Soup, Salad, & Spelt

The Chef: Liz

The Menu: A rich, silky soup including roasted butternut squash, carrot, red lentils, green lentils, onion, garlic, potato, and spices paired with a mixed green salad brimming with mushroom, tomato, avocado, celery, green olives, and chickpeas. Liz also toasted slices of Spelt Right's Whole Grain Spelt Bread, which we promptly smeared with Earth Balance and devoured.

The Goods: For most of America, July means high temperatures, and for a lot of the country that goes hand-in-hand with humidity and heat waves. Well, not in San Francisco. We can't say we're mad about the mild in our City by the Bay, but we can say we're happy that today warmed up enough for a refreshing al fresco lunch. Yes, today we happily dined outside and discussed something else we're also currently loving: The upcoming grand opening day of the Bay Area's first all-vegan sweet shop, Cinnaholic! If an entirely vegan, totally rad cinnamon roll bakery sounds like something you need in your life—and trust us, it is—then don't miss the grand opening celebration this Saturday, July 17. Meet Cinnaholic's fantastic vegan staff, eat vegan cinnamon rolls to your hearts content, and laugh at the sugar coma-induced VN staff.