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Vegan
Huge coup for vegetation-minded Center Citizens: Former Horizons GM Nicole Marquis opened her vegan fast-food joint Hip City Veg (127 S. 18th St., 215-278-7605) in the old Pad Thai Shack yesterday. Steering clear of overt vegan propaganda and preachitude, Marquis' aim with Hip City is to provide a "100 percent plant-based" experience "familiar to meat eaters, without sacrificing affordability or taste." Her chef, Lauren Hooks, is knocking out a menu (see it here in PDF format) with populist appeal — think the "Ziggy" burger, a meatless riff on the Big Mac (yes, with "special sauce"), a crispy "chick'n" sandwich that plays off that popular fast-food option, and salads of the Caribbean, Asian and Mediterranean persuasions, all made with local ingredients. (Those bananas don't count.) That thoughtful approach extends into realms like packaging (compostable) and delivery (by bicycle, Spring Garden to Washington north to south and Front to the bridge east to west).
Hip City Veg has been slammed since opening its doors (here's a real-time shot of the lunch line!), but generous hours should help assuage the demand — they serve daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Rachel Klein, vegan chef/professional sweetheart, will be moving the headquarters of her catering business Miss Rachel's Pantry into the recently vacated Cafe Giordino (1732-34 W. Passyunk Ave.) next month. "We'll run the catering out of the space, as well as have a little dining room for private parties and tasting dinners," she says.
Knot Just Furniture, a salvage carpentry division of North Philly's Atlas Wood Products (the builder is the husband of one of Klein's clients), is currently in the process of constructing a farmhouse table from reclaimed wood, the stage for said parties and dinners. It'll seat 12 to 16 for the multi-course vegan meals Klein says she'll run a few times a month on a reservation-only basis. Meanwhile, painting and other light renovations are on deck. "There's granite everywhere," she says of the former gelateria's Roman Forum-fabulous digs. "We're gonna have to work around that."
Keep tabs on the progress on Klein's blog. She'll be posting photos of the transformation.
Rich Landau hasn't eaten meat in something like 20 years, but that doesn't mean he doesn't think about it. Daily. "If I were to eat meat tomorrow, it would be one of those giant corned beef specials from Famous," says the Vedge chef, indicating the preferred height of his sandwich (tall) with his hands. He's got the next best vegan thing going, though, with his spice-cured carrots, a setup Landau describes as "a warming cold dish." That warmth arrives in the form of strong seasoning — slender Lancaster baby carrots are roasted on low heat in an elaborate spice blend (mustard, fennel and celery seeds, clove, cumin, paprika, etc.), cooled, then quick-smoked over mesquite and applewood chips. Emboldened with a pastrami-like personality, the righteous root veg stands in for salt-cured flesh. The accompanying buzz-up of white beans, mustard and sauerkraut comes off like a tangy Eastern-Euro hummus; stack it all up on slices of house-baked rye and you've got a smart-as-hell vegan dish that eats like Landau's Jewish-deli pipe dream. "This hits home for me," says Landau. Us too. Eat this immediately.
Photo: Drew Lazor
Paul Davis and Steve Renzi snuck out their Kung Fu Hoagies cart, which we first mentioned back in November, out for a quick run the other day, practice for their official rollout at Clark Park this coming Saturday, March 10, at 10 a.m. The partners plan on vending their vegetarian fare — they're not a strictly vegan operation, though everything on their opening menu does happen to be vegan — from Clark Park on the weekends (Sunday, March 11 too) and from 34th and Chestnut on weekdays. If you miss that paint job, inspired (like the name) by Davis' practice of martial arts, you need way better glasses.
Tripe and tendon junkie Scott Schroeder might give digital shit to vegans, but his South Philadelphia Tap Room (1509 Mifflin St.) and American Sardine Bar (1801 Federal St.) serve some of the best animal-free fare in town. Example: the vegan butternut squash stew headlining the menu this week at ASB. Homey, cold-dispelling and aggressively seasoned with salt, cumin, cayenne and olive oil, it tastes like something in Schroeder’s wheelhouse, but when asked about it, he immediately deferred to his second-in-Sardine-command, Amanda Smith. "I got the idea for the stew from a friend's grandmom's recipe for kabocha squash soup," she says. "I figured it would work just as well with butternut, especially if the squash was roasted first to give it a little more flavor since it's vegan."
