Phila's HipCityVeg Coming to Chinatown

HipCityVeg will be located between Shophouse and It's Sugar

Philadelphia Business Journal is reporting that HipCityVeg is coming to DC. And I. Can. Not. Wait.

The all-vegan, fast casual restaurant is slated to open at 712 7th St NW in burgeoning Penn Quarter, near Chinatown. The 712 address was previously home to a Ruby Tuesday and very briefly a FroZenYo.

The DC restaurant should open some time this spring and will be HipCityVeg's third or fourth, depending on when the new Philadelphia location opens. They currently have two Philadelphia locations, one in University City and another near Rittenhouse Square.

For the owners, I have one recommendation, one request, and one reflection...

Recommendation: Be ready for people to buy a lot of food. Whatever the daily totals are for the existing stores... throw those numbers out.

Request: Bring Charlie Was a Sinner and Bar Bombón with you! Dying to eat at both of these places.

Reflection: I was totally prepared to hold up the line ordering this off-menu Grilled Chick'n Club, but I see you put it on the menu! Thanks in advance.

Looking forward to visiting this summer. Good luck y'all! 

712 7th Street NW was most recently occupied by FroZenYo

Grace St NW

Georgetown

Vegan Pop-Up at Potter's House

Core Food Group is hosting a fine dining, vegan pop-up service at the Potter's House. The one-night-only affair includes two sittings this Sunday, August 2nd. The venue, newly renovated Potter's House, actually does serve some vegan food on its own menu, but this is a separate event. Looks awesome! The meal is in the form of a five course tasting menu and tickets are $75. Here's the menu, from the organizers:

"Core Food Presents: Vegan Tasting at the Potter’s House

August 2 2015. Join Core Food and chef Christopher Roberson for an adventure in vegetable centered dining. The menu will present diners with five masterfully crafted dishes, featuring product grown in DC proper by Three Part Harmony Farm and Good Sense Farm

fine dining | vegan food | local produce | community 

Menu:

Amuse Bouche

—

Salad
heirloom tomatoes |  housemade “mozzarella” | basil | balsamic reduction

—

Pasta
handmade fettuccini | roasted mushrooms | cream sauce

—

Palate Cleanser
sorbet | local seasonal fruit

—

BBQ “Short Rib”
braised seitan | collard greens | speckled grits | carmelized onion

—

Cake & Gelato

chocolate cake |  hazelnut gelato | espresso macaron"

All Vegan Fruitive Coming to City Center

Virginia Beach based Fruitive is opening up a store in the City Center development in downtown DC. The fast casual style restaurant offers a 100% plant-based menu with a focus on juices (including cleanses), wraps, salads, and bowls. Everything looks really great. Very cool addition to the downtown lunch scene. The restaurant will be located in the Two City Center building, at the corner of Palmer Alley and 11th Street NW. An Instagram post by Fruitive indicates that they intend to open before the end of summer 2015.

HEY FRUITIVE FANS, IT'S HAPPENING!!!! 🎉 The #CityCenterDC construction begins! Opening late #summer 2015 - in other words, #AFruitiveSummer just got better!!!! ☀️ #LiveYourHealth

A video posted by Fruitive (@fruitive) on Jul 2, 2015 at 11:00am PDT

Native Foods Café Preview

Native Foods Café has has been holding a few food preview days over the past week. Instead of spending $$$ on traditional marketing and commercials, they decided to host a few nights of simulated service (with real food) with the benefits of training staff and creating word of mouth. I had a chance to visit the Dupont location last night and after a year of speculation, I'm happy to say it seems to have been worth the wait. (Also, I'm heretofore banishing the term "soft opening," when referring to restaurants, because gross.)

The restaurant is all vegan and is definitely in the fast casual category. Customers queue and order at the register. You get a number card and can basically sit wherever there is a seat available. There is no table service, although the staff delivers your food (no listening for your order number) and they offer to do things like refill your drinks and whatnot. Very cool. The Dupont restaurant has seating on the first floor as well as a pretty large below-grade level. Up to 160 people can sit inside, and up to 14 seats are allowed on the patio facing 18th Street.

