Booze and burgers at Sticky Fingers

In my previous post I endorsed the new liquor license at Sticky Fingers Sweet and Eats, which I sampled last month in the form of a mudslide (above). Here's the lowdown on that drink. The mudslide was a blend of vodka, Kahlúa, So Delicious, and chocolate syrup. It was an enjoyable, messy treat and a super-sweet cocktail.

I was less impressed with Sticky Fingers' beer selection. So far they seem to carry only two seasonal beers--Anderson Valley from CA and Founders from MI. While these are two respectable microbrews, I find it sad that there are no local options, especially knowing that DC is having a beer renaissance. Sticky Fingers has employed the excellent DC Brau in their stout cupcakes. Why not offer it up on the drinks menu too? (The café also carries wine but I'm a beer advocate, not a wine enthusiast, so can't offer opinions there.)

Asian burger

To balance out the boozy mudslide, my boyfriend and I revisited Sticky Fingers' burger options. We tried the Asian burger (top) and the Texas burger (bottom). Both featured Gardein's beefless burgers, which I had not experienced before. The Gardein patty provided a thick, "meaty" consistency but didn't have much flavor on its own. In terms of toppings, I preferred the slaw and aioli on the Asian burger to the the Daiya, tempeh, and ranch on the Texas burger. I also put Sriracha on the Asian burger, natch. The Lyon Bakery buns were very sturdy and I enjoyed the open-faced presentation.

Texas burger

Finally, we split a side of the sweet potato fries, a new menu item. These were a great burger accompaniment, affordable and nicely portioned. Plus, I love getting fast food in colorful baskets. It's another cheap thrill for vegans.

For these offerings and more, visit 1370 Park Rd NW, Washington, DC. It looks like Sticky Fingers is even planning a special New Year's Day brunch. I hope there are cocktails and sauerkraut.

Sweet potato fries

Some summer food scores

Here are three summer food scores that I've enjoyed recently. First, the fine slice of tomato pie (above) is from Jojo's Pizzeria in Ocean City, NJ. It's still difficult to find vegan slices on the boardwalk. Luckily, this spot, located at 1214 Boardwalk, and Primavera Restaurant, which I posted about last year, continue to offer tomato pie options.

Next up, from Sticky Fingers Sweets & Eats, a constant provider of great vegan food, is the Cookies 'n' Shake soy milk shake. Shakes are new on the WDC bakery menu and this decadent flavor is totally worth the $6.75. It came with a whole cookie on the bottom! Sweet touch.

Finally, here are some more beautiful fermented foods from Number 1 Sons, our expert local purveyors. On the left is the Acapulco Kraut, a sweet and tropical mix with cabbage, carrots, and onions. On the right is pickled beets with onion slivers. These beets rival my Mom's. 'Nuff said.  

Sticky Fingers' Breakfast Sandwich

As I wrote in February, I've been meaning to post more often about Sticky Fingers, DC's popular vegan bakery and café. The hot news is that they've recently applied for a liquor license. I can't wait to see what that brings to their tables. Maybe some wild and crazy alcohol/dessert concoctions? Or just a finely curated selection of microbrews?  

One of my favorite Sticky Fingers items is their perfectly sober breakfast sandwich. It's a "tofu egg" and veggie sausage combo with a nutritional yeast spread in a whole grain English muffin. Sold in the to-go case, this seemingly simple, plastic-wrapped bundle is a pocketful of flavor.

This is my favorite sandwich to pack for trips because they are sturdy and discrete. It also makes an excellent quick brunch item, especially if you have out-of-town guests to impress. When I'm serving them at home I usually warm the sandwich and add hot sauce. However, the sandwich also is fine cold or room temp. Enjoy it for breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, or late-night.  

Opened-faced sandwich with hot sauce addition

Firehouse Deli in Gaithersburg, MD

Note the Vegan sign!

