Vegan MoFo #25: Pacific Northwest Vegan Reporting: Seattle

Mighty O of Seattle. The best vegan donuts I’ve tried so far. Granted I have yet to hit any other solely vegan donut shop, I can’t see anyone having a more superior real donut than Mighty O. I got the glazed all the way to the left. So good. FoodSparrow picked up six to carry on for loved ones at home.
Seattle’s Wayward Cafe has a killer tofu scramble! In fact, when it comes to scrambles, their Cheezly scramble is the best I’ve ever had. (Now I have been saying “the best I’ve had” a lot these days. I’ll be compiling a “Best of” posting soon, my own award show so to speak.) But this scramble incorporates all the elements for a satisfying and hearty breakfast for those mornings after.Our early lunch at Madison Valley’s Cafe Flora was one of the most flavorful, delicious and invigorating meals of our stay in the Pacific Northwest. Our appetizer, coconut tofu with sweet chili sauce, couldn’t have hit the spot more. The delicate dipped tofu chunks were served with plenty of fresh greens for wrapping: fragrant basil, cilantro and romaine lettuce. Next up was the roasted pumpkin and wintergreens salad: Granny Smith apples, roasted pumpkin, pomegranate, corn bread croutons and pumpkin seeds in a sherry vinaigrette. This salad was just perfect: tart, crunchy, fresh and energizing. My tongue tingles typing about it. Since we ate light we opted for dessert. Cafe Flora is not strictly vegan and doesn’t have too many dessert options for us. We chose the warm apple and fig crisp with a scoop of vanilla soy ice cream. Mmmm.Sutra is four courses of gourmet vegan bliss. With set community seating and prix fixe pricing, Sutra is much like Brooklyn’s Four Course Vegan. The chef’s seasonal dishes are creative and incorporate the best of the fall harvest. The first course was a fantastic soup Luna (white) and Fairytale (think Cinderella’s coach) pumpkins, sunchoke, saffron soup topped with fried capers and a swirl of parsley tarragon oil. Second course: pickled pepper, beet, fennel and sorrel salad with candied sunflower seeds in a balsamic reduction. The second best salad I’ve had (see above for numero uno). After these two courses I expected the best from my main course but it was slightly disappointing. An marjoram and garlic roasted orzo in a tomato sauce with wild porcini mushrooms and a side of yellow carrots and Swiss chard. I didn’t love the combination of flavors and it was a bit heavy. For dessert we received an apple torte with an almond fig crust and a scoop of heavenly coconut ice cream on top. The dessert was a bit like our lunch’s dessert so I would have preferred a cake… but what else is new?
Pizza Pi, the all-vegan pizzeria in Seattle’s University District, has been on my list for quite some time. I finally got there on my last day in Seattle to purchase a small pizza for a roadtrip north. The artichoke pizza was ordered and so we headed next door to Sidecar For Pigs Peace, an all-vegan shop with groceries, accessories, and all sorts of vegan goods. Great place! Back tot he pizza: we had the best of intentions in ordering the pizza to go… but when it was ready we walked it to the table and proceeded to eat all of it. It was pretty good! The sauce wasn’t the tastiest and Teese was not completely melted, but c’mon… vegan pizza! The counter person seemed a bit annoyed we wasted a to-go box and grabbed it out of the garbage pale we disposed it in. I guess she wanted to recycle it but, um, cardboard is not recyclable with food waste on it, nor is it sanitary to reuse it. But we see your point Oh righteous counter person! Goodbye Pacific Northwest! Thanks for the eats.