The menu is extensive, with about 50 dishes total including appetizers, salads, bowls, what they call "handholds" (sandwiches, tacos, wraps, etc.), desserts, and kid-sized meals. They have crazy-good lemonades and other rotating drinks. Native Foods will also serve alcohol, but were not during this preview. Somehow, all the beers are $4, what? Beers include Champion Killer Kolsch, Port City Optimal Wit, and Duclaw Euforia Brown Ale, among others. There's wine, too.

I can't speak for the whole menu because, unfortunately, I was not allowed to order one of each dish, and it got a little weird when I started walking around checking out everyone else's food as they ate. Kidding. ANYWAY -- I ordered:

Japanese Sesame Crusted Chicken Bites: Definitely appetizer/snack size. The pickled vegetables make this dish. Must like sesame seeds.

Rockin' Moroccan Bowl:  Order this if you're really, really hungry or want enough food to take home for dinner later. It's good, really good. But, I mean, it's just a whole lot of good. Marinated tofu & grilled root vegetables FTW. It's gluten free like a lot of dishes on the menu.

Native Fries: Basically these are shoestring French fries. For some reason I froze like Ralphie Parker on Santa's lap when I was ordering, because I almost always get sweet potato fries if available, which they were. Whenever sweet potato fries are on the menu, ordering regular french fries is like asking Santa for a football: BASIC.

Apple Cake: This was like a marriage between a slice of regular yellow cake and a slice of apple pie. Pretty good, but keep in mind these aren't hot out of the oven. All of the desserts are ready-to-eat style and live prepackaged in a deli case until you order it. Still, it was tasty, and tart.

Like Woodlands Vegan Bistro and Elizabeth's Gone Raw, Native Foods is a welcome all-vegan addition to the DC food scene. Unlike those two however, Native Foods will be open downtown, and will be set up to serve hundreds of people for lunch each weekday, quickly. No more settling for the one vegan dish on the menu, we can order anything, everything. This place is going to rake. 

The Dupont Native Foods is located at 1150 Connecticut Ave NW (18th St side). It will open on September 30. The Penn Quarter/Market Square restaurant is located at 701 Pennsylvania Ave NW. It will open on October 15. The operating hours of each store will be 11:00 AM - 10:00 PM daily.

Native Foods Opening September 30 in Dupont

The Native Foods Café restaurant in Dupont just erected signage and is closing in on opening day, The 5,000 square foot space at 1150 Connecticut NW will be one of two to open in DC this fall. The DC Native Foods restaurants will be the first on the east coast. The Dupont store is set to open on September 30, the Penn Quarter location on October 14. Native Foods offers an all vegan menu and is in the fast-casual style.

The restaurant at 1150 Connecticut (actually closer to the corner of 18th and M NW) has applied for an alcohol license. The license request includes a max indoor seating capacity of 116, total occupancy load of 160, and an outdoor patio with 14 seats. They're seeking operating hours of 7:00 AM - 2:00 AM (Sun-Thu) and Fri-Sat 7:00 AM - 3:00 AM (Fri-Sat). Let's hope they stick to the September 30 opening date. VERY cool addition to the DC vegan scene and Dupont lunch scene in general.

Native Foods Opening in Dupont

1150 Connecticut Ave NW (18th St side) is slated to be filled by Native Foods.

After getting really excited last year at the prospect of an all-vegan Native Foods Cafe opening in Penn Quarter, I'm taking a bit of a wait-and-see approach to the news of another location. The potential Penn Quarter restaurant at 701 Pennsylvania Ave NW is still set to open this year, but the local "flagship" location will be near Dupont Circle at 1150 Connecticut Ave NW.

I walked by the Dupont site yesterday during early evening and there was significant construction work being done inside the space. It's located on the first floor of this 12-story, mid-1970s office building. This space is actually on the 18th Street side of the building, and at 5,000 square feet, is quite large. It was previously filled by two separate businesses, an optometrist's office and a SizzEx deli-style restaurant.

