SLC Vegan Food

After all my adventures at AltSummit, Shawn and I were finally able to visit some of the vegan restaurants in Salt Lake City. First, we headed over to Sage’s Cafe for their weekend brunch. I was beckoned by the pesto crepe, filled with warm seasoned vegetables. I was craving something hearty after grazing on salads and snacks in my hotel room the previous days. (Note to Alt: us vegans could use a few more options.) The restaurant had a really nice atmosphere, with a sunlit, enclosed patio and local artwork. They also made a fantastic almond milk cappuccino.

Even more exciting was fulfilling a not so healthy craving with this vanilla shake and tender tigers from Vertical Diner. Vertical is owned by the same people as Sage’s but obviously with a diner style menu. Let me tell you, this shake was so satisfying. Unadulterated vanilla goodness. Paired with the fried seitan of the tender tigers, I was in heaven.

They were so good. Shawn also ordered a portobello quesadilla which was fantastic. All of their seitan is handmade and they also make their own nutritional yeast cheese. Big fan, right here.

We enjoyed it so much we stopped for breakfast on our way out of town. I got the breakfast sandwich. Also amazing. Soft french bread, cheesy sauce, spiced veggie sausage and some tofu scramble. Yum.

I can never say no to biscuits and gravy.

Our last moment in Salt Lake City before the snowy drive home. I don’t think Shawn was particularly happy about me standing in the middle of the street to take this photo.

There were so many other places we didn’t get to try on our short visit. I heard there are two vegan bakeries in SLC. I’d love to go back and explore more.

Sunday Breakfast

Happy Sunday everyone. It’s the first full weekend at home I’ve had in awhile with all the adventures, events and celebrations of the last few months. It’s been so nice to actually get a few things done around the house (I did SO MUCH laundry yesterday) and focus on the things I care about.

For one, that means more home-cooked meals. I’ve been feeling a little bit like a scavenger in my own kitchen recently, but that changes this week. I’ve made a plan for a few healthful and tasty meals over the next week and bought supplies and ingredients. A little bit of planning in advance goes a long way.

This morning we had my favorite pancakes. I’m more of a waffle girl than a pancake girl but these are just so good; they have exactly the right amount of sweetness and fluffiness. Full disclosure, I had these for dinner earlier in the week too. Oops.

I also made a broccoli quiche for dinner last night. Despite making the world’s worst pie crust, it was really satisfying. Even for dinner. I think the secret is extra broccoli and fresh herbs.

Just a little announcement, Cute and Delicious is now on Facebook, so you can like it HERE and keep up with new posts and other discussion. Yay!

What are you making for dinner this week?

i’m in veggie heaven








I keep trying to come up with the words to describe how totally in love with Veggie Heaven I am, but I think it’s fairly clear from the photos how utterly amazing this restaurant is. It’s a little spot in New Jersey we go to whenever we’re in the area (which is not all that often). We visited this year the day after Christmas and the whole place was packed. I’m sure you can imagine why; vegan sushi. We’re not talking about your average cucumber rolls and tofu tempura. They have spicy “tuna” rolls, seitan eels rolls and a bunch of fancy combos like the Dynamite Roll. Every dish is just spot on for flavor and while there are tons of vegan offerings here in Los Angeles, there really is just nothing that satisfies my sushi cravings like Veggie Heaven.

pizza love










This past Saturday was Shawn’s birthday. To celebrate, we ate lots and lots of pizza (and made ice cream sundaes, but that’s for later). We had pizza with cashew cheese, with teese, with follow your heart and pizza with daiya. There was buffalo chicken pizza with ranch dressing, pear and truffle oil pizza, pepperoni pizza, avocado pizza and many variations in between. Though there were many kinds, we kept each pizza simple by using only a few topping on each one. I think there were also about 3 pizza ideas that never made it to the table, but we’ll just have to make those next time.

So much pizza. So much delicious pizza.

What’s your favorite kind of pizza?

Thanksgiving 2011






I can’t believe our tiny Thanksgiving break is almost over. It flew by in what seemed like a matter of seconds. I suppose that’s what happens when you have lots to do over a few days. We started off our celebrations at Madeleine Bistro for a four course Thanksgiving feast. We’ve been to Madeleine’s for the past few years but this meal topped them all. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a delicious Thanksgiving meal in my life. Everything was exquisite. Next year we plan to have Thanksgiving at our house and I hope we can make something even just a fraction of how good this meal was.

We spent the rest of the weekend with friends and family relaxing and eating lots. I did very little cooking considering. I made this wonderful green bean casserole and an apple pie. Yesterday Shawn was in a short film so I had the day to myself. I spent it watching British period dramas, knitting and sewing. It was pretty nice to not have to worry about work and projects for a whole day.

When I was a kid, after every school break I would make a list of all the cool things I did in my time off filled with movies I’d watched or things I’d made. This year if I made a list, the two biggest things would be finishing the binding on our wedding quilt (which took FOREVER) and hanging up some clothes that have been sitting in our bedroom for about a month. Pretty simple, but a major relief to have finished at the same time.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. What would you put on your list?