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The Vermilion Room
10 West Hubbard
Chicago, Illinois
312.527.4060
www.thevermilionrestaurant.com
Second location:
480 Lexington Ave.
New York, New York
212.871.6600
Latin-Indian cuisine may sound like some bizarre fusion food fad, but at The Vermilion Room in Chicago (and New York) the unusual combination not only works, but works well.
The fashionable restaurant in Chicago's River North blends ingredients from diverse regions to produce dishes that include artichoke pakoras with eggplant-chili-coconut sauce (top) and the spicy but luscious Indian cheese, Mexican 'truffle' crepe with Inca red quinoa and papadum (above). Dishes are hot, but ask for a little coconut milk to calm any overly fiery sensations.
The menu offers a choice of small plates and entrees. There is a separate vegetarian menu as well as a $70 vegetarian tasting menu. (There are plenty of items on the main menu for die-hard carnivore companions.)
While plenty of experimental cuisines come and go, this is one that should have staying power.
Carmelita
7314 Greenwood Ave. North
Seattle, WA
206.706.7703
www.carmelita.net
Many restaurants have their own gardens to deliver the freshest food possible to the table. But Camelita not only delivers fresh from its garden, but does so with original and unique combinations that surprise and delight. It's not every restaurant that has on its menu wild nettle spaetzle or almond-bamboo rice bon-bons or wild ramps on pizza. But Carmelita does so, and does it very well.
The wild nettle spaetzle (below) with sun-dried tomatoes, morels, sunchoke slivers and truffle oil was a flavorful pasta combination. The wild nettle pasta would have held up well all on its own, but was enhanced with the harmonious incorporation of the other ingredients.
Yakima Valley asparagus risotto (below) was tasty and cooked well, but overwhelmed the toasted cumin-pumpkin seed pesto.
Desserts are given as much attention here as the entrees. A molten chocolate cake was rich and moist with a perfect creamy center. Chocolate mousse with first-of-the-season cherries (below) was so rich and flavorful, it was difficult to believe it was vegan. (It was made with semi-sweet and dark chocolate, tofu and soy milk.)
Carmelita is all-vegetarian, with many offerings being vegan. Starters run about $12, entrees are about $18 and desserts are about $8. Wine and beer are available.
Carmelita's menu is creative and original, but the focus on good-tasting food is not overshadowed by the chef's desire to showcase his own skills or unusual recipe combinations. Quite the opposite. Carmelita is a vegetarian restaurant not to be missed.
Lumiere
2551 Broadway West
Vancouver, B.C.
Canada
604.739.8185
www.lumiere.ca
I first ate at Lumiere a few years ago, and found it good though not great. Well, much can change in a few years. Now remodeled and under the direction of celebrated chef Daniel Boulud and executive chef Dale MacKay, the restaurant shines like a brilliant gem.
Although situated on busy Broadway, Lumiere has a contemporary yet romantic dining room warmly decorated in shades of brown with music from Buddha Bar CDs playing in the background. The restaurant offers a six-course vegetarian menu for $135 or an early (before 7 p.m.) three-course menu for $55.
While I often find a tasting menu to have one or two dishes that seem a bit experimental and to not quite work, every morsel I had at Lumiere proved to be excellent, from the sweet pea soup with mint foam offered as an amuse bouche to the post-dessert madeleines.
My standout course was a sweet pea ravioli with champagne foam. Each little bite produced a sweet and wonderful explosion of flavor.
For dessert, the hot and cold Black Forest sundae was presented with a thin disc of chocolate covering a bowl. When hot, dark chocolate sauce was poured over the disc, it melted through, exposing vanilla ice cream and cherries underneath. The taste combination was sublime.
It's no surprise Lumiere has received a lengthy list of awards and is often referred to in reviews as the best restaurant in Vancouver. It definitely offers an unparalleled feast for vegetarians.
Alex
Wynn Hotel
3131 Las Vegas Boulevard S.
Las Vegas, Nevada
www.wynn.com
As it seems all the U.S.'s top chefs have a restaurant in Las Vegas, selecting one took a bit of thought. I wanted a restaurant where providing a vegetarian menu was not an afterthought, but something well planned and done on a nightly basis. Alex at the Wynn seemed to fit what I was looking for.
The reviews for Alex can't seem to get any better. The restaurant has twice been awarded two stars from Michelin, and chef Alessandro Stratta has been recognized as the best chef in the Southwest by the James Beard Foundation. People I know who've eaten there, including vegetarians, give it high praise.
Amid such high acclaim, I was expecting great things. Unfortunately, I was disappointed.
I had the seven-course vegetable tasting menu at $130. While some dishes were wonderful - the fava bean and spinach lasagne with sweet pea emulsion and wild mushrooms (below), in particular - some felt like a thrown together hodge-podge. The roasted purple cauliflower with black truffles, ginger-poached rhubarb and endive marmalade (above) simply didn't work. The flavors didn't coalesce and complement, they stood apart. And while there may have been a couple of flakes of black truffles, there certainly wasn't enough to impart any flavor.
The first course - a 1" square of thinly sliced watermelon with a few leaves of arugula and a drizzle of balsamic - had a decent flavor, but was so simplistic it belonged as an amuse bouche at a raw foods restaurant, but not on the tasting menu at Alex.
A bright spot were the wine pairings. The sommelier did a great a job delivering innovative vintages that worked well with each course. At $60, the pairings were a stunning bargain.
There is so much competition for top-level vegetarian dining experiences that Alex needs to raise their bar if they wish to remain a player.