Native Foods is California based, all-vegan, fast casual style restaurant. They are in the midst of an east coast expansion, which includes the two in DC; their first restaurants east of Chicago. Both the Connecticut Ave and Penn Ave stores will open in September of this year, according to the Native Foods website. Can't wait!

All-Vegan Soupergirl Opens in Dupont

Soupergirl was one of my favorite stands at several local farmers' market. When I heard they were able to open a store in Takoma DC, I was really happy for them, but haven't yet had a chance to visit. However, as of last week, Soupergirl added a Dupont location, which I visited recently. 

They have a rotating line up of hot and cold soups, but also a really good selection of other takeaways like peanut noodle salad and spicy kale (menu). Everything in the restaurant is 100% vegan and kosher. That is awesome! The space is pretty small. There are no tables or chairs, but there is a little mini standing bar in the window. It's built for takeout/to-go. Soupergirl's Dupont store is located at 1829 M Street NW, on the second floor. It's open 11:00 am - 8:00 pm Mon-Thu and 11:00 am - 6:00 pm on Friday. Closed weekends. Good luck Soupergirl!

Vegan-Friendly Salon for Adams Morgan

Rachel Joyce Organic Salon recently opened in Adams Morgan. The store is located on the busy 1700 block of Columbia Rd NW at 1754, above Julia's Fashions. Rachel Joyce offers services including cut/color/styling and more. But, they caught my eye because they use cruelty-free products, which is awesome! According to their website, 100% of their products are vegan friendly and they do not use suppliers who have been involved with animal testing. Huge points in my book for those considerations. 

Rachel Joyce is open 10:00 am - 4:00 pm Mon-Fri and 8:00 am - 2:00 pm on Saturday (note: hours are listed as slightly different on the FB page). Good luck Rachel Joyce Salon!

ShopHouse Opens, Pharmacy Bar Under New Ownership

ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen opened its seventh restaurant yesterday. This fast-casual, Asian themed, Chipotle spin-off is located at  710 7th Street NW near Chinatown. There are now three ShopHouse stores in DC, including the original in Dupont, and another on M Street NW in Georgetown. There is one store in Bethesda and three more in southern California. ShopHouse is very vegan friendly, just check the clearly marked menu for the veggie nuance (like, green papaya salad is not vegetarian) in sauces and toppings. The staff is great as well. Goodbye lunch money!

*     *     *

Adams Morgan's Pharmacy Bar has been a bit of an oasis in the desert of sometimes undesirable imbibing locations present on 18th Street NW. After Asylum did a 180/transformation into Smoke & Barrel, Pharmacy was left as one of my personal go-to bars for friends' birthdays, know-everyone-there impromptu hang outs, and any basic no-hangups chill hangout with good people you know and love. Well, the bar isn't going away anytime soon, but it is about to be sold to new owners who will likely make changes that promise to transform it significantly. The Washington Post has a good write up here. Looking forward to seeing the changes. So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay.

Pharmacy Bar's new owners planning a name change, coffee service, a patio and new soundtrack. http://t.co/PHcOrX6spg pic.twitter.com/KZTeYA3KR4
— Fritz Hahn (@fritzhahn) May 6, 2014

ShopHouse Kitchen, Cava Grill Opening in Penn Quarter

Future Cava Grill location at 707 H St NW.

Future ShopHouse location at 710 7th St NW.

Great, great news for food options in Penn Quarter. ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen and Cava Mezze Grill are slated to open in Chinatown. 

Each restaurant is in the fast-casual, quick-serve style. They each allow customers to order "up the line" choosing a combination of ingredients to create highly customizable dishes. There is no table service. 

ShopHouse --a division of Chipotle-- is one of my favorite DC lunch spots, with two current stores near 28th and M NW, and Connecticut Ave and Q NW. They have clearly marked vegan items and top notch customer service. The food is pan-Asian, taking cues form Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese, and Malaysian cuisines. Check out the menu here. To find out what dishes are vegan, check the actual menu boards inside the stores.

