Medellin's Herbario Worth the Trip

Herbario
Carrera 43D 10-30
Medellin, Colombia
+57.4.311.2537
www.elherbario.com

Colombia was the last place I expected to find one of the better vegetarian meals I've had. South America is traditionally known for its beef, not its ways with produce. But Herbario in Medellin proved to be a phenomenal restaurant that offered a varied menu, primarily focused on chicken, fish and beef, but with a few vegetarian gems.
Among the starters, goat cheese served with apple and merlot-soaked pear (above) was light and flavorful. The cheese had a smooth and creamy texture that perfectly complemented the pear. A medley of mushrooms covered in gruyere (below) with pesto and fresh herbed goat cheese was a hearty appetizer that had the texture of a savory stuffing. The sharp and cool herbed goat cheese provided a nice contrast.
Tofu (below) with sweet red pepper, tomato and potatoes in a mild bean sauce was an incredible combination of flavors.
Mushroom risotto (below) in mushroom sauce with crispy fried cheese was rich and savory. While one would expect a mushroom overload, the dish was mild and well-balanced, with the sauce coming across as a mild mole.
The restaurant is warm and comfortable and the staff is very friendly and attentive. There is an adjoining shop to purchase a variety of restaurant-prepared sauces. There is also a full bar and wine list. Entrees are about US $13 and appetizers are about $7.

Los Angeles' Cru Offers World Tour of Raw Foods

Cru
1521 Griffith Park Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026
323.667.1551
www.crusilverlake.com

This vegan, (mostly) raw foods restaurant in Los Angeles' trendy Silver Lake offers a varied and eclectic menu that takes inspiration from cuisines from around the world. Offerings range from Asian noodle bowls to curried squash soup to ravioli and pizza.

Dinner began with spring rolls (above) wrapped in thinly sliced cucumbers and filled with sprouts, cabbage, shiitake mushrooms and avocado served with a sweet chili sauce. This could have used more avocado and mushroom and fewer greens. The sauce overcame the blandness and added some flavor, but, in general, this dish did nothing to dispel the stereotype weeds-and-seeds vegan fare.

The jicama ravioli (above) filled with cashew nut cheese and topped with pumpkin seed pesto had a good combination of bold flavors. It's understandably the restaurant's signature dish.


The spicy raw vegan chorizo tostada (above) was flavorful, but not overly innovative. The shell was difficult to cut and overly chewy. The chorizo had a nice texture and a zesty bite.

The desserts were among the standouts at Cru. The coconut chocolate pie (below) was light and fluffy, yet had the perfect chocolate flavor. The orange zest on top was a great accent.


The chocolate truffle cake (below) was like cutting into a candy bar. It was seriously rich, thick and firm. The flavor was pure chocolate. I would guess it had 75 to 80 percent dark chocolate, just a hint of bitterness coming on the finish.

Service is friendly and efficient, but you may need to ask for information about the dishes as it's unlikely to be offered otherwise.

Cru does not offer wine, but you can bring your own and there is no corkage fee.

The restaurant does not take reservations, except for parties of six or more, and it does fill up quickly. It opens for dinner at 5:30 p.m. daily, and by 6 p.m. there are people waiting. The restaurant is quite small - it seats about 20 - and there is no entry way separate from the restaurant. Those who chose to wait inside to be seated can be a distraction and can negatively impact the otherwise easy-going atmosphere.

Entrees run about $13-$15, with starters and desserts about $8.

Horizons Heats Up James Beard House With Vegan Dinner

Horizons
611 S. 7th Street
Philadelphia, PA
215.923.6117
www.horizonsphiladelphia.com

James Beard Foundation
167 W. 12th St.
New York, NY
212.627.1064
www.jamesbeard.org

No sooner did the notice from Vegetarian Times hit my Facebook page than I picked up the phone and made a reservation. For the first time in 23 years, the James Beard Foundation was having a vegan dinner – a vegan dinner prepared by Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby of the highly acclaimed Horizons vegan restaurant in Pennsylvania at Beard’s Greenwich Village townhouse. This was an opportunity I couldn’t miss.



Beard’s townhouse was left to Reed College, but chefs such as Julia Child thought the place needed to be preserved for food events. So with help from folks like Wolfgang Puck, they put on fundraisers and managed to buy it and create the foundation. Now there are food events there about 250 days a year.

When I arrived, the place was already packed. Guests walk through the living room, into the kitchen and in the back to the atrium, where hors d’oeuvres and sparkling wine are served.Some of the wines for the evening (above).