Located at 6 Montgomery Village Ave., Firehouse Deli is tucked away in an unassuming corner of Gaithersburg, MD. It's on the ground floor of a nondescript office building that also houses a realtor and a bank. What strikes you about the storefront first is the large flashing lighted sign in their window that reads "Vegan." (And also "Gyros" at times.) Yes, talk about a tractor beam.

Inside the deli, you'll find a friendly owner and attentive staff who really bend over backwards to help their customers. And they do a brisk take-out business at lunch, although there are some seating options inside and inviting outdoor tables. If this deli was in downtown DC, there would be lines out the door and around the block.

The deli menu is a little confusing for ordering in terms of the vegan options. (With so many choices, it might be overwhelming for the non-vegan options too.) However the deli displays good signage to indicate that these options exist. And they have an extensive, up-to-date pdf list of vegan choices on their website.

Vegan reuben with pickle

I ordered a vegan Reuben, that was full of mock meat (Cedar Lake Vege-Corned Beef) and melted vegan cheese (Teese) on rye with extra sauerkraut. This messy and delicious Reuben compared favorably with the tempeh one that I had at Sticky Fingers in February. It also came with a pickle, natch.

There was another cheery "vegan" sign in the dessert case. So I got a chai cupcake, made by a local Gaithersburg bakery, Caked Up. (They feature a cute naked pear logo on their packaging.) The cupcake was nicely spiced and not cloyingly sweet.

The deli has many beverage options available, but I stuck with the free water. They also have fresh fruit, hummus, and chips. You could score a decadent picnic lunch and head off to explore the non-office park spaces of Gaithersburg.    

Chai cupcake from Caked Up

Sticky Fingers eats, part 1

I'm remiss to have posted so little about Sticky Fingers, DC's most excellent all-vegan bakery and cafe, located at 1370 Park Rd NW. Sticky Fingers was established in 1999 by Doron Petersan, who has penned a cookbook recently. The bakery also has won a couple of Food Network Cupcake Wars battles. 

For me, Sticky Fingers is like that beloved, local band that finds national fame. Now they are hugely popular--often with lines out the door and little available seating. I don't want to begrudge them their success. It's deserved: they are one of the hardest-working bakeries and have high-quality goods. However sometimes I'm nostalgic for their past incarnations, like the funky old location on 18th Street. (I think that was the first vegan bakery I ever visited.) But maybe I need to get over my "I knew them when..." bias and celebrate Sticky Fingers for its present awesomeness.

In fact, one of my New Year's Resolutions was to visit Sticky Fingers more often. (In Baltimore, I was trying to do the same with my favorite vegan restaurant in that city: The Land of Kush. Sadly, I moved away before I achieved "regular" patron status.) I've noticed that Bianca, at the blog Vegan Crunk, often posts about Imagine Vegan Cafe, her local favorite in Memphis. Maybe Sticky Fingers can be my repeat visit spot in the District? 

Here are photos from a recent visit to Sticky Fingers for lunch. Above is the hot cocoa, with foam made by a skilled barista. The cocoa wasn't too sweet, which is fine in my book. (The chalkboard menu also listed drinking chocolate, which I may have to try next time.) Below is the hot Tempeh Reuben sandwich, with tangy sauerkraut and Russian dressing on rye bread. It wasn't the hippie-style version with sprouts and avocado that I've had from other places. Instead it was reminiscent of a grilled cheese, very compact and flaky. I do wish they'd serve it with a pickle.  

I enjoyed this sandwich at the sunny window counter. It's a good people-watching spot, looking out at the entrance to the Columbia Heights Giant. The cafe also has ample outdoor seating for nicer weather and some killer to-go offerings. Plus a whole bakery case of sweets, including those famous cupcakes. Yes, this post will be "part 1" of many for 2013.

Dirty Carrots opens Fells Point storefront

This past Saturday, Dirty Carrots opened their Fells Point storefront at 600 South Wolfe Street, with its entrance on Fleet Street. It is a tiny takeaway spot, offering an array of vegan sweets, mainly packed into one display case. Despite the odd moniker, Dirty Carrots bakery is my go-to source for baked goods in Baltimore. I frequent their stand at the Sunday Baltimore Farmers' Market and seek out their items at coffee shops around town. This new location has limited coffee shop hours, open daily from 7:30am-1:30pm.