Cava Grill is the fast-casual spin off of the similarly named small plates restaurant, Cava Mezze. Cava is local. The company was started right here in the DC area, mid 2000s. The Grill is awesome. Like ShopHouse, they offer vegan-friendly, affordable options for a quick meal. The food here is Greek & Mediterranean. Yes, that means they serve high quality falafel. Check out what's vegan here.

The new ShopHouse restaurant is located at 710 7th Street NW (formerly a Ruby Tuesday). No exact opening date is known to me, but they are hiring for this location, which is a good sign.

The new Cava Grill restaurant is located at 707 H St NW. That storefront was most recently Capital Q BBQ, which closed in 2012. Again, no exact opening date is known to me, but I will keep you updated.

Where to Eat Vegan at Union Station

Sunrise Caribbean has several vegan options 

[UPDATE:  YO! Sushi has closed. Big Bite (now open in the lower level food court) has one vegan hot dog, made of the Field Roast Italian Sausage Link.]

[UPDATE 2: Sunrise Caribbean, Aditi Kitchen, and Vittorio's have all closed due to the construction of a Walgreens store in the food court area. Sunrise has an on again/off again kiosk at Union Station, but has also opened a full service restaurant at 5329 Georgia Avenue NW. Dangerously Delicious Pies also closed up shop. They have a nearby-ish store at 7th and I NW in Chinatown]

About to board a train or bus for a long trip? Waiting for the MARC or VRE to take you home? Just around for lunch? Here are some vegan-friendly spots to grab a bite at Union Station before or after your travels.

[NOW CLOSED]1. Sunrise Caribbean Cuisine: Hands down, this is the best option in Union Station. About half of the rotating daily menu is vegan. The collards, cabbage, and veggie rice are amazing as stand-alone dishes, but typically people get them as sides to the main dish. I order the vegan jerk chicken (#1) or the vegan bbq steak (close second). No joke, the jerk chicken will make you invent reasons to come back to Union Station. A main dish + two sides costs less than $10.

2. Le Pain Quotidien: First of all, they make a pretty good soy latte to take away if you're on the run. The best part is the standing-room-only tables, which are great if you want to sip on coffee for just a minute without being seated. The menu is partially seasonal, but is very similar to the other area locations. Try a vegan tartine, steel cut oatmeal, or ask for the vegan organic soup of the day with one of their vegan breads.

3. Roti: Really only one option at this Mediterranean fast casual spot, but it is consistently tasty: the falafel rice plate. You get three sides. I like the cous cous, cucumber/tomato salad, and roasted vegetables. FYI - the pita bread is not vegan, so go with the rice plate, not sandwich.

[NOW CLOSED] 4. YO! Sushi: Limited selection, but the vibe is fun and the staff is great. Stick with the miso soup, cucumber maki, vegetable yakisoba, and seaweed salad. The avocado rolls aren't vegan off the belt, but you can special order them vegan for no additional cost.

5. Chop't: Make your own vegan salad or go with the Vegetarian Powerhouse. There are several vegan dressings; 5 Flavor Asian and Spa Sesame Asian are the best. 

[NOW CLOSED] 6. Aditi Indian Kitchen: This Indian restaurant is located on the downstairs food-court level. Half of the 4-6 daily offerings are vegetarian, and usually vegan. Ask to be sure, as some contain dairy. I stick to the aloo gobi (potatos and cauliflower), string beans porial, vegetable samosas, and bhajias (aka pakoras). If they're serving it and you ask nicely, you can get the vegetable biryani as a base instead of white rice.

7. Chipotle: Order the vegan black bean burrito with fajita vegetables and guacamole. BONUS: Chipotle is slated to begin testing its vegan sofrito burrito at DC stores TODAY. 

OTHERS: 

[NOW CLOSED] Dangerously Delicious Pies: If they have a berry pie on the menu, it's likely vegan, just ask. Good coffee.

[NOW CLOSED] Vittorio's/Mama Ilardo's: They have dairy-free sorbets.

