Quintissential Quesadillas

The Chefs: Lyndsay and Gracias Madre

The Menu: The Quesadillas de Calabaza, which were filled with delicious butternut squash and carmelized onions, and topped with cashew nacho cheese and pumpkin seed salsa, all with a side of black beans.

The Goods: I can't get enough of these quesadillas, which are just exquisite, and not too filling. And I always love to add a side of black beans, because I'm sorry, but Gracias Madre has the best black beans, period. Today we had a very special guest—former Editorial Assistant Gabrielle Pope came to visit since heading back to Canada last December. We were very sad to see her go, so her visit made us very excited, and we wanted to take her to her favorite lunch spot. She will also be joining us at SF Vegan Drinks tonight, which is at 6pm tonight at Martuni's. We hope to see you there, too!

Gracias Madre, Gracias Elizabeth!

The Chef: Brooke and Gracias Madre

The Menu: The lunch special—the Gracias Madre torta with Caesar salad and a sampling of the delicious gorditas with avocado!

The Goods: I question whether or not I actually work at VegNews, because today was my first experience at Gracias Madre. I know, it's pretty much blasphemy. But I am one of the gals that lives by the rules of Savvy Abby, and so come 12:30, I normally use every ounce of my will power to resist the amazing veg dishes the Mission has to offer. Big mistake. Gracias Madre taught me that today. The ever-gracious Managing Editor Elizabeth Castoria treated Editorial Assistant Gabrielle Pope, Office Manager Lyndsay Orwig, and me to an amazing lunch today! Rushing in from freezing Mission Street, we started with a delicious holiday drink—hot apple cider. Then we split a plate of the special of the day, gorditas, which are little pancakes covered with avocado goodness. And because it was my first Gracias Madre experience, I figured I had to do it right and order the famed Lunch Special. It. Was. Mind. Blowing. Thank you so much Elizabeth, Gracias Madre, and San Francisco for the best Mexican food of my life. No joke. I guess that's why it's Restaurant of the Year.

Gracias Madre

The Chef: Gabrielle and Gracias Madre

The Menu: Three tacos of pure scrumptiousness, including fillings such as mixed greens with garlic, braised turnips, and cauliflower, covered in Gracias Madre's signature cashew cheese with a generous side of savory refried black beans, all on three house-made corn tortillas.

The Goods: Okay, it's official. I might have named Taqueria Cancún my favorite taqueria in San Francisco as recently as, well, yesterday, but Gracias Madre is in a league of its own. Yes, you've seen us dining at Gracias Madre a lot since we've moved to the Mission, and yes, there is a reason we named them the VegNews restaurant of the year in the 2010 Veggie Awards. The food is amazing! Our lovely office assistant Robin had never been there, so Office Manager Lyndsay Orwig and I jumped on the opportunity to take her along. I've decided that the tacos are the best thing to order, since you can choose three different seasonal fillings to top your tortillas. FYI, the kale is still the best choice.

Thai Feasting

The Chef: Gabrielle and Osha Thai

The Menu: Thai lunch special including a fresh tofu spring roll with peanut sauce, coconut rice, tofu praram (tofu and spinach with peanut curry sauce), and a fresh salad.

The Goods: Though I felt my Mission favorites Gracias Madre and Sunflower pulling me back again today, I decided to branch out and try the Thai restaurant less than two blocks away from VNHQ, Osha Thai, and I dragged Office Manager Lyndsay Orwig and our brand new office assistant Robin along with me. With delicious lunch specials including both a salad, appetizer, entrée, and rice, none of us had a thing to complain about! I love a good peanut sauce, fresh tofu, and a pile of greens, and that's exactly what I got. Head over to the VegNews Holiday store to check out gift ideas for both yourself and others, and get exactly what you want!

Brussels and Kale

The Chef: Lyndsay and Gracias Madre

The Menu: Brussels sprouts with cashew cheese gratin topped with delicious breadcrumbs, and a side of kale sautéed with garlic and chilies.

The Goods: The holiday season has taken a toll on my wallet, so I kept it light today with these amazing Brussels sprouts. The kale was actually Editorial Assistant Gabrielle Pope's, but she was most generous and shared some with me. It's no wonder Gracias Madre was the Editors' Pick for Restaurant of the Year for the 2010 Veggie Awards—the food is absolutely superb, and it definitely hit the spot on this cool Monday. We're really gearing up for the holidays at the VNHQ, and we have a special holiday section at our VN Store to prove it! If you're looking to buy some great cruelty-free gifts this season, be sure to check it out.

California Burrito

The Chef: Gabrielle and Taqueria el Buen Sabor

The Menu: This monstrous "California" burrito was filled with tofu, sautéed green peppers, mushrooms, and onions, salsa, rice, refried beans, and probably about a million other things I'm forgetting due to my food coma. Sides of complimentary chips and salsa were also too hard to pass up.

The Goods: Why on earth you don't see more burritos on Café VegNews lately is beyond me. Our neighborhood, the Mission District, is the taqueria central of San Francisco, so Editorial Assistant Brooke Still and Office Manager Lyndsay Orwig decided today was the day for a giant burrito. I'm trying to find the best burrito in San Francisco, which is proving a little challenging because I'm a naive Canadian who knows very little about makes a burrito truly great, but I do know what my taste buds like, and Taqueria el Buen Sabor delivered. In non-burrito news, don't miss our application deadline (tomorrow, December 1!) to have your own vegan wedding featured in VegNews' annual wedding issue!

