Foundry On Elm

Today, my boss took some of us out to lunch while we interviewed a candidate for our group. So we went to Foundry on Elm. It's probably the classiest joint in the Square.

I thought it was pretty terrible, from a vegetarian stand point. My choices were portobello burger, salad, and the potato bisque. I tried the bisque. It was, in fact, sweet potato bisque with bacon.

Now, I could have eaten it, certainly. My code of vegetarianism says if meat comes my way, I usually don't turn it down, and I don't put it to waste. The exception is at a restaurant. If they screw up (like casually not mentioning that there's meat in a dish), I do send it back. I want to make the presence of vegetarians known. I think that's how restaurants begin to accommodate us.

They brought me a new, meatless bowl. I found the soup to be fine. Nothing special. As soups go, I like potato better than sweet potato. I don't think I'd order it again.

I also had an Arnold Palmer, and it was fantastic. Both the lemonade and the ice tea were sharp, and it had a real lemon bite.

In conclusion, it's a great place to go for drinks - not so good for vegetarian eats.

Pulse

I just realized (in my blogging resurgence) that I had been missing a huge opportunity. I go to Pulse once a week, but I haven't written about them.

Pulse Cafe is a vegan place in Davis Square, about a two minute walk from my office. They serve dinner Tuesday-Sunday, lunch and dinner on Friday and Saturday, and brunch to dinner on Sunday. My co-worker Tom and I are engaged in an underground campaign to get them open all day, seven days a week, by creating the illusion of high demand.

Pulse (and its ilk) are the reason why it's possible to be a vegetarian in Boston/Cambridge/Somerville. The food is excellent, the staff is friendly, and it's all vegan.

I'm working my way through the menu systematically, and I go every Friday. So I'll get them all eventually. The best thing thus far is the bacon cheese burger, but that's another post.

Today I had the Apple Melt. It had mozzarella "cheese," green apple, and sauteed onions on whole wheat. It was pretty good. The only complaint I have is that it's not really fair to call it mozzarella cheese. The nut based substitute they have for cheese (it's vegan) is definitely cheesy, but I think it's generous to say that its a specific type of cheese. It's very generic cheese substitute. But the sandwich was great, and the Dijion mustard is a great addition to this sandwich.

I also bought the loaded fries for the table - beans, so-called nacho cheese, and french fries. It was filling, and they make a good fry there. I do feel like the appetizers are the weakest part of their menu so far - but I haven't had their desserts yet.

There will be more updates about Pulse as time goes forward. But until I have time to give more recommendations, just go for the bacon cheese burger. Trust me.

Veggie Galaxy

As mentioned elsewhere, Veggie Galaxy will be opening in Central Square. It will be a sister restaurant to Veggie Planet, but will serve baked goods and diner food. All vegetarian. I'm excited.

CloverFoodLabs

Niall and I tried CloverFoodLabs again last night. This time, they let us eat, so that was definitely a step in the right direction.

There's basically no need for me to review them here - everything that Yelp says about them is right on. But here's my specific take.

The food was in the good range. Niall and I split a chickpea fritter sandwich, a BBQ seitan sandwich and an African peanut soup. The seitan sandwich was pretty good. I think it was mostly buoyed by its delightful barbecue sauce. I thought the other sandwich and soup were just okay. It's possible that the chickpea fritter was colored by us A) having just gotten back from the falafeleria that is Israel, and B) having had fried chickpea fritters (essentially) last night for dinner.

Both sandwiches were recommended by our "waitress," which says to me that those are their best stuff. Which makes me wonder about the rest of the menu.

There aren't a lot of places in the Square where a meal for two runs for $14, which was pretty cool. It was also fairly quick.

Logistically, they've got some issues. In an attempt to reduce waste (a goal I applaud), they've taken a few silly steps.

1. They're doing an all-iPod / no-paper thing. A woman (the aforementioned "waitress") stood by the menu board and entered my order into the iPod. Its a system I generally like, and, for ordering, it was pretty quick. But to enter my name (to pick up the order) was slow. Better would be assigning me a number to remember, or perhaps going to a computer, with its fine keypad entry system. Or this.
2. They have no plates. I think this isn't bad - I go plateless for lots of foods, including sandwiches, but it creates a problem. All their sandwiches are overstuffed pitas, so when the food is done, the preparer needs to hold onto it until someone comes and gets it. Much better would be a rack of some kind, or a thing like an ice cream cone holder.
3. They have no trays. To reduce the waste (and cost) of washing trays, they don't have them. It makes the food hard to carry back to the table.
4. Everything is compost-able. Forks, spoons, cups, everything. Which makes it feel cheap, and I question how much energy it saves. My guess is that its a dishwasher wage saver, which they are billing as environmentally friendly.

Lastly, I think that the Apple Store aesthetic is sort of unappealing. I think the reason there are no keyboards is because the iPad is the future and they want a jump on it. But I accept that I might be alone on this one. Certainly I will say this - the gimmicky-ness of the place absolutely overshadows the food.

With all that said, it was a decent meal at a very acceptable price. I will definitely eat at Clover again.

Veggie Burgers in the NyTimes

Hot on the heels of my attempt at these burgers, the New York times has an article about veggie burgers on the rise in New York City.

I wonder if the same thing is happening in Our Fair City

Veggie Planet

Niall and I went to Veggie Planet last night with our friend Nick (after being turned away from Clover, on account of a company meeting).

Unfortunately, the Veggie Planet pizza oven was broken, so I couldn't get my pizza fix. And, all of the appetizers require the pizza oven in some way, so they were working at reduced strength.

But I did get the Mexican beans over rice, and their homemade ginger beer, and both were delightful. I think everyone else enjoyed their meals too.

Also, Jill Sobule was playing at Passim, so I got to hear her drift in from next door, which was nice.

Upstairs on the Square

We went here for my girlfriend's birthday - us and another couple. When they found out we were all vegetarians, the chef, came over to our table, and asked if there was anything different on the menu that we'd like to try. We mentioned being interested in a number of things, so he said he'd prepare us a couple of things - a salad and the gnocchi.

First, he made us a wild beet salad, which had fried onions and a smoked maple syrup glaze. It was delicious - even the non salad eater in our group loved it.

Next came the gnocchi with wild mushrooms and fig. It was tremendous - it approached the effervescent quality of great gnocchi.

After that, the chef came out again, and sat with us to talk about what we would have next. He said he had something he wanted to try, and see what we thought. Everything being excellent so far, we told him to go for it.

He produced a wild rice and chickpea cake with roasted vegetables and cumin sauce. It was very good - a little crispy for my taste, but very good. The chef came out again and asked us what we thought, and talked about how he was tinkering with the dish.

For dessert, we had my favorite - Zebra cake. After that, the chef came out again, thanked us, and told us he really enjoyed having the chance to cook creatively for us.

Each course, as it came out, was served by the chef, and he introduced and explained it. He seemed to be genuinely enjoying himself, and everything was delectable.

It was the finest meal I've ever had at a restaurant.