Hors d'oeuvres included:
Oyster mushroom fritters with aguardiente creamed spinach Black olive blini with truffle cream, golden beet relish and seaweed caviar (above)

Edamame purée with crispy sushi rice, gochujang, daikon and nori dust

Grilled seitan with crispy tortillas, whipped avocado, cilantro and green olive relish

Dinner began with portobello carpaccio (above) with crispy capers, rosemary mustard and spaghetti squash latke. It was served with a 2007 Sella & Mosca La Cala Vermentino. The mushroom on this was sliced incredibly thin, giving it a very different texture. It was excellent.

The next course was saffron–cauliflower bisque with fennel confit crostini and oloroso sherry cream. It was served with a 2008 A to Z Pinot Gris from Pennsylvania, which was a very pleasant surprise. All of us at our table were completely taken with it.

The caramelized celery root ravioli with charred brussels sprouts, smoked royal trumpet mushrooms, and sage-grain mustard emulsion was the one dish that didn't quite work for me, although the brussels sprouts were very tasty and nicely cooked. This was served with Chaddsford Winery 2007 pinot "NoPinot" noir.Peppercorn-seared tofu (above) with creamed leek and truffled parsnip purée, salt-roasted golden beets, hazelnuts, and apple cider vinegar reduction was outstanding. I generally don't eat tofu, preferring vegetables instead of substitutions for animals, but this was so tasty and nicely flavored and had a wonderful rich texture. It was another of the standout dishes of the evening.

The heirloom pumpkin cheesecake with chestnut candy and quince jam was made with tofu and was so rich, smooth and creamy, I never would have known had I not been told.

Chef Landau mingled with guests after dinner, and it was truly a lot of fun to eat at the Beard house with so many mementos throughout the house.

There were likely 80-100 guests at dinner. Cost was $100 for members and $125 for non-members. I was told this was a bigger turnout than at most dinners. I was thrilled as this would seem to bode well for future vegan and vegetarian dinners at the Beard house.

Ten Tables May Just Be Ten (or Twenty) Too Many

Ten Tables
5 Craigie Circle
Cambridge, MA
617.576.5444
www.tentables.net

The Boston area, seafood mecca that it is, is tough for vegetarians. So I was excited when this well-regarded Jamaica Plain restaurant opened in Cambridge, and that it had a vegetarian menu. I wasn't so excited after eating there.

The restaurant, which has just ten tables in Jamaica Plain but about 20 in Cambridge, offers a "surprise" vegetarian menu for $28 most nights of the week. (Call first to find out which nights.) It must be ordered by the whole table. My companion and I went for it.For our first courses we each received a different salad - a roasted beet salad with maytag blue cheese and frisee, and mesculun greens with marcona almonds and shaved manchego. Both were delicious, and I was thrilled to think we might each receive different dishes through each course, giving us the opportunity to try twice the number of plates. Unfortunately, this started and ended with the salads, causing my companion to suggest it appeared more likely they ran out of the blue cheese to make two of the same.

The next course was squash soup (above). Tasty, although a bit bland. The soup was followed by ricotta cavatelli with delicata squash, sage, porcini broth, and Parmesan (below). Overall the dish was good and flavorful (pasta was a bit too firm), but with the squash soup proved to be too much emphasis on one vegetable. Again, we wondered if this was a thought-out vegetarian menu, or something pulled together from what was on hand.
Our final course was a chocolate terrine with "Thai basil" (actually regular basil) ice cream and sea salt. The basil overwhelmed the ice cream and did not complement the chocolate. I enjoy sea salt in chocolate, but it has to be done in the right amount so it does not overpower the chocolate. In this case, all I tasted was salt.

Service was less than stellar. The sparkling water we ordered never arrived. The check was delivered face up with the dessert.

By the reviews I've read of Ten Tables, it seems to delight a lot of people, but a good place for vegetarians it's not.

Radio Africa & Kitchen: Such a Great Find It's Hard to Share

Radio Africa & Kitchen
at The Coffee Bar on Thursdays and Fridays, 6-10 p.m.
1890 Bryant Street
San Francisco, CA
415.420.2486
www.radioafricakitchen.com

It really is hard to share this wonderful nomadic restaurant in San Francisco. Serving dinner just two nights a week from a coffee house, Radio Africa & Kitchen feels like your own special, secret find that you want to keep that way. But the chef is so terrific and his story so wonderful that it would really be a crime not to spread the word.
Self-taught chef Eskender Aseged fled his native Ethiopia in 1971 at age 19 with only the clothes on his back. He eventually made it to the US, working as a busboy and waiter by day and going home at night to recreate flavors in his kitchen. He left his last job at Campton Place to work on the nomadic Radio Africa and Kitchen. He started serving a group of friends around a picnic table and eventually found places where he could offer his food to the public two nights a week. He doesn't advertise, but he's gradually gained customers primarily through word-of-mouth. Eskender focuses on authentic, healthy meals served while listening to a variety of African music.

