Vegan Mexican Food and Confusion

The Chefs: Anna and Gracias Madre

The Menu: The torta-and-Caesar salad lunch special and olive oil-roasted potatoes topped with spicy cashew-nacho cheese

The Goods: I hadn't been to Gracias Madre in more than a month (blasphemy, I know!), so when my friend asked me where we should go for lunch, I knew just what to say. I decided to venture away from my typical order of tacos and instead noshed on the sandwich-tacular lunch special. The combination of creamy black beans, avocado, and cashew cheese with spicy pico de gallo and crunchy lettuce was heavenly, and the potatoes my friend and I shared didn't hurt, either. On my way home, I ran into VN Publisher Joseph Connelly at a nearby pizza place. I could have sworn it was a Gracias Madre-induced food coma (it's happened before), but Joe was noshing on a slice with decidedly non-vegan cheese topped with decidedly non-vegan pepperoni and sausage. Joseph said he was inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi's redefining of vegetarianism to include fish, and "just wanted to remember what pig tastes like." I can't really judge. I bake with refined sugar, after all. We might have lost Joseph, but at least we gained Paula Deen!

Psst...it's April Fool's!