Restaurants: Su Xing House: Philadelphia, PA

lest you believe that everything in philadelphia is totally gross, let me quickly tell you about a wonderful place mr benjamin picante rhine turned me onto during my aforementioned visit: su xing house! su xing is an adorable all-vegetarian chinese joint in center city. i was in such a daze that i neglected to notice exactly where, but menupages says 15th and sansom, so let's go with that.

i'm broke as a joke that isn't particularly funny, so i'm all about LUNCH SPECIALS!

we got miso soup! tough to mess up, wonderful to eat.


ben ordered this gorgeous shredded soy protein in garlic sauce, with a side of braised mushrooms. OM NOM NOM NOM


i had general tso's tofu with a side of seaweed - the best general tso's tofu i've ever had! crispy, light, and the perfect mix of sweet and spicy - and the ginormous chilis lurking between the tofu cubes made me really happy.

congratulations, philadelphia - you have ONE THING that doesn't suck.

Restaurants: Gianna's Grille, Philadelphia, PA

In my fledgling vegan years, I lived in Philadelphia and depended on cute boys to tell me where to find delicious animal-free delights in the City of Brotherly Love. My friend Wish turned me onto Gianna's Grille, which at the time was a legendary vegan pizza joint just off South Street. Gianna's claim to have originated that which we know all over the Eastern seaboard as "Vegan Treats," delightful cupcakes and cakes and other amazing dessert products that defy all explanation! And their pizza was delicious - until the great vegan scandal of 2003 (or so), when it came to light that the cheese they used on their pizza contained casein!

Re-veganized, Gianna's pressed on, and because their desserts were so delicious I never really gave up on them. They quit lying to me about what I was eating, and somehow I never stopped loving them. Lie to me, just keep me well fed - this sounds a lot like most of my romantic misadventures. Anyway, years passed, I moved away from Philadelphia, and Gianna's experienced a lot of changes over the years, including the delightful-but-failed Gianna's Jr. in Center City! Whenever I came back to Philly, I'd always make sure to stop there - so a few weeks ago, I swung by the old S 6th St location for a slice of delicious nostalgia.

And um...


Yeah, Gianna's is done. No selection, rude(r than usual) staff, and then there's this dry, unwelcoming-looking piece of unhappiness they call a Sicilain slice. You really let me down this time, guys.


Um, but I might still pop by for cannoli. Old habits die hard.

Restaurats: Veggie Heaven: Austin, TX

when sara and i were in austin, we went to veggie heaven, an amazing vegetarian restaurant on guadalupe.

we got this crazy-lookin' sushi as an appetizer. it's filled with yellow radish, cucumber and carrot, and came with wasabi and ginger. om nom nom nom:


then i ordered the magic tomato, which involves broccoli, baby bok choy, cauliflower, carrots, napa cabbage, fried tofu, onions in spicy gingery brown sauce, and (obvs) magic tomatoes. it's really freakin' spicy and comes with rice, and i want to learn how to make this sauce so i can put it on everything forever:


sara got a veggie chicken bowl over rice noodles, and looked cute while eating it.


um, five stars, fucking delicious and super cheap. i would like to have a smaller version of this place inside my apartment, like how richie rich had a mcdonald's in his house in that macaulay culkin movie.

some chick behind us on the plane ride home was bragging into her cell phone about how she'd gotten lunch from this place to eat on the plane. DAMN that's a great idea.. next year!

Restaurant Project: Lan Cafe

the other day elena rounded up the troops and made an announcement: there are 127 vegan restaurants listed in new york city on supervegan.com, and we haven't been to all of them! what's WRONG with us?

so let's get started!

our first stop was lan cafe, a vegetarian vietnamese place on east 6th street. it's a tiny little place i don't think i'd notice from the street, but once we got inside we loved the atmosphere and um, pretty much everything.

i forget what this soup was called, but it had okra AND pineapple in it and was sort of hot and sour? maybe? recommended.

look at all those things that aren't normally in soup but turn out to taste good there! who knew?

we got this lemongrass marinated tofu, which was too pretty not to take pictures of.


and THIS is some freaking lovely tea.


verdict: four stars, full bellies, very happy. this can only get better.