Gosh Ethiopian Restaurant – Healthy Plant-based Dining In Knoxville, Tennessee

by Danielle Busssone

 

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On one of our pilgrimages to Knoxville to visit the Apple Store and the most wonderful Asian market EVER (Sunrise Market on Kingston Pike), we discovered a restaurant we have somehow missed on previous visits to this bustling city. Gosh is one of the few family-owned restaurants in Knoxville where you can find a healthy, plant-based meal without the bother of a litany of questions. Ethiopia has a long history of religious fasting days in which no animal protein is allowed, so whenever you order vegetarian at an Ethiopian restaurant, vegan is what you get. You can count on that!

 

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The menu offers individual stews a la carte from $7.99 to $8.99 each or you can opt for a vegetarian (actually vegan) four dish option from the vegetarian menu, plus a salad for $9.99. Finally, there is the option of six vegetarian dishes plus salad for $11.99.

 

We chose the six veggie combination plate including Kik Alicha (mild pureed yellow split peas seasoned with onions and turmeric), Yemiser Wot (red split lentils cooked in a uniquely Ethiopian spice blend called Berbere), Yemiser Alicha (red split lentils cooked in a mild sauce of onion, garlic and curry), Tikil Gomen (a mild stew of carrots, potato and cabbage), Gomen ( a mild stew of collard greens cooked with onions, garlic and jalapeño peppers), Shurro Wot (ground split peas cooked in Berbere spice blend with onions and fresh garlic), as well as a house salad. This is served with a special flatbread native to Ethiopia called Injera, made from teff, a highly nutritious grain that is fermented to give the bread its unique sourdough flavor. It’s texture is somewhere between a crepe and a pancake and it is used not only as the lining of your plate, upon which the various stews are placed, but will also serve as your utensils. To eat Ethiopian food, unroll a piece of injera and pinch a portion of the stew within the folds of your injera. Then just pop it into your mouth!

 

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Hot Woks Cool Sushi – Super-Charged Sushi In Chicago!

 

 

To celebrate a wonderful week filled with friendship, family and sport we went out to Hot Woks Cool Sushi to celebrate. Combining the philosophy of balancing Ying and Yang in our bodies, the restaurant has two separate kitchens: one for cold dishes (Ying) and another for the hot dishes (Yang.

Kate Strong-9 Menu

 

Hot Woks Cool Sushi offers many choices for vegans and omnivores – a good compromise for my family as I am currently the only plant-powered person. Introducing my family to spicy edamame beans was a big hit with my (very food-stubborn) father declaring that these are now his favorite pre-dinner nibble!

Kate Strong-10 Edamame

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Christian’s in Charlottesville Virginia’s Downtown Walking Mall – Vegan Pizza Just Doesn’t Get Better Than This!

 

by Danielle Bussone

 

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This is a post that is long overdue. In June of this year we attended the Richmond Vegetarian Festival and stayed in neighboring Charlottesville at a homey Air B&B where our dogs were welcomed. After the festival we arrived back at out lodging, tired and hungry. We sought out the quickest solution for a vegan meal. Calling around to various pizza establishments, we finally settled on Christian’s in downtown Charlottesville. Located in the walking mall it was a barely over a mile from where we were staying, at Fairhaven Guesthouse, located just minutes from downtown. (more…)

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Enjoy Fresh Local Fare At Mossfire Grill, Jacksonville, FL!

by Michael Wilkins

Today was my best friend’s birthday so we went out to dinner to celebrate at the Mossfire Grill. The food here is outstanding and one of the reasons is because this enterprise is a farm to table restaurant.

For those of us who are not carnivores they offer dishes that include tempeh and tofu. The Mossfire Grill has a Southwest flair to their offerings and is located in the community of Riverside in Jacksonville. The specific area is called Five Points and the restaurant is a short walk from the five points intersection in the Riverside area of Jacksonville.

Mossfire Grill Exterior

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Native Foods Café – A Concept Of Truly Healthy, ALL VEGAN, Casual Dining For The 21st Century!

by Danielle Bussone

 

Native Foods Cafe Exterior

Danielle Bussone with Cherle Link

Danielle Bussone with Cherle Link

 

With heart disease, stroke, obesity, diabetes, dementia and other common and often fatal maladies on the rise, people are finally beginning to awaken to the fact that good health begins with what we choose to put on our plates. With mounting evidence that a diet largely consisting of plants can prevent and reverse many of these debilitating diseases, the world is beginning to embrace a plant-based, healthy lifestyle. That’s right, veganism has become cool. And it is high time.

 

Super Slaw

Super Slaw

 

Many fast food restaurants are jumping on the bandwagon and have begun to offer vegan options. Chipotles offers a couple of healthy vegan dishes, even eschewing the use of GMOs, and  Wendy’s is now rumored to be creating a veggie burger. It’s a beginning.

On VOAA’s trip to Chicago to participate in VeggieFest Chicago this past weekend, we were blown away to discover Native Foods Café, a gem of a restaurant that offers nothing but healthy plant-based fare made from scratch. All vegan, all the time! What a concept!

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Scratch Brick Oven Pizzeria, Serving It Up Fresh In Johnson City, TN

by Danielle Bussone

 

Scratch Front Exterior

Scratch Front Exterior

 

For arguably the best pizza in the Tri-Cities area you need look no farther than Scratch Brick Oven. Located in Johnson City’s historic North Roan Street district, in a restored 1900’s home on the corner of Unaka and Roan, it is only two easy blocks from Interstate 26 in Johnson City, TN.

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