We Be Lovin' Sushi

The Chef: Lyndsay and We Be Sushi

The Menu: A sushi feast, including seaweed and spinach salads, inari, avocado and cucumber rolls, shiitake mushroom rolls, eggplant rolls, and delicious veggie tempura rolls to top it off.

The Goods: Yes, this may seem like a lot of food, but it was shared between Editorial Assistant Gabrielle Pope and myself. Plus, it was super cheap, which always wins me over. We Be Sushi actually has two locations on Valencia Street, and this was our first time at the second location, and we found it to be more veg-friendly, and it was just downright cute inside. We at the VNHQ are back from a wonderful four-day weekend due to the holiday, and we're getting ready for one of the busiest months of the year—December! One of the many things happening is our 2011 Vegan Wedding Application deadline this coming Wednesday. If you've had a vegan wedding this past year, be sure to apply before it's too late!

Soba at Cha-Ya Japanese

The Chef: Gabrielle and Cha-Ya Vegetarian Japanese Restaurant

The Menu: A steaming bowl of Kinoko (mushroom) soba noodles in a savory broth, with nori, shimeji, shiitake, portobello, and oyster mushrooms.

The Goods: This is my first day back to work after a horrible weekend spent fighting the flu, and when my container of quinoa salad that I packed this morning broke on my way out the door, I knew I needed to treat myself to lunch. Fortunately, Office Manager Lyndsay Orwig and Associate Editor Liz Miller were happy to join me at Cha-Ya, an 100-percent vegan Japanese restaurant a mere block from the office. Despite the fact that San Francisco is experiencing a new-to-me phenomenon known as a "November heat-wave," I knew my recovering immune system could still use some soup. I'm a wild mushroom freak—the more obscure the variety, the better—and Cha-Ya left me extremely satisfied, with leftovers to boot.

Picnic in the Park

The Chef: Lyndsay and Gabrielle

The Menu: Just your classic picnic with leftovers from the past week, including Paper Masala Dosa from Udupi Palace, cheeseless takeout pizza, and some raw goodies from Lydia's Kitchen.

The Goods: It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, so Editorial Assistant Gabrielle Pope and I decided to take our bikes to nearby Dolores Park. With the sun shining, and the park having just enough people and lovable puppies running around, we were in paradise, which is just what we needed. It's been quite busy at the VNHQ with the holidays fast-approaching, and we just can't get enough of our VegNews Holiday Cookbook. If you haven't purchased this insanely good e-book yet, get to it! You really don't want to miss what's inside.

South Indian Feasting

The Chef: Gabrielle and Udupi Palace

The Menu: Chili and onion uthappam with sambar and chutneys.

The Goods: I was craving dosa, uthappam, or really anything carb-y and spicy, so I went for an uthappam at the nearby Udupi Palace, accompanied by Office Manager Lyndsay Orwig. When I insisted that Lyndsay try the Paper Masala Dosa, I honestly didn't anticipate that Lyndsay's dosa would be, literally, three feet long, but she didn't complain. My uthappam was a delightful pancake of mixed veggies and chilies, accompanied by a tasty sambar and tomato, peanut, and coconut chutneys. A fine way to start out the week, leading into the holidays! Speaking of which, you might want to check out our brand new VegNews Holiday Cookbook, packed with amazing vegan recipes for all your holiday occasions!

Sushi And Good Company

The Chef: Gabrielle and Tao Yin restaurant

The Menu: Sushi! An avocado and shiitake mushroom roll, accompanied by a wakame seaweed salad.

The Goods: Lacking lunch plans, VegNews Office Manager Lyndsay Orwig, Associate Editor Liz Miller, and I made a last minute decision to check out Tao Yin, a restaurant literally steps from our offices offering both Chinese and Japanese food. Mushrooms and avocados may very well be my very favorite foods, so wrapping them up in rice and seaweed and serving them with ginger, wasabi, and soy sauce can really only improve on things, all the while reminding me of my time spent traveling in Japan just a year ago. Looking for more Japanese-inspired eats? Our brand-new November+December 2010 Veggie Awards issue features sushi and Eggplant Kabayaki recipes. The issue is on newsstands now, so be sure to pick one up!

Vegan Cheesesteak Sandwiches

The Chef: Lyndsay and Jay's Cheesesteak

The Menu: A vegan cheesesteak, with seitan, sweet and hot peppers, and Vegenaise. Yes, I ate the entire thing.

The Goods: I know this isn't the prettiest picture, but that's a cheesesteak sandwich for you. What this sandwich lacked in cleanliness, it definitely made up in tastiness! It's Monday, and I was craving a delicious sandwich, so I treated myself and editorial assistant Gabrielle Pope to Jay's, which is probably becoming my favorite sandwich in the city, and it's not because my boyfriend's name is Jay. It's going to be a busy week at the VNHQ, and just to let you know, there's a giveaway this week for Manic Panic's new Creature of the Night make-up line. Be sure to enter!