All-Vegan Native Foods Café Coming to Penn Quarter

Future location of Native Foods Café at 701 Penn Ave

California chain Native Foods Café is opening its first East Coast restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue NW in the District. Native Foods is an all-vegan, fast casual style restaurant serving a fairly robust menu. There are currently fifteen restaurants in California, Colorado, Oregon, and Illinois. The DC restaurant would be the first on the East Coast and is part of an expansion plan that could reach 200 stores by 2017.

The DC Café will be located at 701 Pennsylvania Ave NW, in the Market Square East building. It will be adjacent to the Navy Memorial. Native Foods' ABRA request is for a restaurant with a permanent seating capacity of 66 and total occupancy load of 98. They would also operate a sidewalk patio with an additional 40 seats. The proposed hours of operation are Sun-Sat 10:30AM - 11:00PM. Alcohol would be served, but there will be no live music.

Can't wait for this! Another great addition to vegan DC. It's in a choice location, too. Look for Native Foods Café sometime after the new year.

DC VegFest is September 28

Yards Park, looking west.

I'm all hyped up over vegan food this week after recently eating Todd Gray's Muse vegan brunch at the Corcoran, enjoying a great dinner of vegan small plates at Zengo, and snagging a quick vegan lunch at the Woodlands Vegan Bistro (aka Everlasting Life) food truck. SO much easier to eat vegan in DC that it was 10 years ago. I mean, multiple vegan food trucks... come on now.

Now, DC VegFest has set a date for its awesome annual event: Saturday, September 28. 

VegFest transitioned from a niche, but quality, smaller event on the GWU campus to a full on summer festival at Yards Park in Southeast. The event is a mix of food vendors, vegan related non-profits & for-profits, government agencies, speakers, and other presenters. This year, the event returns to Yards Park on September 28 from 11:00am - 6:00pm. Organizers haven't released the full schedule yet, but the speakers include Paul Shapiro (Humane Society of the Untied States), Doron Petersan (Sticky Fingers), and Wendy Rieger (NBC 4). Very cool. See you there.

Mediterranean Spot Open, Vegan Friendly

Mediterraneans Spot has opened in Adams Morgan at 2421 18th Street NW. They have quite an extensive menu with over 100 items. It is also vegan friendly. They serve 10+ brick oven pizzas including a vegan pizza with mushrooms, arugula, olives, spinach, red onions, tomatoes, and pesto. In addition to vegan falafel and hummus plates, they serve other vegan favorites like baba ghannouj, grape leaves, tabbouleh, and fava beans. Cool addition to the neighborhood, although I still love Astor Mediterranean. A lot! Nothing wrong with a new veg-friendly place though. Great news.

My Favorite DC Restaurants

Pizzeria Paradiso, an all-time DC favorite of mine.

A few days ago, someone asked me to name my favorite restaurant in the District. I have to admit I was at a loss. I could not. There's plenty to like, for all manner of different reasons, but I couldn't say definitively which was my favorite. All I could come up with was a list of places I liked for their food quality, value for the money, consistency, service or just plain comfort. And obviously, vegan friendliness.

So, I haven't been to every establishment in the District. And I'm surely forgetting a few I've eaten at over the last 10+ years. But, as far as I can tell, here are my favorite restaurants in the District based on the very basic criteria of:

1) they serve vegan food

2) great food quality + consistency 

3) good service + staff likability

4) the prices match the product

5) people watching + attracts a good crowd

Favorites

Pizzeria Paradiso

Harmony Cafe

Busboys and Poets

Sticky Rice

Mandu

Everlasting Life / Woodlands

Adam Express

Dukem Ethiopian

Sticky Fingers Bakery
Jyoti

Honorable Mention

Pho 14
Meridian Pint

Food for Thought
Rice / DC Noodles

Thai Tanic

Habesha Market and Carry-Out

Science Club
Absolute Thai
Daikaya Ramen
Sweetgreen

Only Been Once, Want to Go Again

Elizabeth's Gone Raw

Sushi Taro

Thai X-ing
Toki Underground
Ethiopic

RIP

Cafe Green

Java Green

Asylum
Fasika

Dangerously Delicious Pies Opens in Chinatown

Dangerously Delicious Pies continues its march westward. The Baltimore based pie shop opened its first DC location on H Street Northeast, followed by a location at the Union Stations food court. And now, their first NW shop, about a block from the Gallery Pl-Chinatown Metro station.

