Vegan Fried Chicken Crawl - East Bay

Recently my dude and I had a few days in one week in the East Bay. I decided to try out all the vegan chicken options so I can work on my own at home. Here is my rundown. Clockwise from top.

Souley Vegan: Chicken and Waffles. This was the least favorite chicken I had. It was seitan based and we both found it rubbery - which can happen with seitan that is worked to much. Too bad because the waffle was like the best waffle every - moist and cloud like.

Butcher's Son: The Classic Chicken Sandwich. The best chicken from the three above. Crispy and flavorful. The bread was perfect, kinda sweet smelling, I swore it smelled like a donut! The slaw added a light crunch to the sandwich. I tend to always order a chicken sandwich at Butcher's Son - they are always good!

Hella Vegan Eats: Chicken and Biscuit Burger: Really good! Big fat piece of chicken - nicely seasoned. The biscuit was top notch - really buttery and fluffy. I think the apple slaw and pickles was what distracted me from the burger. I think one could be eliminated and things would be better. The fries were top notch and tasty!


Back to the test kitchen working on my own chicken!

The Butcher's Son Berkeley, CA Review

For the last few weeks pictures rolled in on social media of The Butcher's Son. Matt and I put it on our list of must try places with each new photo that we saw. a 100% vegan deli - yes please! We got there at lunch time on a dreary Saturday and the small spot was packed. The case was pretty empty but after looking at the menu up front we saw they were not sold out yet. We got our order to go just in case a seat would not open up. We got lucky and a seat opened up though.

We both decided to try the Cotija cheeze so we bought a sample sized piece, I am not really a cheeze person but this was so good. Dry and salty and just perfect.

We both decided on the Sriracha peppersteak sandwich with potato salad as our side. We heard my name called and Matt got up to get our order only to see someone else walk off with it. After telling them what happened they made our meal again. Ughh the wait!

Photo courtesy of Matt - I was busy eating.  The sandwich is so legit. It truly tastes like a deli sandwich and not some fast food chain mumbo jumbo. Seitan based steak, peppers, veggies, sauce and crusty (not hard) bread. Every bite is an explosion of flavors. The sandwich is huge - so come hungry or split one. The sandwich + side is like $11, which is not bad. We have paid the same for a sandwich that lacked 90% of what these bad dudes pack. The potato salad is really good too, it has a savory smokey flavor and a crunch on the potatoes.

As we wrapped up our meal I saw someone with a cannoli and made Matt go get one.  Growing up these were a staple at Christmas gatherings. My grandma would make them and an assortment of other Sicilian treats. I never cared for them as a kid - maybe because I was busy with all the other food. I have been nostalgic for good Sicilian/Italian pastry forever. While the cannoli was good I do not think it was a cannoli. The shell was lacking crunch which was disappointing, it was more of a French pastry shell. Also the creamy center was missing that tang you get after the sweetness melts away. If they worked out the kinks I would eat more than one! Would it be too much to ask for a espresso machine too?

Go to The Butcher's Son and have one of the best sandwiches ever. From what I understand they are still working out hour-day kinks. Check online to see their current schedule and see what they are serving. They are located 1941 University Ave, Berkeley, Ca. 100% vegan and awesome!

Getting Back Into The Swing Of Things

Many of you know how sick I was for the last few weeks. I had a really nasty flu bug in my system that wiped me out. Even past the contagious point I was still feeling weak and could not eat normally. Last Friday we started feeling better (yes boyfriend was sick to - he brought the bug home!) so we decided to head out to the East Bay to eat and enjoy fresh air.

We started it off right eating lunch at Flacos. I always go for the hurrache. Look at all the pretty radish slices!

Moon pie (gluten free to boot) via Timeless Coffee Roasters - since I have been sick coffee tastes bad to me, but I did order an almond milk latte to go with my treat.

I had to walk around the area and shop before leaving. I had to treat myself to some soy fro-yo via Tutti Frutti - refreshing and tasty with fresh berries!

All the sweet fuel pumped me up for cemetery exploring in Mountain View. I have been on a purple lipstick mood - this is Too Faced Melted Metal in Jelly - 100% vegan and cruelty free! The family in this section all had stones that were laying down. I am not sure why but they were all older.

Best part of the cemetery trip DEER!!!!! Look at this fawn! The baby was with the mama and we saw the dad down by the river. It was so awesome!

