The Suburban Herbivore

Hooray for a new restaurant at American Tobacco! I was fortunate enough to get invited to the Tuesday night opening party at Cuban Revolution, and though they just had a what I would describe as a sneak peek of their food, I was definitely intrigued. Much of the food was standard finger food – cheese, fruit, and veggies – but there were two vegetarian items that were clearly from the menu: a tomato and cheese sandwich, and a little bitty wrap with maduros (fried plantains), rice, tomatoes, and cheese. Based on this, I was hoping that the full menu would be vegetarian-friendly. After going there today for lunch, I can tell you that it surely is.

Maduros Vegan-Sushi Rolls - not actually vegan. Or sushi. But still very tasty.

The most interesting food on the menu comes in the form of tapas. There is fried cassava with garlic dip, roasted red peppers with feta and olive oil, pepperdews stuffed with goat cheese, two types of empanadas (spinach/cheese and portabello/cheese), black beans and rice, and sweet potato fries. One particularly delicious-sounding offering is fried green beans with remoulade dip.

Additionally, there are several sandwiches made with Cuban bread available: tomato and cheese, and hot peppers and cheese. (These come with the usual condiments and add-ons.) The maduros wrap is what I had for lunch today, and was a more expanded version of what I tasted last night. The plantains were yummy, though I wished there had been some kind of sauce for the wrap. They also serve a Gardenburger.

I must report that there are some inconsistencies printed on the menu surrounding vegetarian and vegan items. The most glaring is that the maduros vegan sushi wrap mentioned earlier is not, in fact, vegan since it contains cheese. At least the fact that it contains cheese is clearly printed on the menu. The Gardenburger is listed as being vegan as well. Since there are multiple varieties of Gardenburger, it may well be that the one they serve is vegan. If this is a concern of yours, though, I would suggest verifying it before ordering. The chicken quesadilla being marked as vegetarian is just laughable. I spoke with one of the owners about this issues (as well as the others), and he said that on previous menu versions, it was simply a quesadilla and it was accidentally left as vegetarian when the name (and ingredients) changed. It is, of course available without chicken. He also confirmed that the Caesar salad, marked as vegetarian, does NOT contain anchovies in its dressing.

All in all, Cuban Revolution is a welcome addition to American Tobacco and to Durham, and I look forward to going back there again soon!

I’m back! I’d like to welcome everyone who stumbled this site – please stay tuned for more recipes, CSA updates, and restaurant reviews.

Last Thursday, I checked out the first Carts in the Park, located next to the Durham Bulls Athletic Park on Blackwell St. Since the lunch options at American Tobacco are a little limited for a vegetarian, I’m always hungry (sorry, couldn’t resist) for new alternatives. I should probably add that I work at American Tobacco, so I’m there quite a lot. Anyway, back to the carts!

Only Burger also has veggie burgers.

There were two food carts: Joe’s Dogs and Only Burger. Lunchtime was not looking promising. Fortunately, Only Burger has a veggie burger, and in fact, proudly displayed a sign to that effect. They had a lot of business, too, as well as a lengthy cooking time, so don’t expect to walk up and be handed a burger. Though, really, that’s not what I look for in food, even fast food.

Their veggie burger is a Gardenburger that is cooked on a separate grill from the meat burgers. It was really good, and thicker than I remembered Gardenburgers being, though it’s been a while since I’ve had one. (I’ve been eating a lot of Boca Burgers lately.) And I loved that they had pepperjack cheese! I would definitely get one of those again, though I’d probably skip the fries.

Looks like Ninth St. Bakery will be joining Carts in the Park this Thursday, and I can’t wait to see what they have to offer.

It’s been years since I’ve been to Margaret’s Cantina in Chapel Hill. And I don’t know why. They have multiple options for vegetarians, including – my favorite – the tempeh burrito. It tasted exactly like I remembered – absolutely delicious. They also have a new (at least, new to me) item on their menu: Vegetarian Posole. I would have totally gotten this if my mouth hadn’t already been set on the burrito.

Now, on to the more interesting part.

About halfway through the meal, I suddenly noticed what was hanging on the wall right next to me – a large photo entitled Sharkslayer. It was a black and white photo of someone on the beach holding three dead little sharks. (Dogfish, I think.) Those of you who know me know of my deep and abiding fear of sharks, but I honestly don’t wish them dead. I’m afraid of sharks, but I don’t hate them. And of course, I find photos of dead animals to be in extremely poor taste.

After about ten minutes of alternately shielding my eyes from inadvertently catching the eye of the dead little shark and outright staring at the photo, I finally asked the server if she could possibly take it down. “Oh, is he looking at you?” she asked. I pathetically nodded, and she reached over and removed the photo. I breathed a huge sigh of relief and went on with my meal. But I think the image of the dead sharks will stay with me for a while.

While the Durham Bulls performed excellently yesterday, I was very disappointed to find that Flying Burrito is now absent from the DBAP. Flying Burrito offered fat-free burritos, which was basically their Flying Mayan (black beans and sweet potato) and I believe they had the Flying Vegetarian burrito as well.

They’ve been replaced by Tortilla Junction, which does have pinto bean and cheese burritos. I did not confirm if these were vegetarian or not, because I just can’t eat pinto beans. Very bad things happen if I do. I did confirm, however, that they don’t offer anything with black beans.

So, off I went to find something else for lunch. I ended up with a $4 veggie hot dog on a whole wheat bun. I am still pleased that veggie fare is available at the stadium, but the loss of Flying Burrito nearly moved me to tears.

Today was my first time going to Toast since I started my blog, so it’s time to add to the accolades it’s already received. Located in the Five Points area of downtown Durham, Toast’s menu highlights locally-baked bread and locally-grown produce.

One of their two daily soups is always vegetarian, and there are currently three veg-friendly sandwiches (paninis) on the menu: Kale, Ricotta, and Sweet/Hot Peppers; Egg, Tallegio, and Chive; and three-cheese. I haven’t tried the three-cheese, but the other two are wonderful. The kale panini is particularly great for the simple reason that there is nothing else around like it. Too often, vegetarian sandwiches equate to lettuce, tomato, and cheese, plus some array of condiments.

Toast offers a variety of vegetarian crostini. Today’s special was strawberries (from Eco Farm), goat cheese, and balsamic vinegar, and was very yummy. They also have breakfast, though I have not tried it out yet.

Toast is definitely a welcome addition to Main Street, and I will be going back many times!

I’d like to start off by saying something good about this place. The servers were really nice and attentive. And I was pleased that they had several vegetarian choices on the menu. There. That’s all I’ve got.

The food was bland and boring. I ordered the wrapini, which came with black beans and some kind of possibly pickled vegetable, though neither was actually listed as an ingredient on the menu. It was supposed to have cilantro rice and cheese, but did not. I get concerned when the menu appears to list the ingredients for an entree, and then it actually is made differently.

The “pico de gallo” was absolutely tasteless, and was made with green bell peppers, not any kind of hot pepper. Though I didn’t sample it, the portabella mushroom sandwich was described by a lunch cohort as “okay”. I could have also ordered a salad. I believe those were the choices for me.

So if you find yourself on Main Street near East Campus and are so starving that you have to stop, you will be able to eat here. But I’d advise you to keep walking if you can. You should at least be able to make it to the Federal.