East/West (Even) | Veggin' Out And About

Lamb’s Bread Vegan Café in Columbia, SC, Serves Non-GMO, Organic Soul Food!

Posted by Danielle Bussone on Nov 16, 2013 in Columbia, I-26, Lamb's Bread Vegan Café, Organic and/or Non-GMO, Soul, Vegan | 0 comments

By Danielle Bussone

While en-route to Charleston, SC, to celebrate the 26th anniversary of our first date (Nov 11th), Rich and I found ourselves on I-26 absolutely famished and still nearly two hours from our destination. We stopped at Columbia, SC, and were lucky to discover Lamb’s Bread Vegan Café, an animal free, organic, NON-GMO restaurant right off I-26 on Main Street! You’ll know you are at the right place when you see their street sign with the name of their restaurant followed by “Love is the Key.” What a perfect preamble to enjoying a healthy meal!

Love is the Key!

Lamb Bread Café Exterior

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Tampa Bay’s 4th Annual VegFest, 2013, Beats the Heat and Packs In the Crowds!

Posted by Danielle Bussone on Nov 14, 2013 in I-275, I-4, I-75, Tampa Bay, FL, Tampa, FL, Veg Fests, Vegetarian/Vegan Friendly | 0 comments

By Stacy Perry

Tampa Bay’s Fourth Annual VegFest, 2013, was held in Tampa’s Cotanchobee Fort Brooke Park. It was organized by Florida Voices for Animals, a non-profit formed to “raise awareness about animal cruelty issues” and to give the public ways to help. This was my first year to attend and it was pleasantly busy, conveniently happening on the same day as a nearby breast cancer walk was finishing. Hungry participants of the walk floated over to check out what was happening in the park — ahhhh, serendipity. Well-behaved dogs on leashes were invited to the event too.

Tampa Bay VegFest T-Shirt

There were several food booths on one end of the venue, selling Vietnamese, Indian, Ethiopian, Mexican, specialty popsicles, frozen banana ‘ice cream’, and baked goods. If there was something non-vegan at this festival, I didn’t see it.

Gone Bananas “Ice Cream” Vendor

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Tomy Thai Serving Up Asian In East Tennessee!

Posted by Danielle Bussone on Nov 13, 2013 in Asian, I-26, Japanese, Johnson City, TN, Thai | 0 comments

by Danielle Bussone

Tommy Thai, situated on State of Franklin across from EarthFare in Johnson City has an distinctively Asian air with a Bhudda in the corner entrance, several stools supported by wooden elephants and feminine deities interspersed throughout. Tommy’s seats 60, not counting 16 in the outdoor patio area. At 1:30pm we had no problem finding a table.

Exterior

The restaurant sports and extensive menu of fresh entrees which includes a variety of vegan options and a full bar for those wishing a cocktail with their meal. Most everything on the menu from noodle dishes to curries to stir fries can be made vegan upon request. The prices are reasonable and the food is quite good. Most items come with a choice of tofu (fried or steamed) or extra vegetables or some kind of meat for your carnivorous companions. You will also be given a choice of white and brown rice, except for the noodle dishes.

Interior

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Angkor Bistro, Cambodian & Thai Food In Johnson City, TN

Posted by Danielle Bussone on Aug 20, 2013 in Asian, Cambodian, Fusion, I-26, Thai | 0 comments

by Danielle Bussone

Angkor Bistro has not only recently supplanted Jade’s Market and Eatery as Johnson City’s premier Thai restaurant but has also added Cambodian Cuisine to the original fare. The Thai food we’ve come to enjoy at Jade’s Market is still a major part of the menu and has not changed since new owner, Phally (pronounced Pauly) Mein, purchased the restaurant. Her brother, Phalla (Paul) Nop is her manager. Together they have put together a flavorful menu unique to the Johnson City area.

Maria is their full-service employee who stayed with the restaurant when it changed hands. Her engaging smile is usually the first thing you will notice when you walk into the Angkor Bistro. She is always pleasant, knowledgable and eager to make your experience an enjoyable one.

Angkor Bistro is named after a famous Cambodian temple, Angkor Wat. Most of the dishes offered can be made vegan by substituting tofu as the principle protein or by adding more vegetables instead. The ambiance is quite casual, with cafeteria-style seating.

Angkor Wat

Here we were introduced to our first experience with Cambodian cuisine. Nestled on the southern border of Thailand, Cambodia shares a lot of the ingredients of Thai cooking. The flavors, however, are entirely unique and the cooking method is different from Thai cuisine. We will experience this first hand when Angkor’s chef prepares a meal for us on video this week to share with our readers. (more…)

Ming’s Asian Cuisine, Johnson City, TN

Posted by Danielle Bussone on Jul 21, 2013 in Asian, I-26, Japanese, Johnson City, TN, Thai | 2 comments

by Danielle Bussone

Correction! Originally I posted that this is the only Chinese restaurant we’ve discovered to date which uses organic ingredients, no genetically modified ingredients and no MSG in the preparation of their food. However, I visited Ming’s again this week and discovered that some of their commercial soy sauces, which are available on individual dining tables, are not organic and are likely to contain sodium benzoate and GMO soy. After speaking with a member of the restaurant staff, I learned that this same soy sauce is used in the preparation of the food. Unless this is changed, we can no longer tout this as a non-GMO restaurant. Sorry, readers. We work on the honor system and unless we discover something to the contrary, we have to trust our restauranteurs to give us the facts. We do believe in this case it was an honest mistake of the ownership, which is the only reason Ming’s is remaining on Veggin’ Out and About’s list of recommended restaurants. We take these claims very seriously. While Ming’s is not entirely GMO-free, it still stands above its competitors in freshness and no MSG.

Ming’s Asian Cuisine had been opened five days when Rich and I happened by. It is located off of State of Franklin on Hamilton Place.We thought it must be a new chain restaurant but we were certainly mistaken about that. Ming is the owner. Ming’s Asian Cuisine prides itself on using seasonal fresh vegetables from local sources. They use no canola oil, which is a highly genetically modified product. Instead, they use sesame oil and olive oil. (more…)

Elite Eats at Caliza in Alys Beach

Posted by FullDISHclosure on Jul 14, 2013 in Alys Beach, FL, American, I-10 | 1 comment

by Amanda Trevelino

If it’s true that we eat first with our eyes, it hardly would matter what food is served at Caliza. This architecturally award-winning pool and al fresco restaurant in Alys Beach, Florida, is all about limestone, lanterns, glitz and glamor. It’s such an indulgent-looking destination a person might be surprised to find a vegetarian menu among the surf and turf sophistication. The veg menu exits, I promise, but you’ll probably have to ask for it. Better yet, request it when you make your reservation, because sometimes the helpful staff actually has to rummage through drawers to locate it among the wine lists and the full menu of richer options. Don’t worry; it’s worth a little extra effort to enjoy a clean, sophisticated well-composed dinner at this seriously chic poolside setting. (more…)