We ended the night at Zachery's. We got our usual - vegan deep dish with zucchini and jalapenos. It was so good. I kept thinking of pizza and wanting to eat it as soon as I got better.

 

So we never get sick again - never ever I have been blessing this house like crazy - and washing all the surfaces we touched!  

I hope everyone is doing well and remember wash your hands and stay away from germs. Being sick with the flu is no joke!

EBABZ 2014 - New Zine

I tabled at EBABZ on Saturday. I was so happy to be there! My mood has been dark and rather gloomy due to anxiety but I was happy to be going and I put all of my fears aside to think of happy rainbows and meeting new people.
We started on the wrong foot, the alarm clock did not go off but Mady woke us up in time though. I scarfed down a bowl of cereal, took a shower smeared on some black eyeliner and off we went. Traffic was good, we got there when the doors were opening to the public, jumped out with my stuff and let Matt find parking. I set up my zines and met my table mate and proceeded to engage in as much zine talk, trading and putting myself out there as I could for the next seven hours.
Thanks to Matt and not thanks to not getting an extra chair Matt and I switched off table duty. Me heading to the farmer's market to get Flacos's, tofu sushi and coffee to try and wake myself up early on and him later on getting me an almond milk late to kick start my heart mid fest. We also took turns walking around both levels, buying zines, buying art, trading, seeing friends and making new ones.
By the end of the event I only had two zines left, a bag full of zines to read and a happy feeling that stretched through to every cell in my body.

After the zine fest I needed more coffee so we walked around. I grabbed another almond milk late, a vegan cookie to share with Matt and encountered some of the biggest fluffiest cats I have seen around town. In turn for good cat energy I bought them some treats and their human companion a smoothie. We made our way to Fantastic Comics and made our purchases just as protestors, cops and the helicopters were coming our way. I am all for protesting but getting caught up in a crowed with violence is not my thing. We went to Telegraph and found that a handful of the stores were closed because of protestors, bought some music/movies and went to go grab some food.We made our way back through Berkeley to Oakland's Whole Foods, bought food and shared some sweet confection from the bakery on our trip home.

I am still recovering! I have so many new zines to read, people to find and I need to catch up on some sleep. I am making my way to the printers this week to restock my zine supplies. I do have issue #13 of The Stay At Home Girlfriend out now, just listed. It made it's debut at EBABZ and sold out fast. I also want to give a zine shout out to No Means Yes, Right? A Street Harassment Guide - I have a small piece on my mean face in this issue!

CREAM Berkeley

When we were in Berkley last weekend hunting for music and movies on Telegraph when we spotted an unusual sight! CREAM did not have a waiting line! So we ran in, looked over the menu and settled on soy vanilla ice cream hugged between two massive vegan chocolate chip walnut cookies! $3.99 for this massive sharable treat. We ate it on the street in bliss and it fueled us for our shopping adventures! I will go back - even if there is a line! Bonus: the staff were friendly and they asked customers about allergy concerns!

Bay Area Ladyfest - Zine Fest

Here is my table for the Bay Area Lady Fest Zine fest in Berkley last weekend. I brought all my issues of The Stay At Home Girlfriend including 11 that I printed and stapled the night before. I also had to bring some of my classics like the Easy Vegan to round out my table.My sign markers were construction paper kittens I spent some time cutting out!

We were on time and some may evenn say early! That's a first because I am constantly behind schedule. I set up my table and told Matt that I was going to scope out the coffee place out front. The coffee place was a big deal to me, I searched online beforehand for coffee places nearby but could find nothing.

Not only did Rasa Caffee have almond milk lates that tasted of rose petal and spice, they had vegan doughnuts from Peeples! I was happy to have a warm drink and something sweet to share with Matt to perk my tired bones up.I came to the even not feeling good, allergies and the effects of crappy sleep were effecting me.

I did have a good time staying until 4 when the crowed started to thin. I sold zines, traded zines, made friends and just talked to people - many who inspired me for future projects. I missed out on workshops but I was busy getting my zines out and chatting up people. I left feeling really happy!

 

I took home a phat stack of zines that have been my constant companion as I rest and catch up on sleep.

All in all a good day. I just wish (Matt said this as well) that more people came out. Throughout the day it was a rotating cast of about 20 people, same in, same out. I did make fliers for the event, passed them out - it worked. I also tried hitting up online spots and posting the event. I do not know if it was lack of promoting or lack of zine love. Whatever, again I had fun.

