Queso Veggie Sandwich

The Chef: Gabrielle and Java Beach Café

The Menu: A huge veggie sandwich featuring cucumber, tomato, avocado, sprouts, and mustard in a fresh baguette slathered with some warm and spicy Nacho Mom's Vegan Queso.

The Goods: Tired of lusting over our delicious Java Beach sandwiches? Well, I'm not tired of eating them, though I will be able to mix it up a bit when we move to our amazing new office in San Francisco's Mission district, an area known for excellent vegan offerings like at the fully-vegan Gracias Madre and Cha-Ya Vegetarian Japanese restaurant. Today's sandwich was one of those meals you think about for the rest of the day, due mainly to the delicious Nacho Mom's Vegan Queso I slathered all over it. Accompanying the sandwich is an essential pick-me-up in the form of GT's Synergy Kombucha. Though I usually make my own, sadly I had to leave my scobies back in Canada, so it's GT's to the rescue since this vegan doesn't buy into the controversy surrounding kombucha's alcohol content. Will there be brownies from Allison's Gourmet during my afternoon snack-fest? Um, probably!

Five-Star Soup

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: An incredible three-squash soup! Colleen blended acorn, butternut, and delicata squashes together with an Indian-food-inspired blend of spices for this thick, filling main course. Alongside our bowls were slices of perfectly crunchy rosemary crostini, and a mixed green salad with our favorite new add-in: craisins. All together this was one satisfying meal, utterly worthy of the five-star rating.

The Goods: Get ready, we've got gobs of goods today! First, we got to share this amazing lunch with Mr. Billy Hulting, who just happens to be a rockstar. No, literally, that's what he does for a living. Billy plays percussion for Zappa Plays Zappa, and we just learned that the band is nominated for a Grammy! Woo hoo! In his limited free time, Billy also helps to organize WorldFest, a totally-vegan eco-friendly festival in Los Angeles, where you're sure to find a VegNews booth. Accompanying Billy was his delightful mother, Pat, who lives here in San Francisco and whom we hope to see again soon! As if all this wasn't enough, we were also treated to some insanely good candy cane brownies from Sticky Fingers. Yes, you read that right: candy cane brownies. If anyone needs us this afternoon, we'll be under our desks in hyperglycemic comas.

Fantastic Falafel

The Chef: Molly

The Menu: Homemade fantastic falafel, that is. Oh yes, Molly baked—that's right, baked, instead of fried—us up some lovely little chickpea nuggets and made a light, delicious hummus that we heaped on top. Roasted eggplant was her secret for making the hummus wonderfully flavorful and less weighty than traditional all-chickpea hummus. Of course, a stellar salad with tomatoes, mushrooms, and perfectly leafy lettuce completed the plate.

The Goods: You know what's excellent about baked falafel? Along with the obvious benefits of not filling your belly with greaseballs before trying to actually do work in the afternoon, eating slightly lighter fare during lunch makes more room for dessert! Today we enjoyed more spoils from the recent visit of VN columnist and baker extraordinaire, Allison Rivers Samson. Does anyone else like Pecan Heavenly Fudge Brownies? We sure as heck do.