Loving Hut and Lovely Frapps

Who: VN Associate Editor Abigail Young and Editorial Assistant Liz Miller

What: Snack breaks at Loving Hut and Starbucks

Where: Downtown San Francisco, Calif.

When: Sunday, May 2, 2010

Why: Because we'll take any excuse—especially brand-new vegan offerings—to spend the day downtown.

The Scoop: Living out by the beach has its perks, but the distance from bustling downtown SF can be quite the deterrent on the weekends when all I want to do is sleep in and lay around on said beach (weather permitting). Luckily, last weekend provided two viable excuses to motivate, and not surprisingly, both were of the edible variety.

Liz and I set out with Loving Hut in mind, whose new location in the Westfield mall's fancy food court promised a bit of shopping, too. Loving Hut has more than 100 locations worldwide, proving the all-vegan chain is doing something right. Even better, the new location has prime food-court real estate, smack-dab in the middle of this mall-food mecca, with its cute, glowing "vegan cuisine"sign and friendly staff inviting everyone to give some egg-free fried rice a try.

Loving Hut's newest location

We each decided on the buffet special, which included two entrée items and a side of rice. The best part? It wasn't just steamed rice like the typical mall chain—diners have a choice of steamed, brown, or fried. We rolled with fried, naturally, and picked out two unlabeled—but completely delicious—items. I stuck with a simple choice of steamed, seasoned veggies and a crispy tofu dish. The servings were huge, making it impossible for me to try two other offerings that caught my eye in the display case: cha siu bao and some major cake business.

Vegan fried rice, steamed veggies, and crispy tofu

It was a good thing we ignored our initial sweet-tooth craving, because it wasn't long before we stumbled into a Starbucks. Have you tried the newly reformulated, vegan-friendly Frappuccinos? Because they might change your life. We both went for a soy mocha frapp, and pretty much couldn't stop talking about how delicious they were until we had annihilated them. A chocolate shake with caffeine? That's all I need in life.

The almighty soy mocha Frappuccino

Oh, there was some shopping and other stuff in there, too, but all I can think about is fried rice and frapps. Is it the weekend yet?

Oakland Raiders

Who: VN Editorial Assistant Lisa Mickleborough + SF Vegan founders Barna Mink and Kathleen Bennett
What: A vegan-venue food crawl
Where: Souley Vegan + Layonna Vegetarian Health Food Market in Oakland, Calif.
When: June 21, 2008
Why: East Bay soul searchin'

The Scoop: San Francisco, a city abounding in vegan restaurants and vegetarian markets, has yet to produce a venue with real soul. Having tried them all—everything from raw to retro-inspired—I've been yearning for a spot that really knows how to barbecue tofu and season collard greens. You can imagine, then, my reaction when I learned that a vegan soul food joint was opening just around the corner from Layonna Vegetarian—a regional veg institution—across the bay in Oakland. Grabbing the first available Saturday I could, I rounded up my dearest friends, hopped the train to our sister city, and made a day out of these two dream-come-true destinations.

Rounding the corner on 13th, a vibrant read awning emblazoned with the words "Souley Vegan: Vegan Soul Food" beckoned, and we ducked into the bare but cozy vegan-owned café blaring scratchy blues, took a look around the place at other patrons' dishes and, no exaggeration, cursed out loud with joy. Grabbing bottles of very strong strawberry-ginger juice to wash it all down, we picked amazingly textured crispy tofu, smoky-savory collards, and creamy and rich mac 'n' cheese from their mouth-watering menu. With all the anticipation, I was amazed these home-cooked dishes managed to exceed my expectations.

Next up, after saying our good-byes and profuse thank-yous to the chef and owner Tamearra Dyson, we waddled over to Layonna's to gawk at the aisles of mock meat—with everything from codfish steak, giant prawns, yeast "jerks," and beef tendon to their widely consumed chicken chunks and drumsticks. As a first-time visitor I was overwhelmed, but I managed to pick a few interesting meatless meats to try. Stuffed and stunned, we explored the city for awhile before heading back to our homes to recover.