December 21, 2019
I am pleased to present to you Battle 10! And to its victor–an enthusiastic welcome to the Championship Round, the last Battle of The Vegan Victuals Fried Chicken Showdown. It has been a spectacular run. Reviewing the brackets, I am confident that the final battle has two of the bests Read more…
November 27, 2019
With this Battle 8, the semi-finals are officially set! Are you as excited as I am? I feel really great about the state of these brackets, but I don’t look forward having to ultimately eliminate 3 of the 4 semi-finalist fried chicken sandwiches. But let me slow my roll. Battle Read more…
November 18, 2019
My vegan fried chicken battle is raging on in the East Village! This battle determines who would be up against tofu masters Chickpea & Olive… and I like the direction of the semi-finals thus far. Perhaps the championship round will be a seitan vs. tofu battle! ….But I am getting Read more…
November 8, 2019
With an ever-growing field of vegan fried chicken at my fingertips, I made an addition to my brackets. I had to. After hearing the vegan fried chicken sandwich at Bushwick’s new all-vegan bar and event space Gradient was house made, I told my friend to meet me there… because unless Read more…
October 30, 2019
With a trip to Los Angeles soonish, it’ll be a mini-battle of vegan fried chicken in the city of vegan angels. Yes, the very vegan-friendly city is home to so many options for this mini-battle. But many are packaged or frozen texturized soy protein cutlets breaded and fried… not meeting Read more…
October 27, 2019
Since I began this competition, vegan fried chicken is definitely having its moment. With the “first” vegan chicken shop now open in Los Angeles (says VegNews, to which I say: Hartbreakers), vegan chicken debuting at Kentucky Fried Chicken, and vegan fried chicken on Shark Tank, seems it’s the new “it” Read more…
October 11, 2019
As I move into Round 2 of the Vegan Fried Chicken Showdown, I need to purge some chicken-y visits… and make the, I swear, final adjustment to the official brackets. Before creating my brackets, I did some preliminary research. Then, I hastily made half battle visits… visits I can no Read more…
September 29, 2019
A quick trip to Western New York would of course mean a scouring of vegan options. As is the nowadays, there was so much to try. Veganism is thriving everywhere these days. Not only at my destination, but on stops along the way. Like at 96 Lives Vegan Bakery & Read more…
September 26, 2019
Urban Vegan Kitchen, West VillageChick-un & Waffles I remember the first time I went to Urban Vegan Kitchen very crisply though it was in January 2017. I fled opportunistically from a teacher professional development class at the The Met because it was a disorganized shit show. It felt good to Read more…
September 12, 2019
Renegades of Sunset have a new Wednesday special that is off the charts. The last time I ate this sandwich I called it The Best Vegan Fried Chicken Sandwich. Now I am going to call it the Best Vegan Sandwich, in general. You just think on that while you look Read more…
September 2, 2019
The end of summer is a heartbreaker for teachers. So I squeezed in some commiseration with a couple of my favorite teachers in Brooklyn and Staten Island. We ate, drank and mourned the end of our total freedom. Williamsburg’s Modern Love has these mozzarella sticks that are mind blowing, just Read more…
August 16, 2019
Today would be day of driving, mostly. Its daylight hours started in North Carolina and ended in Georgia… in a cabin in a swamp. Which means tomorrow I’ll be in Florida! And maybe I’ll get some consistent sun? It seems everyday I’ve had erratic weather. Mostly because I spent these Read more…
August 12, 2019
Just look! This vegan fried chicken from Bad Gyal Vegan in Bed-Sty is mind-blowing. The breading is everything as some say. Though this visit was an locationally opportunistic one in advance of their battle in the fried chicken showdown, I just needed to share it now. I mean! Have you Read more…
July 27, 2019
When vegan fried chicken opportunity arises, you take a bite. This was the case with Battle 3. Facing off would be an elusive pop-up with inconsistent social media posts and an inconsistent sandwich shop special. So when Clean Meals Brooklyn showed up at the Atlantic City Vegan Food Festival, I Read more…
July 7, 2019
I’ve appreciated the burger wizardry of Chickpea & Olive for many years… and was excited to try Sol Sips, an all-vegan eatery in Bushwick owned by a 23 year old that has a lot of buzz. But this is a vegan victuals food battle! It’s the food that does the Read more…
June 12, 2019
VegNews likes to post kooky articles on April Fools Day. And last year’s selection was about KFC launching a vegan chicken bucket. Flash forward only a year or so and it is actually on the horizon. But really now, if I had to choose between a bucket from all-vegan Modern Read more…
June 4, 2019
Superiority Burger, East VillageT.F.T. (Tofu-Fried Tofu) Sandwich Superiority Burger is a tiny space in the East Village with some amazing vegetarian offerings masterminded by Chef Brooks Headley. Don’t expect frills like French fries, a bathroom, an open seat, personal space, etc in this 300 square feet. Just great food. Food Read more…
June 3, 2019
I know, I know—my Burger Battles just abruptly stopped. But there were just so many options. This battle I’m getting an early jump on. As eateries begin to offer the vegan version of this staple, I’m going to get chomping. The best vegan fried chicken. First, some notes and guidelines. Read more…
April 5, 2019
I am pleased that so many eateries are taking on vegan versions of fried chicken, especially fried chicken sandwiches! It’s one of my must-orders when on a menu. But for so many years I was dissatisfied. I craved it done right… not an uninspired frozen patty taken out of a Read more…
March 24, 2019
There always seems to be something vegan to eat in Asbury Park. As the area makes a name for itself as a food destination, the vegan realm reaps the benefits. The folks setting up shop in Asbury Park have to care about quality, as the restaurant next store or down Read more…
November 5, 2018
Before I go on about how this fried “chicken” sandwich tasted, here are some hues from a Sunday in which the Autumn sun blazed glorious beams. Let’s follow them out and about. First, they crept into my basement apartment as I prepared my lunch for the week, making this radish Read more…
June 22, 2013
A young vegan in 1997. The majority of my vegan years went down in the pre-internet days. And yet I managed to find sustenance. As “vegan” becomes more and more mainstream through the years, I thought it apt to take a look back. This is Retro Vegan, Part 1. I Read more…
February 22, 2012
Though Long Island has a couple of all-vegetarian Indian restaurants, it has slim pickings in every other cuisine. I know this all too well as I have to settle for basic vegetarian options in many omni eateries often in my quest for satiety. It’s a big adjustment given my home in Read more…