East Bay Eats & Stuff

The last few weekends Matt and I have been in the East Bay every weekend. Concerts, food, art galleries, food, film fests, food, passing out fliers....food! Yes, we love our food!

Eat Real Fest was awesome once again. We got to try S+M Vegan and I fell in love with their bbq slider.  We also snacked on Spicy Balovento chocolate, Seitan wingz from Souley Vegan and filled up our water bottle a few times from the water spot!

 

A bite of heaven: A Mollie Rose bun stuffed with bbq pulled seitan, aioli and slaw. 

Wingz!

My new fave chocolate from Barlovento Chocolates - went to the Grand Lake Farmer's Market the next weekend to buy more.

Hello Source Mini - sorry it took us so long to get on over to you. Now we cannot leave! We finally made our way over to Source Mini after missed meetings, not finding the location, hesitation - all lame excuses. After we both tried burgers we just fell in love. This Source outpost has the original beat tenfold, customer service and food improvement alone has me doing my best Fonz with two thumbs in the air.  The burgers are house made patties composed of beets so you get that lovely red tint to your bite. The fries are done to perfection and I love mine drenched in garlic aioli (I can drink the stuff). This is our new spot and we hit it up both days we were in town and already planning our next burger run.

Spicy Peper & Onions - My fave because of Sriracha!

 

 Grand Lake Farmer's Market picnic spread via Liba Fallafel. 

 

 Power snacks to power us  through a cemetery hike and magazine shopping via Timeless Coffee.

 

 While on Piedmont we hung out at a pumpkin patch and the hay made my butt itch.

 

We will be back shortly to the East Bay. More burgers, cemeteries and chocolate treats to come! We have some zine-film stuff in the works so I will be talking about that shortly so stay tuned!

Recent Foods Eats - Kitchen & East Bay

I bought The Oh She Glows cookbook right away. Since I am a fan of the blog and the recipes I know the book would make me happy and our bellies happy. I have tried a few recipes and our fave is the balsamic tempeh. It smells so good in the oven and once out of oven, the flavors are simple but magical.

I tossed the tempeh on a salad with roasted chickpeas, hummus, dressing and greens. A slice off leftover bread toasted rounded out the meal. I am making the tempeh again tonight, another salad combo but with a few twists, like a different dressing. I used to buy dressing all the time - now I have my mini mason jars and love combining oils, vinegars and spices to create my own.

We spent last weekend in San Francisco and Berkeley. I bought some kitchen and lunch essentials at Republic of V.  The chips are tasty, light cheeze flavor, not super oily like other chips and have a strong crunch factor without cutting into one's gums.

We ate at Flaco's twice over the weekend. Both times I got the huarache plate with black beans! The extra thick corn tortillia is so good! The huarache is my go to as well as stealing bites off Matt's taquito plate.

Speaking of picking off Matt's plate...He ordered the savory brunch on Sunday at Timeless. I have a headache and lack of sleep had the genius idea to have more caffiene and a bear claw...I picked off his plate of french toast delight....Then ordered myself more sugar and coffee to go!

On Monday to keep it simple and clean up all the fried food and caffeine in my system it was gluten free pizza night and a simple salad tossed with red wine vinaigrette and topped with hummus.

The Bone Room In Berkeley, CA

I checked out The Bone Room in Berkeley last Saturday. This is the type of store one can get lost in for hours. Bones, specimen, vintage medical equipment, art and a laid back yet helpful staff and owner.If you are a fan of the show Oddities and like the store Loved To Death in San Francisco, then check out this store. I like it so much more, friendlier staff, allows photos, not 20 security guards in a cramped space...Young and old were in the shop chatting about nature, bone readings and having a good time.

Fetal skeleton: could not get a great shot, it was behind the case at an odd angle. This was in the museum next door, it is an annex to the shopping store next door with more art, books and vintage/rarer stuff to buy. The owner hangs out here - he was supper nice letting me play with his vintage medical scalpels.

A fetus skull cast. Would make an interesting specimen for your coffee table.

On a budget but still want some human bones? Then go with foot bones! $5 a pop! They also had jars of teeth that were pretty cheap.

The shop was loaded with butterflies. My favorite was a Mormon butterfly (not pictured) that was black and red - super cool.

While I am not into taxidermy or animal parts, bones and creepy coffins and tools interest me and have so since I was young. My mom in fact would bring me home casket literature if she had to go to a funeral home...I walked away from the bone room with some fossils that hopefully will be made into jewelry, a broken vintage ceramic doll (they sell doll parts!) and a Bone Room patch. I can't wait to go back, my eye is set on some jewelry and books!

