On Assignment, Vegan in Ann Arbor

Sometime in August, lazily lounging on a couch, I thought it’d be a good idea to move my blog forward to “all states reporting” status. This thought during this determined August, the tail-end of a summer spent stacking my professional credentials, could not have known I’d be inundated with the perpetual mountain of tasks from a chaotic back to school. Nor could it have known I’d be sick and just wanting time to relax… on that same couch.  But I’m here: In Michigan, to report on vegan eats. And tomorrow, in Indiana. States #37 and 38 in my quest country-wide reporting.

First eats of the day, a terrible bagel with some smuggled-in Earth Balance. 

After some wrong turns in Detroit, I made it to Seva Restaurant in Ann Arbor for lunch eventually, a landmark vegetarian restaurant serving since 1973.

What’s tough is deciding what to eat when you’re really hungry and know that you will likely never return to the eatery you’re sitting in. I experience this pressure often. But as a general rule, I always get a dish with a house-made cheese option if available. So though it isn’t the most photographic selection, it had chargrilled mushrooms, red & yellow peppers, red onions and zucchini with basil-cashew pesto, house-made almond cheese and vegan aioli on a delicious roll. A great sammy!

Next I headed to Cupcake Station, thee first cupcake shop in Michigan, for one of their vegan option: a Samoa cupcake! You know, Samoa, that fantasticly nostalgic Girl Scouts cookie. So this baby was vanilla cake topped and filled with their yummy chocolate buttercream, rolled in toasted coconut and drizzled with chocolate and caramel. This was a heavenly cupcake! My only criticism is that between being filled and topped with buttercream, it was a bit too much frosting.  Did I just criticize a vegan Samoa cupcake? What?!

Next, I had to eat something else sweet. Just because… a vegan Ding Dong! I stopped in at Big City Small World Bakery for this second nostalgic vegan options. It was just like a Ding Dong… even left my fingers coated in waxy chocolate. It was a bit small for the price, which you can’t really tell from the pic. 

Then I eventually had dinner at The Lunch Room, an all-vegan eatery with some great standards in their menu. Though I never opt for an Asian dish, especially one that’s on a menu of lesser available vegan eats, my achey limbs wanted this dish–their Pad Thai. That and an Arnold Palmer. I wanted more textures and flavors in this. It was disproportionately noodle, which were creamy and delicious. But it needed those heat-inducing favorites: green onion, garlic, ginger. 

Oh I forgot, I went to Schakolad in downtown Ann Arbor, a franchised chocolate shop with a limited selection of dairy-free dark chocolates. As if I needed more sweetness today. 

Goodnight, Ann Arbor!