The menu changes weekly. You can call ahead or check the website to find out the vegetarian offerings. I started with heirloom tomato gazpacho with fennel pollen and creme fraiche (above). It was wonderful, with smooth tomato flavor. The edamame hummus with green olive oil and tartine bread was also a great starter.


For the main course, I had the Ethiopian mushroom wot with vegetable alicha and goat cheese-stuffed squash blossoms (above). It was perfect with the cheese providing a wonderful complement to the lightly cooked and flavorful vegetables.

Dessert was an over-the-top (and I mean this in the best possible way) chocolate decadence with mixed berries and organic vanilla ice cream.

Reasonably priced wine pairings ($7-8 a glass and about $26 a bottle) are offered with each dish.

The total bill for two, with two glasses of wine each, was $98. Waitstaff is relaxed, casual and very good.

Radio Africa and Kitchen is truly a wonderful find ...if you know where to find it, hiding out (there's no sign) two nights a week at a coffee bar. Make reservations as seating is limited.

Shanghai's M on the Bund Brings Glamour Back

M on the Bund
6/F, No.5 The Bund (Enter on Guangdong Lu)
Shanghai 200002 China
www.m-restaurantgroup.com
(86 -21) 6350.9988

Undoubtedly the most well-known restaurant in Shanghai, M on the Bund has played host to a staggering list of gliteratti. To name a few: Prince Andrew, Dolce and Gabbana, Helmut Kohl, Gore Vidal, Richard Branson ...and now, me. (Surely, I'll be added to their list of notable diners any day now. ;-) )

This fun and unpretentious restaurant isn't simply about being seen or hobnobbing with the well-to-do, but takes its food seriously. M has been on Meile's top 20 restaurants in Asia list for two years, and was named one of the 50 best restaurants in the world by Conde Nast Traveler.

Before dinner, I went to the M's Glamour Bar one floor down to watch the lights of Pudong come alive as the sun went down. It's a great place to sit and enjoy a martini while staring out at the modern architecture across the river. The interior of the Glamour Bar hails back to days of salons, art deco and jazz. The spaces are comfortable and the mismatched cut-crystal glasses are exquisite. Later, the space comes alive with readings, music and the unexpected. Call for a reservation to get a window table.

The restaurant is warm an inviting, a mix of contemporary and classic design - whimsical yet sophisticated. The main focus is the food, fresh ingredients with European influences. Our starters were the red, green and yellow tomato soup - a very nice blend of flavors - and eggplant served three ways (above) - rolled with red peppers; charred with tahini and mint; diced with olives, almonds and parsley - and served with thin wafers. The eggplant dish would have been well-suited as a shared appetizer for the table as it was too much for one person.
For the mains, the risotto with green, spring vegetables (above) was excellent. The risotto had a nice firm texture and the vegetables were at the peak of flavor.

The tagliatelle with zucchini, lemon zest, fresh herbs, pine nuts and parmesan (above) was strong on the lemon. My dinner companion liked that the chef was not afraid to make a flavor dominate. I tend to go for more balanced plates.

For dessert, a chocolate bomb had a hard chocolate shell with an airy almost ice cream-like filling. It wasn't excellent, but good and refreshing, and plenty large enough to share.

There was a reasonable selection of wines from all over, with a good selection of wines by the glass. Service is good and friendly. Expect to spend about $50 a person before wine.

Make reservations early to get the choice tables at the windows.

Comfort Food Proves the Winner at Chicago's Boka

Boka
1729 N. Halsted St.
Chicago, IL 60614
312.337.6070
www.bokachicago.com

The last thing I expected to find myself fawning over at Boka was the macaroni and cheese. After all, the restaurant's executive chef is Guiuseppe Tentori, an alum of Charlie Trotter's, where making beautiful vegetable meals is a given.

But at this trendy Lincoln Park restaurant, it was the humble mac 'n' cheese (below) that stole the show. Granted it's not your box of Kraft. The dish includes a mix of fontina and sharp and medium cheddar cheeses as well as edamame. Two orders (it's a side at $7) and a dark beer and I would have been set.Alas, I didn't go to Boka for comfort food. My main dish was the herbed risotto tart with roasted portobello thinly sliced on top, baby turnips, ricotta and beet puree. The dish didn't disappoint. The turnips were fresh and nicely cooked; the tart was an interesting way to present risotto. And the portion was just right so as not to be overly filling.Boka's food is good, and the restaurant is unquestionably popular. Reservations are necessary. The downsides are it is loud and service is not up to par. The two tables next to me and I each had to inquire about ordered items that did not show up when they should have.

The wine list has a lot of offerings in the $45 range, which is nice to see. On the other hand, expect to get a wine that retails for less than $15. I found their markups to be outrageous - about 200 percent.