who wouldn’t want a night for two at the Stanford Inn by the Sea? Or a romantic dinner for two prepared by chef Jesse Miner? Alas, our ticket numbers were not called, so we danced our way through the pain and pulled it together for a classic prom pic in front of the Starry, Starry Night-themed backdrop. So, yeah. Good food, good people, and $11,166 was raised to promote veganism—Vegan Prom was the bomb.

Me and Lyndsay, at the end of a magical evening

The Best Day Ever

Lyndsay poses with her "Backstabber" vegan turkey sandwich.
It will be completely devoured in about .2 seconds.

Who: VN Office Manager Lyndsay Orwig + VN Editorial Assistant Melissa Feineman

What: Super-scrumptious sandwiches and so-good-it-should-be-illegal ice cream

When: Sunday, April 12, 2009, from here on out known as "The Best Day Ever"

Where: Ike's Place and MaggieMudd, San Francisco

Why: To see just how much utter deliciousness could be fit into one day. The short answer? A lot. For the long answer, see below.

The Scoop: Pop quiz: Can a sandwich change your life? If you answered yes, chances are you have already experienced the joy and wonder that is Ike's. If you answered no, you poor dear, then you must drop whatever you are doing and arrange a trip there as soon as is humanly possible. If you fall into the latter camp, perhaps you are thinking "What's the big deal? It's a flippin' sandwich for cryin' out loud." But that, my friend, is where you'd be wrong.

Let's start with the options, of which there are many. No matter what your dietary leanings, from dedicated omnivore to e"vegan"gelist, we're pretty sure you'll find something to please your palate. On the vegan side of things, not only are there vegan meatballs (more on those bad boys later), turkey, and cheese, but also a substantial range of vegetable-only delights.

Having perused the menu online ahead of time (which I recommend doing just before going. Too far ahead of time and you might find yourself gnawing on your hand, mousepad, or anything else that happens to be lying around just to stave off the hunger pangs), I already knew what I wanted, which was the "Not So Sloppy Ike." This is a vegan meatball sandwich with barbecue sauce and cheese. Lyndsay went for the "Backstabber," a vegan turkey sandwich with marinated artichoke hearts, garlic and herb sauce, and soy cheese.

We had been warned ahead of time that the lines can be long and the wait torturous, but lady luck was most certainly smiling upon us since we were eating no more than 15 minutes after we arrived. Ike himself (dressed up in his Easter Sunday finest), hand-delivered the sandwiches to our table, and after that, well ... I can't really tell you too much of what happened after that because I was so focused on my sandwich that the rest of the world just seemed to fade away. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what made it so incredibly, mind-bogglingly delicious. Was it the tangy sweetness of the barbecue sauce? Maybe. The satisfying bite of the "meatballs"? Perhaps. The mingling of complementary textures from crisp to saucy? Quite possibly. I've said it before and I'll say it again–this sandwich will change your life.

Now, any normal person might stop at this point and think, "Hey, I've just had the best sandwich of my life. I think I'm ready to go out on a high note and call it quits for the day." This type of thinking, though, will get you nowhere, and luckily Lyndsay and I were on the same page here. It was a beautiful San Francisco day. The sun was shining and the birds were chirping. The only possible move that made any sort of sense was for us to head up to MaggieMudd for a vegan-ice-cream blowout.

As a small side note here, if you ever intend to recreate "The Best Day Ever," which I highly recommend that you do, I would also suggest that you walk from Ike's to MaggieMudd. This journey takes about an hour if you don't stop anywhere along the way, and it provides you with just about enough time to make room in your stomach for ice cream.

Is there anything better than vegan mint chocolate cookie ice cream on a beautiful day?
No, I don't think there is.

MaggieMudd, like Ike's, is a place of diversity, so you can find everything from dairy to soy to coconut-milk-based ice creams. There is also an unbelievable selection of sundaes and blended drinks. Lyndsay opted for a Maggie Muddy Fudgy Sundae (just try saying that three times fast!) with "Death Squad" and "Chocolate Mint Cookie" flavors. I went for a cup with "Mint Cookie Swirl" and "ChocoRaspberry Cookie." Since mint chocolate is, as far as I'm concerned, the be-all and end-all of ice-cream flavors, I was really surprised to see two different mint-chocolate combos on the menu. The one I ordered was mint-flavored ice cream with swirls of chocolate and cookie pieces, while Lyndsay's choice was a chocolate ice cream with mint flavor and cookie pieces. The only apparent difference was that mine was green and slightly mintier in flavor, but both were excellent.

Just as Nelly Furtado sings, "All good things come to an end," and so, too, did "The Best Day Ever." It was mind-blowingly amazing, and I can't wait to do it again!

Living the VegNews Dream

Who: The whole VN team + la vegan-entrepreneur crème de la soy crème
What: Birthdays and bubbly by the pool
When: March 15, 2008
Where: Candy Cane Inn, Anaheim, Calif.
Why: Because we’ll take any excuse to celebrate two of our favorite VN ladies!

The Scoop: It’s a tough life we have, we VegNews peons: traveling extreme distances only to be taken to a poolside suite; then, after a night of being force-fed at Native Foods, getting dragged out of bed to sample hundreds of vegan treats and personal products—at one point, we were even commanded to bring some samples home with us. Talk about a hostile work environment!

Okay, so maybe it was a little more like the ultimate vegan fantasy, and a little less like arduous labor, but, after nine hours of boothing and sleuthing, our feet were seriously sore. And, because it was Jenny and Katie’s birthdays, we were not ready to call it a night. Enter our hero, VN Publisher Joseph Connelly, who brought us delicious Vietnamese take-out from the nearby and newly opened Thuyen Vien, a specially made, giant Native Foods chocolate birthday cake with vanilla frosting, and several pints of Maggie Mudd Tarmac and Memphis Mudd Pie vegan ice-cream. Joining in the festivities were longtime friends of VegNews, and standout entrepreneurs, Vegan Essentials husband and wife team Courtney Ernster and Ryan Wilson, as well as the always entertaining Chicago Soy Dairy gents—producers of the first "ice-cream" made in an all-vegan facility. Later on, after heartfelt card-giving and candle-blowing, we dipped our tired, happy bodies into the glowing hot tub, and popped some Champagne. It’s tough work, but hey, somebody’s gotta do it.