There are few thrills like taking a coffee and a freshly baked vegan treat onto the street. And Fells Point is a fun area to explore while munching on baked goods. Below are photos of the brownie and coffeecake that my boyfriend and I scored and quickly devoured. The brownie, available with or without nuts, was moist and chocolaty. It reminded me a little of Sticky Fingers Bakery's Jenny's Brownie, a DC favorite. The decadent coffeecake had the correct springy texture, dense without being heavy.    

In addition to its baked goods, the new Dirty Carrots location features fresh brewed, fair trade, locally roasted coffee with a nice assortment of vegan creamers, spices, and sweeteners. They also have some "penny candy" for sale, the kind that makes PETA's "Accidentally Vegan" list. (I consult this list every Halloween to prepare for trick-or-treaters.)

L.A. bites - Downtown eats

Here are some photos from a recent trip to Los Angeles. It was my first visit to "The City of Angels," and my boyfriend and I went car-free. So we focused our eating on downtown, Hollywood (easily metro-able), and Venice Beach (handy by bus). L.A. seems like a very veg-friendly city, with a global range of dining options. This post features our downtown eats. Hollywood and Venice will appear tomorrow.    

First up was vegan menudo (pictured above) at Más Malo, 515 W 7th St. Más Malo is swanky spot, with a spacious bar and restaurant. Like most of downtown L.A., it was an architecturally stunning space, that once a fancy jewelry store. I've never had regular menudo (ugh) before, so I don't know how to compare but it was subtly flavored, served with lime, avocado, and other fixings. We also tried a great messy soyrizo torta (sandwich) that didn't photograph as nicely but was delicious.  Más Malo serves inventive cocktails and Mexican beer.  

Next was taquitos and vegan french toast from Tierra Café. Located in a food court at 818 Wilshire Blvd, Tierra Café was my favorite spot of the trip. It had great, affordable food that was proudly served by a gracious Asian couple. Their menu is ambitious, featuring many breakfast and lunch options, plus juices and elixir tonics.  The café is all vegetarian, with vegan options for everything upon request. The taquitos were the winner of these two dishes, topped with guacamole, soy cheese, and a delicious green enchilada sauce. The french toast was also tasty; made with wholesome whole wheat bread. It came with real maple syrup and soy butter. We also enjoyed an excellent beet juice.       

These half sandwiches were from Mendocino Farms, a busy California Plaza lunch spot.  The menu lists these sandwiches as "vegan...that taste good," which seems like a left-handed compliment. However they did, in fact, taste good. On the left, is the vegan bahn mi, which was full of crunchy pickled veggies and tofu.  On the right is an inventive shawarma, that had chick peas swimming in a tzatziki sauce.    

These sweets were from BabyCakes NYC, 130 East 6th Street.  I've never been to a BabyCakes bakery before and I was impressed.  The chocolate dipped donut was out of this world. Homer Simpson-worthy! The brownie bite was a decadent nibble and the cookie was freshly-baked, gooey, and warm.  

To balance out the sweets, we had great whole fruit smoothies at Sustain Juicery, located at 6th Street and Harlem Place. This smoothie-of-the-day was berrylicious. I also tried the "Endless Summer," an inspired combination of raw cacao, maca, coconut, and banana.       

Finally, these brunch plates were from Nickel Diner at 524 Main Street. It was fun to visit a diner again. (I miss The Lost City Diner in Baltimore and hope it reopens soon.) These two vegan options were excellent.  Although I didn't need all the vegan cheese, what with the rich avocados. On the left is the vegan ranchero made with tofu. On the right is a spicy chili. Both were super satisfying. And the attentive diner staff hooks you up with both Tabasco and Tapatío hot sauces.