Pizza Moda - Berkeley, CA

Matt and I (especially me!) were craving pizza! As many know - a good pizza makes both of us happy. After doing a bit of searching I came across Pizza Moda and it fit the bill and then some. I was looking for a cozy place with a good amount of seating, a few vegan pizza options plus a salad and good feedback.

Pizza Moda has a private parking lot! Yes!!! No driving around for a half hour trying to find a place to park, then walking five blocks to find the restaurant is booked for two hours. Upon arriving the atmosphere is nice, vintage Italian movie posters on the wall, spacious seating, a warm cozy fire, a clean bathroom.
Service is prompt, we were seated right next to the fire, I got nice and toasty. We were served olives and wine glasses of water. We settled on the vegan kale Caesar and the Calabrian Chili pizza with vegan cheeze (Daiya) and vegan sausage.

The kale salad came out first and it was awesome! The dressing was creamy, the kale was soft and all the flavors balanced it out well. The crunchy topping was yeasty and cheezey. I told myself to save it to go with the pizza - I could not stop grabbing bites of it though!

Shortly after the pizza came out. We dug in right away. The crust was good - even though we both like a thicker crust - we liked this one. It held it's shape and did not get soggy or fall apart.  The chili added a nice kick to the pizza (I even added red pepper flakes because I like it hot). The toppings were nice - the perfect amount.

The staff checked on us numerous times, refilled our water glasses and were super nice. We had the option of two types of vegan cake at the end but passed, we had to get over to Whole Foods to do shopping. We will be going back for sure! Maybe this weekend! 

East Bay Vegan Sweets

Some yummy treats were had in Berkeley last weekend besides the cupcakes from the RPSC event.

We finally made it to Cinnaholic before meeting up with friends at Saturn Cafe to score a cinnamon roll. We just went for fast and picked a already made brownie chunk combo. The treat was made within ten minutes and was perfectly warm in my hands, I wanted to dig in right then but was saving the treat till we were on our way home later in the night.
The cinnamon roll was super good even after sitting in the car for a few hours. My favorite part was the frosting - I can see why people do frosting shots of this stuff! Next time I am going to get seperate rolls for Matt and I - that way I can go crazy with flavors and he can play it safe!

After dinner we decided to go grab a cup of coffee, as we rounded the corner everyone stopped at Cakes and Purls window, Matt was like "they have vegan stuff"...I ran in, plunked down $3 for a vegan banana cream cupcake and took a card to go. The shop was cute, the owner/person behind the counter was nice and it had me thinking I really need to get out my knitting needles!
The cupcake got a lil squished by the next day, but it was still tasty. I liked the cake part, Mar did too. Nice real banana flavor and moist. I am not a frosting person (unless it is like a cinnamon roll drizzle or something cream cheeze based) so my "meh" on the frosting is not important, but Matt said it was good.

Birthday Celebration Food, Friends & Fun

I turned 34 last Friday! Yay right! Matt spoiled me, Mar feels better (we are still trying to balance his numbers) and we got to spend time on Saturday in the lovely East Bay.

First up we shared some taquitos at Flacos, I ordered a side salad, Matt had the refried beans. I love the taste of the fried corn shell the best. I am always the fool forgetting how hot the hot sauce really is...


I stopped by Lush in Emeryville - spent way to much money. Looked around some other stores and stocked up on nonperishable items at Whole Foods in Oakland. Then off to Berkeley to enjoy friends, pizza and cake!

Saturday was International Vegan Pizza day so to celebrate that and my birthday you know pizza was on the menu! Gigi and Larry invited us over for Zachary's deep dish pizza but when we got there Gigi announced she was making a pesto pizza while we waited for Zachary's to be finished. Larry busted out a salad and we munched away.  Pictured above is a slice of Zachary's and Larry's yummy salad! Perfect combo!

So if the good could not get any better Gigi busted out a sugar free - vegan - peanut butter - chocolate cake that was to die for! Served with some Rice Dream it was super heavenly! Gigi has mad baking skills - check out her Etsy shop Veganville for some classic treats with a twist!

Thank you Gigi and Larry for making me feel special! You really made my day! Thank you to Matthew my wonderful boyfriend who took me up to the East Bay and did not even flinch when he looked at the $14 bottle of vegan sauce I wanted - paid with a smile.

