out on the town; living the vegan loca

Over the last couple weeks, I've found myself venturing out on the town a bit more than usual. I've been hunkered down most of the season, eating at home most nights because I've been so involved in the raw foods lifestyle to take notice of much else. I might as well be an alien in my own city, as raw foods are very elusive. Birthdays, holidays and a general malaise over the state of affairs has taken me to the streets.

Last week, my friends and I checked out Apothecary, or APO bar as it is confusingly referred to. Let me just preface by saying that my friends were certain they had walked straight into a scene from The Shining, complete with a weird, Frankensteinian bartender, but all that aside, it is worth checking out.
Apothecary makes drinking seem healthy. I indulged in one concoction made for healthy skin, with organic vodka, cucumber juice, aloe vera and a bunch of other little ingredients encased in amber vials and employed with droppers.
My friends had other cocktails made with gin and tequila, both chock full of ingredients I like to see, like lemon verbena, echinacea and Valerian. I'm hooked on APO bar and am secretly planning my June birthday on their roof deck.

After cocktails, we mosied across the street to Bindi, a nouveau Indian restaurant and byob. A delicious bottle of chilean reisling complemented the spicy dishes. I chose Bindi, because I always notice they have a vegan option. Not the night I went, alas, but the staff was quite knowledgeable about what my options were. Even though I could have had the pumpkin curry, I'm on a strict no-tofu diet and opted instead for this massive vegan sampler dish that I could've easily finished if I didn't feel like such a pig. For a starter I had a salad of beet and jicama with a minty, tamarind dressing that was killer (and raw!). The entree consisted of about 9 little silver tureens, including chutney, chana, lentil bread, delicious basmati rice with raisins and a whole host of other treats. The only item I wasn't crazy about was the bread, because it was obviously deep-fried, which I avoid at all costs, and tasted like burnt oil. I will definitely will make the trip back. It's so hard to eat Indian vegan, because of the oft-heavy-handed ghee in vegetarian dishes, that has left me very ill in the past, so I'm happy to find this wonderful little place that went the extra mile for vegans.

Later in the week, I checked out a new vegetarian restaurant in Philadelphia, Mi Lah on 16th between Locust and Walnut. The place is simple and should succeed as a nice place to lunch in center city. I should first preface by saying that there was only one item on the menu that was vegetarian, all else was vegan, all desserts vegan and it is byob. yippee, more for me.
I ended up with a great spinach salad with avocado and mango with a slightly spicy dressing (raw), you can get salads in two sizes which a another good option. I also tried the pad thai which was everything you could ever want in pad thai. All the flavors melted together and made my mouth very happy. I will definitely be making Mi Lah my new place to meet for lunch.
Although it might sound like it has an Asian flare, it really doesn't, with dishes like African stew, pot pie, pizzas and sandwiches peppering the menu. The chef, formerly worked at Philadelphia's Horizon's vegan restaurant, which gives him eve more clout, in my book.

Provided I have no other birthdays or events in the coming weeks, I will be strictly concentrating on new raw creations, but it is also wonderful to see and support vegan ventures in my carnivorous city.

more stores close for Starbucks

Starbucks is closing 2/3 of all stores in Australia. Guess those Aussies have come to their senses and want that bitter brew out of their country. Who could blame them really? That's like seeing a McDonald's in Antarctica. It just doesn't belong.

Ding-dong, starbucks is dead

In case you haven't heard, the coffee chain responsible for putting thousands of independent coffee shops out of business is shuttering 600 stores. Could it be the high price of coffee simply doesn't jibe with todays economy? hmmm, gallon of gas or cup of coffee? Get yourself to work or get a morning buzz? Not to mention the amount of calories that one consumes in a decaf grande mocha-caramel iced-coffee latte.
This weekend, I visited the small Massachusetts town of Ipswich, and was happy to find that Zumi's, http://www.zumis.com/ the local fair-trade coffee shop was still there and buzzing with business. And can you believe that one tea and one coffee only cost me $2.83?? Take that Starbucks.
For those of you who followed Wandering Cup, my short-lived independent-themed vegan-based blog, you will probably be revelling in the streets at this fortiutous news. I'm trying to think which shop will close in Philly first, and I'm hoping it's the one on Broad and Pine, robbing those poor University of the Arts students of their hard-earned money, and forcing them to walk a short block to Last Drop or Spruce Street Espresso. As much as I hate Starbucks, I do love to see that little green logo on long highway drives, because I know I can get a quality tea. Now if we can only get everyone to carry quality supplies we wouldn't have the need for a major conglomerate taking all the business. Can you believe places still sell Lipton tea?
If you do one thing today, support your local coffee shop and thank them for being there.

adieu!!

The Wandering Cup has officially bid adieu. Originally established as Philadelphia's antithesis of Starbucks, The Wandering Cup was my blog devoted to area cafe's vegan offerings. Sometime in the late summer, possibly after I began working full-time and around the same time I quit drinking coffee, the Wandering Cup took a nose dive, dropped off the radar. I ceased to have the time, plus I was feeling pretty domestic, making stuff like vegan cupcakes, delicious faux-omelets, tofu scrambler, the list goes on. I mean, there's not anywhere convenient where I can go and order one of the above. Sure there's a few vegan restaurants here and there; vegan offerings are plentiful in local cafes, but when I make it I trust it and what it comes down to is quality. Why get it out when you can make it better yourself?

And so, Alors, Alora, The Wandering Cup has departed.