Breakfast Bonanza

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: A scrumptious spread of breakfast goodies! Colleen made an incredible scrambled tofu with toasted cumin seeds, slivered carrots and zucchini, and a delectable combination of herbs. Rosemary-roasted sweet potatoes, rustic bread with berry preserves, and a bright green salad completed the meal. Yes, we would eat breakfast every day if it meant we got to eat like this.

The Goods: As today's lunch was obviously a departure from our usual, hurried put-together-whatever-we-have-handy menu plan, you might be wondering about what kind of special occasion could warrant such yummy eats? Well, we'll tell you. Today we celebrated (belatedly) the birthday of one Rey Ortega, a longtime friend of VN and founder of Sun Flour Baking Company. Rey and his awesome co-workers Tiffany and Jennifer joined us, as did Ms. Laura Beck, who's also awesome, for the record. Oh, and did we mention that there are already more than 4,000 votes cast in the 2009 Veggie Awards Survey?! There are! Add yours!

Spicy Soup, Cool Couscous

The Chefs: Aurelia and Colleen

The Menu: A perfectly balanced pairing of spicy butternut squash soup with a cool couscous salad. Aurelia made the fiery soup, using green curry paste for a depth of flavor and spice that was utterly delicious. Garlicky croutons that were tossed with hearty amounts of Parma made a savory addition to the velvety soup. Colleen's couscous salad, full of fresh basil, cucumber, carrots, broccoli, and swiss chard provided a lovely counterpoint. Did we also top that with tons of Parma? Yes, yes we did.

The Goods: We're gearing up for the Green Festival here in SF this weekend, and, evidently, so are a number of our friends. We had the good fortune of hosting Yvonne Smith, aka The Traveling Vegetarian, vegan chef Justin Lucke, and festival volunteer extraordinaire Paul Saccone today. Just to make the afternoon a little sweeter, Rey Ortega of Sun Flour Baking Co., stopped by with two things we love: freshly baked cookies and Dan Piraro.

Doughnuts!

The Chef: Ronald's Donuts

The Menu: Freakin' vegan doughnuts. Get ready to freak out. Bearclaws, jelly-filled, custard-filled, glazed, and apple-filled doughnuts are officially on the Café VegNews menu.

The Goods: Holy crap. Any day that involves a box of doughnuts shipped straight from the source in Vegas is a good day to us. Our long-time friend and treat-supplier Rey Ortega was recently in Sin City and was kind enough to think of us. Unforutnately, Ronald's doesn't yet have their own website, but the ever-trustworthy reviewers at Happy Cow have already weighed in on these amazing goodies. The fluffy, sugary indulgences are so similar to their non-vegan counterparts that Rey's suspicions were aroused. Ever the cautious vegan, he sent a sample out to a food lab in New Jersey to test for animal ingredients. That's right, he's that picky. We are thrilled to report that Ronald's got a clean bill of vegan health. Okay, not so much health—these are still doughnuts we're talking about—but they're animal-free and damn tasty. Thanks Rey!