Garden Grille and Wildflour Bakery, Pawtucket, RI

If you've been reading veganmama for a while you know I love, love, love the Garden Grille in Pawtucket, RI. It's one of the best vegetarian restaurants I've been to and is consistently great. And the fact that Wildflour, a vegan bakery, is two stores down is icing on the (vegan) cake!

Since I'm a creature of habit (Rip's Big Bowl every morning. Anyone?), I always start with the chipotle seitan with the wasabi mustard (which drives me crazy). The seitan tastes like deeply BBQ'd perfection.

I always find it really hard to choose an entree, since there are so many interesting choices, but this night I chose the Seared Sweet Potato.

Here it is. I realize it doesn't look very special, but the roasted cauliflower? Amazing.

These are the risotto cakes on a bed of greens that tasted super smokey :)

"Everything" tofu, which was based on the everything bagel. So good and had great texture, for real ;)

My daughter always goes for the nachos, which for me is just a delivery system for guacamole and peppers!

Happy semi-vegetarian kids!

Part of the appeal of the bakery Wildflour is the cute dog, Henry, who is often seen in front.

Love this new painting of him proudly hung in the cafe! Isn't the detail beautiful?

If you know me well, you know I'm not really a cake/pie/cupcake person, not when raw chocolate with maca is an option! I'm not really sure how they make this, but it's completely worth the $2.50 a piece. It's incredible. INCREDIBLE.

My daughter, on the other hand, went the route any little girl would go, the chocolate peanut butter cupcake. It's really pretty, isn't it? I can tell you, it's SUPER sweet, though. Too much for me.

So, the next time you're looking to go out for a meal, please give the Garden Grille a try!

What in the world is....SEITAN?

Seitan is actually one of my favorite meat substitutes!

It is often used in Asian restaurants that prepare meat-like dishes without meat. It is made by rinsing whole wheat bread flour to extract the gluten, producing a food that is naturally high in protein and low in carbs and fat. It's dubbed "wheat meat" and considered the ultimate meat substitute.


I have to admit, to people new to vegetarianism, it probably sounds really weird and looks even weirder, but when you go to a great vegetarian restaurant (like the amazing Garden Grille in Pawtucket, RI!) I encourage you to try a seitan appetizer. Right now, the Garden Grille's winter menu offers a Chipotle Seitan with Wasabi Mustard that is absolutely fantastic!

I haven't yet tried to make my own seitan, since it's readily available at Whole Foods and other natural markets, but you'll be the first to know when I do! Won't that be an adventure in cooking!

Enjoy your weekend and remember, don't let these foods scare you. One might be something that turns into your favorite new thing!