So much vegan stuff on… Staten Island

With an errand on Staten Island, I made an entire itinerary revolving around vegan food! First, a new all-vegan lounge and cafe in Concord section, TRI Lounge & Cafe that is. This new vegan spot has its sights set on being a thriving art space for the community, as well as offering an eclectic menu of comforting plant-based dishes. The super cool owner and head chef plans to host all kinds of artists and art-related events. So nice to see such vegan growth about the Island. Everything was really yummy.

He brought us out some cheesy empañada things that he is thinking about putting on the menu.

My friend’s garden burger and mashed potatoes.

My house mac & cheese and their candied spiced yams. 😋

Ok, this was the errand. Disposing something at Freshkills. Then we drove in and I saw this big pile of salt. I scared the heck out of my friend when I screamed with glee. I have like 10 different salts in my apartment. Plus, with the beautiful sky, it looked so pretty. I’m also hoping for a snow day on Monday. 🤞

A while ago I had heard that old school Italian market Pastosa had vegan ravioli. But when I visited the one in West Brighton, nothing. Passing through, we stopped in the Eltingville location to check. Cuz I’m a sucker for vegan options in an authentic Italian market.

Second scream of glee this hour! Real authentic Italian vegan option, yes ma’am.

I was so excited, it had to be captured.

I also bought marzipan fruit. Just because.

Also in Eltingville (Not Woods in Arden as I originally reported), Filocino Bakery. I had stopped by in the summer when they were closed and knew I had to return. Again, the whole authentic Italian with vegan options thing is a big draw. I am happy to report they were opened and they were amazing–service and selection.

Peep the actual vegan section on the menu. They knew about what breads of their were vegan, they offered a selection of vegan sweets that were housemade–and some from Vegan Treats and Papa Ganache, and did I mention the great service? Well, I want to do so again. When I asked why they had made accommodations for vegans, just out of curiosity, the counter gal replied they want to make people happy. They made me happy. (But then again a pile of salt made me happy.)

I wanted to try their housemade goodies. Today it would be their Pistachio Bars and their Pignoli cookies.

Yodels. Did I tell you the whole top shelf of display was vegan? This place rocks.

Car bite, before our next stop.

Oh, but this was the Vegan Meatball Hero once I got home. It is made with a base of Impossible meat and all the goodies chef guy adds to his regular meatballs. You know it’s not my favorite thing in the world, but the chef handled it very well. You know what I realized I missed–soft, soggy hero bun wet with sauce. So nostalgic.

My cookies. Divine. The real deal. Do you how important “real deal” is to me?

Last sweet stop at Love Earth in Charleston. I never got to try their sweets, so while we had paid the toll… a stop for more goodies for the road. And a stop at that great thrift store Nothing New to help with framing all my Milky Way pictures for gifts.

I wanted to try the cookies traditional to an Italian bakery. They were very good, but a bit of a miss on that nostalgic soft cookie texture.

An amazing afternoon of vegan eats on Staten Island. How crazy to have so much to choose from! I will be back soon to hunt some angels.