The new shop is located at 675 I (Eye) Street NW. It's on a quiet block next to TD Bank and across the street from PNC Bank and ASLA offices. It's a small affair, with just a few seats at the window bar. This is really for takeout. As for vegan pies, there's usually one --but almost always, two-- on the menu; a savory option and one of the berry pies (not apple, though. womp). If you can get your hands on a slice of strawberry rhubarb  DO IT. It's good. 

The Chinatown location of Dangerously Delicious Pies is open Monday - Saturday from 10AM - 4PM, closed Sundays.

New Lunch Options for Penn Quarter

There are two new-ish lunch options for Penn Quarter, located within one block of each other. 

District based Taylor Gourmet already had a Philly-style deli at nearby City Vista (485 K St NW). But, that's a bit of a walk if you're in Penn Quarter and you need a quick lunch. The Taylor folks recently opened a new restaurant at 624 E Street NW, about half way between the Navy Memorial and Verizon Center.

Taylor has all manner of sandwiches including five vegetarian options. None are vegan as-is, though. The prices are good. A six inch hoagie with soda and chips will set you back about $10, the magic lunch number. The staff at Taylor are always so nice and they keep the line moving. I love them because you get your sandwich quickly and roll out.

Just a block south of Taylor is Protein Bar -- 398 7th St NW. This place is awesome. There are only two locations outside of Chicago and one of those is in the District (with another on the way to 19th & K NW). The Penn Quarter location has been open since July of last year.

Protein Bar is what I'd consider a fast casual style restaurant with healthier options than others in this category. They are very vegan friendly. There are several menu items (breakfast, burritos, salads, chili) that can be ordered vegan right off of the menu. In addition you can modify most dishes into vegan meals.

The raw juices and specialty blended drinks cost a bit more, but a wrap or salad plus a bottled drink comes in right around $10. Really, really into this place and will definitely be back.

Pho 14 in Adams Morgan Adds Signage

Last May we learned that Columbia Heights Vietnamese restaurant Pho 14 was opening a new location on Columbia Road in Adams Morgan. I'm still very excited about the new location, as I've become a fan of the very vegan friendly banh mi sandwiches, veggie pho and other noodle dishes. the staff is just great, too.

They're getting closer to opening g at 1769 Columbia Rd NW. The new awning is up outside, and all signs of Pizza Hut, the former, tenant are gone. Chairs and tables have been delivered and are on the floor. Very cool stuff. Still no word on opening date, but all signs ae pointing to sooner than later. Good news to end the week on. Have a great weekend.

DC VegFest Moves to Yards Park

Vegan Treats at 2011 DC VegFest. Hopefully they return. (Photo: Compassion Over Killing)

The DC VegFest is this Saturday; and it is moving across town. The annual event, organized by Compassion Over Killing and the Vegetarian Society of DC, celebrates all that is to be vegetarian in the District. Last year's event was held at George Washington University and drew over 6,000 people. This year, the organizers are going big and have moved the event to Yards Park, one of my favorite DC outdoor spaces!

The 2012 VegFest will include more than 100 exhibitors, the return of the cupcake eating contest and yes, a beer and wine garden (!!!). Of course there will crazy food samples and food for sale (I'm hoping for the return of Pennsylvania's Vegan Treats). The known vendors include DC's Sticky Fingers, Everlasting Life Cafe and Bread & Brew, among others.

Yards Park is located 300 Water St SE, just a few blocks from the Navy Yard Metro station and Nationals Park. The fun starts at 11:00AM this Saturday and continues until 6:00PM. FREE and happens rain or shine. Come early if you can; the first 1,000 attendees will get a reusable DC VegFest bag with goodies inside. I can't come early : / but will be there midday. See you!