Fox & Goose Pub

The past decade has witnessed the term “gastropub” morph into a synonym for “pretentious ultra-spendy bar,” but Fox & Goose Pub rebelliously breaks off from the bourgeois trend. Their brunch is a bona fide Sacramento institution with diners barely forming a gawped mouth upon the news of a wretched 45 minute to hour wait; this is the hellish price one swallows for premium, unique British pub food with an (admittedly heavy-handed) American twist.

It’s practically the only place in town to procure a decent vegan brunch outside Sugar Plum Vegan (review to come). Plus, any menu graced by tempeh strips has my undivided culinary attention.

The Create-Your-Own Tofu scramble has all the potential of a well-stocked grocery store as long as the picker can form some chef-worthy gastronomic combo from the dizzying list of ingredient choices. My highlighted nosh: broccoli (ambrosial & salubrious), sun-dried tomatoes (expensive for a reason), avocado (vegan duh), and tempeh strips (a protein rarity whilst dining out). The scramble, mediocre compared to my PPK recipe homemade, was cursed by a chef prone to skimping on the spice shaking. However, the ingredients gracefully danced together on the tongue, with the avocado adding some much-desired flavor and the smoky strips stealing my tempeh-loving heart.

The English country potatoes, while compensating for all the spice my scramble lacked, suffered from 3rd-degree mush. The fruit cup swimming with farm-fresh berries, cantaloupe, and watermelon is a decidedly better side.

I’m often nonplussed by restaurant bread, but Fox & Goose’s walnut wheat sourdough is a bakery-inspired treat: nutty and hearty with that time-honored sourdough tang. That toast is begging to be schmeared full knife by the soft pulpy delight of the house raspberry jam (not pictured). This nectarous spread does America proud; still, no comparisons to French confitures because that’s jumping outside of its international weight class.

The fresh-squeezed OJ is thick and Vitamin-C-licious, showcasing this gastropub’s dedication to the simple brunch sundries that together combine to form feasting greatness.

Fox & Goose’s breakfast menu (PDF available on their site) has major vegan potential: a Vegetarian Black Bean Chili create-your-own scramble; a Curry & green onion scramble served with Branston pickle; and an intriguing Harvest Grains cereal with soy milk option. Personally, I have my vegan radar set on the latter.

Fox & Goose Pub

1001 R Street
Sacramento, CA

Pizza & a Winner

But with pizza involved everyone is a winner, right? I can’t believe I’ve waited this long to try Daiya on a pizza, but suffice it to say my bout of negligence is officially over. I haven’t had a truly decadent pizza experience in many moons, but Daiya has filled that gaping chasm in my foodie soul forever. It was melty and rich and fatty with only a slight touch of ”commercial vegan product aftertaste”. In my defense to the ubiquitous vegan police, I do NOT miss cheese in the slightest but sometimes find pizza a bit monotonous without it. Don’t get me wrong, I love a nice cheese-less veggie pizza but, as the cliché goes, variety is the spice of life. Ugg, how I despise clichés.

Making the dough was… well… an experience. I’ve never worked with yeasted bread before and now I know why. Oh the heart ache, the worry, the apprehension and that was just waiting for my yeast to proof! My first batch of dough was too dry and then the second was a bit more kneadable, but far from perfect. To make matters worse, I waited in vain for my first batch to rise to no avail. Feeling defeated and inadequate, I started a second batch and that one rose fine, of course. Murphy, you are illogical and a coup d’état to upheave your unjust system of law is in the works. Pitchforks will be involved and it’s gonna be ugly.

Anyway, you don’t care. Long story short: the dough rose (sort of) and made an “ehh” pizza crust. I’m definitely not on the path to open a pizzeria anytime soon, but it works for now.

I had none of the usual pizza toppings, so I chose my two favorite veggies instead: broccoli and carrots. The pizza sauce I got at the gluten-free store down the street was just as amazing as the owner said it would be. As Lorelai Gilmore would say, I want to take a bath in that sauce.

In case you’re wondering, I ate the whole thing. Gluttony is one of my best attributes, thank you thank you…

Finally, a meek call of thanks to all those who entered the muffin giveaway after my pathetic “pay attention to me” pity post. Each entry made me smile, so thank you again! And the lucky winner chosen by Random.org is…. Poopiebitch as comment #3! I will get in touch with you so I can send those pumpkin muffins ASAP aka as soon as I get my lazy ass to the grocery store to buy canned pumpkin. Ta!

Purple Kale Salad

If you read this blog regularly, you already know I’m a big fan of kale. Its health benefits are high, it’s easy to cook, and –most importantly– it’s downright tasty. Recently, I discovered some purple kale at the supermarket and was too enchanted by its beauty not to pick up a bunch. While it was more expensive than plain ‘ol green kale, I found the taste to be superior (read: less bitter) in almost every way. While I don’t normally care if my food is “pretty” sometimes it makes all the difference.

Purple salad is rad.

Besides using the kale in a few sandwiches, I threw together this easy salad to enjoy on a hot summer’s day. At the time I was feeling anti-oil so I opted to make an oil-free balsamic dressing by taking the oil out my usual vinaigrette and compensating with a few extra squirts of stone-ground mustard. Nothing ground-breaking, but worked like a charm.

Crisp, clean, and cool

Sunflower seeds, grated carrots, and thinly-cut broccoli were the perfect accompaniment. But really, how can you go wrong with kale salad?

One little kale leafie wants to say hi.

**Be sure to enter One Frugal Foodie’s awesome giveaway of four fabulous vegan cookbooks. Contest closes August 23rd!

I’m Back…?

You know what surprised me today? The fact that I might actually have readers, people who actually follow this silly little blog I started. When a recent friend (you know who you are) berated me for my lack of posting, I felt… guilty.I think I suffer from postpartum: I nurtured my little baby blog and now it’s a neglected sadface bloggie. So from now on, I’m going to post, post, post, post until you get sick of me. Like that could ever happen, psh.

This is life right now: film set, class, essay, french comp, russian cinema (DISLIKE!), food. I’ve pretty much been a zombie for the past week, and March has been a blur. I mean, when your roommate has to remind you what night you went to bed at 2 versus 4 you know that life sucks. Let’s just say spring break (T-minus 6 days!) could not be more welcome.

On to the food!

Nothing mind-blowing, but good all the same.

Tofu scramble with chickpeas, carrots, nutritional yeast (hipster vegan translation: nooch) and whatever else I decided to throw in there. Lots of smoked paprika on top because I’m addicted to the stuff. I’ve discovered there is no cure except to put it on everything possible- potatoes, scrambles, stir-fries, your dog…

Tofu- you know, that boring stuff vegans eat.

Falafel from King Falafel Palace in PARIS, France. Half of me thought it was amazing and the other half was just jumping for joy not to be eating pasta for the 8th time in a row.

HELL YES.

Stir-fry! This is what I live on. Beets (they make going to the bathroom a fun… surprise. Sorry, TMI?), carrots, onions, broccoli, and zuchini. I liked how the onions turned beet-pink

Veggies gettin' friendly in my wok

Sesame seed sprinkled

Polenta fries made from leftover polenta chilled in the fridge. These were quite a treat, and they’re even better coated with Panko breadcrumbs (sorry, no pic). I dipped mine in barbeque sauce because that’s how I roll.

They look like wet, yellow alien fingers. YUMMY wet, yellow alien fingers

Trivia of the Day: The world record for time without sleep is 264 hours (11 days) by Randy Gardner in 1965. Kudos, Randy! And I thought I had it bad…