We will be back in a few weeks lovely East Bay to celebrate some movie night fun staring Matt's work....Oh and Lush - try not to drain my wallet this time around! :)

Eats Of The Week

Almond milk cappuccino from Timeless Roasters in Oakland.

 

Salad for lunch at Golden Lotus - random lunch since it was not our first option in Oakland. 

 

Dosa at Udupi  in Berkeley for dinner, I loved the coconut chutney but the service needed improvement.

Avo-Toast (Crazy Sexy Kitchen  - gift from a friend) with red pepper flakes on Judy's Breadstick bread - omg so good!

Taco night Tuesday, tempeh tacos from the I love Cooking With Trader  Joe's Vegetarian cookbook (my fave cookbook lately!). I topped them with avocado and Daiya shreds. Served with red rice and chili and lime spiked jicama.

What have you been eating?

Oakland & Berkeley - Yet Again

On Friday we hit up Oakland and Berkeley for food and fun! We tried some new things out this time around.

After hearing so many good things about Timeless Coffee Roasters we had to go grab a snack and a drink. I did not know everything was vegan, mainly because only some things said vegan and there was no menu. I did know what to get since viewing pictures people have posted around various sources.

We had to get the spicy hot chocolate with almond milk - it was national hot chocolate day and again after seeing it posted I wanted that! We shared that and a piece of carrot cake. I bought coffee and cherry pistachio biscotti to take home.Yummy all around!

Oakland Whole Foods had us searching for eczema cream (did not find) and vegan jelly doughnuts (which we found and were not to impressed with). I bought all of the hickory flavored Primal Strips for Matt's lunch because we hardly find that one here and it is his fave flavor. Oakland Whole Foods has got to be our fave Whole Foods location.

Off to Berkeley - which took us 30 minutes to get to, but we saw some cool houses and such. Why to Berkeley? Natures Express and GiGi of course! I got to have a kale and avocado wrap (which she ordered too) and a side of vegan chat. Our significant other chatted as well and oddly ordered the same meal!

We were in Oakland for a concert, the concert turned out to be not so great - house party and freezing cold. However, we had a great time! We will be back soon!

[Vegan MOFO Day 11] Weekend Round Up: Busy In 2 Cities

OK, so 2 cities is a lie...it was more like 4 but whatever!

Friday night Matt and I just chilled at home, after shopping for a bit. Matt updated his PS3, I read and we went to bed early...but with our porch light being repaired, a meow-y Mar and the PS3 needing attention my sleep was not all that great.

Saturday we got up early - for a weekend, but decided to be lazy in bed. So our plans kept changing. We decided to go up to Oakland and grab a light lunch-snack since we were having an early dinner.

 

Once in Oakland we headed to Whole Foods, we grabbed vegan taquitos from the hot case and a Blue Print Juice. Normally I would not spend $8 on one bottle of juice but I was curious about all the hype. I picked out the lemon cayenne agave - since I like sweet and hot. It was not really sweet but it had a kick. Would I spend $8 on it again? Most likely not! I will just get some lemonade and add a pinch of cayenne! 

We scored vegan samples of some yummy food demos that day. Some rad products that I will blog about later this week! 

We tried to do some shopping and it did not really work out. So we headed to Berkeley along the ocean route to meet up with GiGi  from Veganville and her husband at Nature's Express for dinner. We were on a tight sceduale because we had to drive back to Emeryville for Matt's film night...

GiGi interviewed me for her blog - she will post it later for MOFO and made us sinfully rich cake in jars - well, that is what I called them! Yummy chocolate parfaits with light airy coconut cream...I was so happy meeting her and her husband! Super nice people who made my night right!

So we love Nature's Express. The food is awesome, the service is fast and I like everything I have tried! 

Stellar burrito - spicy, sweet and comforting!

I ate it with a side of chili.

Matt got busy with a chik-un melt and fries!

We headed back to Emeryville and watched movies, including Matt's...Hung out and then decided to head back over to Whole Foods to get some perishables before going home. We found Beyond Meat in the hot case - in the form of a green chile sauce base, so good, Matt and I wished we got more. We saw a few people go for it while we were packing our box up - it is popular and I hope to see it out on the market full force!

What is rad about WF Oakland is they have vegan pizza by the slice...When you are going close to closing and the slices are getting small - you might get lucky and get a free slice like we did! Score! We had food in the parking lot, went across the street to 7-11 and got coffee to take on the road and headed home.

Fun times! We will be back in the East Bay soon enough! We love it there!!!