After roasting the cubed squash with whole garlic cloves, Smith adds it to a pot of sautéed onions, whole canned tomatoes and dried garbanzo beans. Forty-five minutes later, the chunky stew is ready, garnished with a swirl of quality extra-virgin you can really taste and feel. While most chefs are content to purée their butternut, Smith get extra points for bringing in a different spoonable context. Eat this immediately.
Photo: Courtesy of American Sardine Bar
The Philly Roller Girls and The Abbaye (637 N. Third St.) have joined forces for the second annual Vegan Wing Bowl, to be held this Saturday, Feb. 4, one day after its decidedly non-vegan counterpart. Starting at 4 p.m. sharp, seitan enthusiasts will have two minutes (the approximate length of a roller derby song) to eat as many "wings" as they can. The $20 regisgtration fee gets participants a Vegan Wing Bowl tee and unlimited beer or soda in addition to the right to compete. For those who don't think they're up to the challenge but want to bear witness to the proceeding, Abbaye's got you covered — spectating is free, Cricket Hill will be on tap for $2 and they'll offer a two-bucks-off wing special. Register for the event by calling 215-627-6711.
Vedge (1221 Locust St.), open for just two weeks, has rolled out happy hour. Every Monday to Friday from 5 to 6 p.m., post up at Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby's bar (or in the adjacent lounge) for $3 drafts, $5 wines, $5 cocktails and $2 shooters of Isastegi Sagardo cider. The full dinner menu is available during this time, but they're also offering a trio of snacks — Korean seitan tacos (veryveryverygood), smoked portabello tacos and wedge fries with porcini salt and onion dip — for four bucks a pop.
Photo: Drew Lazor
In last week's CP we gave you the rundown on Celebrate Vegan, a new holiday-themed vegan cookbook from local author/blogger Dynise Balcavage. Although Turkey Day is out of our collective system, there's still plenty of festive cooking left to accomplish before the end of the year — that's why we want to give away a poppin'-fresh copy of Balcavage's book. To win: Simply leave a ONE-SENTENCE COMMENT on this post explaining what you plan on doing with the book. Make it noteworthy! We'll choose a winner at noon on Wednesday, Nov. 30. Have fun.
UPDATE [05dec11]: Congrats to commenter capasshl, who vows to use the book to make vegan treats for her kids. Aw!
Help save a couple creatures while eating a little healthier tonight at Khyber Pass Pub (56 S. Second St.) as they host the latest installment of Vegan Cocktails Philly, a traveling monthly mixer that promotes vegan awareness. From 6 p.m. to 1 a.m., KPP invites vegans, vegetarians and those who might still be stuck in a July 4 hamburger/hot dog coma to stop by and veg out on new food and drink. The Khyber, whose menu already favors options for the meatless, will tap a number of vegan beers, mix three vegan cocktails (Blackberry Palmer, Sourpuss, Melonhead) and offer eats like the vegan-friendly version of their delicious bacon grease popcorn, green tomato gazpacho, vegan Natchitoches meat pies, grilled sweet potato po'boys, Creole ratatouille, and of course dessert (vegan red velvet cupcakes). Prices for the event’s food and drink items are consistent with that of their regular menu.
Rich Landau says Saturday, July 2 will be the final day of service at Horizons (611 S. Seventh St.), he and wife/partner Kate Jacoby's lauded vegan eatery off South. (We had the full backstory on the closure back in April.) Between then and now, Landau promises he'll cook both "classics from days gone by and some tastes of what is next." No official word on the couple's new restaurant just yet but they hope to announce more details sometime next week. Here's the rundown on that spot, from our April post:
That new vision will be birthed in the hugely hopping Midtown Village area — Landau says they've narrowed their search down to three spaces in the neighborhood, but are "very close to signing with one." It'll be a small, 50- to 60-seat liquor-licensed restaurant (no name yet) with a focus on small/medium plates, as opposed to the more traditional appetizer/entrée/dessert approach. It'll also mark a definite shift in cooking style for Landau, who's well-known for his elaborate treatments of proteins like tofu, seitan and tempeh — he wants to bring the focus back squarely on the great variety of vegetables available to chefs in the region."Beautiful, amazing vegetables are our passion and inspiration right now," says Landau, "and we want them to be centerstage."
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