The Vegan in Dairy Land, U.S.A.

Joining Wok Man for a post-Christmas extended family dinner, the Wok-mother strove to satiate my cheese-free appetite. For protein, lentil patties drenched in portobello gravy alongside a vegan version of her “party time potatoes” made with Follow Your Heart cheddar. Yummy. Once again, food accommodation is a high compliment!For dessert, a beautiful vegan mini-chocolate cake from Outpost Natural Foods.
I had been dreaming of sinking my teeth into Palomino‘s vegan buffalo wings, a.k.a. toffulo wings, since August. These breaded glutinous wonders were delish indeed, however not as good as the first time. They were slightly oozing toffulo juice and needed a wring or two. Can I mention the tater tot? Why is the potato so darn good? If love is a chemical reaction, eating potatoes is as well.
Maharaja Restaurant, a Wisconsin Indian restaurant chain, was the answer to hangover numero uno. The obligatory veggie pakora and my mango vegetable entree (below) were scrumptious, rivalling New York City’s Little India collection of restaurants and with far better service.
More sweets from Outpost: Mexican chocolate cake.
Bay View’s Cafe Lulu had a delicious fresh-made hummus with many-a chick pea chunk topped with tomato-olive relish. (Why do I forget that I don’t enjoy olives?) This was a good foundation for fancy martinis, shots and dark ales that followed.
Nursing my final hangover, I opted for Comet Cafe‘s vegan rib sandwich, The Big Rig, alongside a pile of super-salty fries. The days of hard living, Milwaukee-style, were soon to be over. But only after a refill on the Coke and swift, hearty bites of white starches: oh my!