Sugar Plum Vegan Cafe

UPDATE: Sugar Plum Vegan Cafe changed owners and is now called the Plum Cafe. It is still completely vegan. Information about the baked goods that were sold at this restaurant under the previous ownership can be found at http://www.sugarplumvegan.com/.


I visited my last restaurant in the Sacramento Vegan Chef Challenge this weekend -- Sugar Plum Vegan Cafe, which, of course, is all vegan, all the time.  The entree they created specifically for the challenge is a black bean and  corn enchilada plate, which consisted of whole wheat tortillas wrapped around a black bean and corn filling, then topped with Daiya vegan cheese, pico de gallo, and avocado slices.  A salad of mixed greens was served with the three enchiladas.  This is a very heavy meal, so you may want to split it with a friend or wait to order it until you've got a really big appetite.

As always, my favorite part of any meal at Sugar Plum is the dessert.  Their display case always contains at least a dozen things I want to try, and this visit was no exception.  After agonizing over all of the vegan cookies, cupcakes, whoopie pies, and other tempting baked goods, I finally decided to go with a slice of their pumpkin pie, which was delicious.

Sugar Plum Vegan Cafe is located at 2315 K Street.  Their phone number is 916-706-3302, and their website address is http://www.sugarplumvegan.com/.  They also list their daily menu on their Facebook page, which can be found at https://www.facebook.com/sugarplumvegancafe.  Sugar Plum is open Tuesday and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and Wednesday through Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.  The restaurant is closed on Monday.

Kru

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm scrambling to finish visiting all of the restaurants that are participating in the Sacramento Vegan Chef Challenge before the challenge ends Monday.  So tonight, I headed over to Kru and managed to snag the very last stool at the end of the sushi bar.

I have to admit that I was dreading my visit to this particular restaurant because I was convinced that I didn't like sushi.  I didn't eat it before I went vegan, and I really haven't liked the vegetarian sushi I've tried since becoming a vegan.  And I don't like seaweed! 

But I wasn't going to be able to write about Kru for this blog if I didn't check it out, so I ordered the Marinated and Grilled Shiitake Mushroom Nigiri and the Go Green Roll, and settled in with a lovely glass of Chardonnay.

When the food came out, I discovered that I still don't like seaweed, but I loved every other thing about my visit to Kru.  It's a very friendly, very high energy restaurant, and I enjoyed sitting at the sushi bar watching Chef Billy Ngo work his magic.  I can understand why Kru is the restaurant where other chefs come to eat!

The mushrooms in my Marinated and Grilled Shiitake Mushroom Nigiri seemed to alternate between a smoky taste and a light teriyaki flavor.  They were served over rice in two little bundles that were held together with a strip of seaweed.  Very tasty!

The Go Green Roll was especially creative.  It was made with grilled green and yellow wax beans, Granny Smith apples, and cucumber, and topped with avocado, beet and radish sprouts, and miso mustard sauce.  The creamy avocado was a nice contrast to the crunchy beans, apple, and cucumber.  And it looked beautiful on the plate!

They also had a salad on their Sacramento Vegan Chef Challenge menu, which I didn't try.  It's a Crispy Burdock Root Salad, with mixed organic greens and kimchee ponzu.

Kru didn't have a vegan dessert on their menu, but the server said they could put together some fruit for me and I took her up on the offer.  The bowl of strawberries, blackberries, grapefruit wedges, and green apples slices she brought to me was exactly the right thing to top off my excellent meal.

Kru is located at 2516 J Street.  Their phone number is 916-551-1559, and their website address is  http://www.krurestaurant.com/.  They are open Monday from 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., Friday from 11:30 a.m. to  11:00 p.m., Saturday from noon to 11:00 p.m., and Sunday from 5:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Friday's blog article will not be posted until Friday evening

I'm scrambling to visit all of the Sacramento Vegan Chef Challenge restaurants before the challenge ends on Monday.  I have two restaurants left, Kru and Sugar Plum Vegan Cafe.  My plan at this point is to visit Kru for dinner Friday night and to post an article about it shortly thereafter.  I'll visit Sugar Plum sometime this weekend and post an article about it for Monday's blog.

So check back Friday night to find out about my dinner at Kru!

Hot Italian

I had a great Sacramento Vegan Chef Challenge experience a couple of days ago when I stopped in for dinner at Hot Italian.  Unlike some of the other participating restaurants, Hot Italian's vegan menu offerings will continue even after the challenge ends on Monday. 

The vegan entree at Hot Italian is the Muti, which includes grilled seasonal vegetables, tomato sauce, and arugula.  Icons printed next to the menu items indicate the form in which the ingredients can be prepared, and the available preparations for the Muti were either a pizza or a panini.  I decided to order the Muti panini, and it was terrific!  The bread for the sandwich was like a flatbread made of pizza dough, and the grilled seasonal vegetables were cherry tomatoes, zucchini, mushrooms, and kalamata olives.  I also ordered my panini with Daiya vegan cheese for an extra cost.  Normally, I don't care much for vegan cheese, but the panini had just enough cheese to add flavor.  Paired with a refreshing glass of Prosecco, it was an excellent meal.

I really didn't need dessert after that, but thought I'd better check it out anyhow so I could report about it on this blog.  The vegan dessert selection at Hot Italian is Sorbetto in seasonal flavors.  My choices were mango or pineapple, and I opted for the pineapple.  It was tasty and had a nice creamy texture.

The other two vegan items on the Hot Italian menu are an appetizer -- a selection of California and Italian olives -- and the Marcuzzi salad, which consists of mixed greens, shaved fennel, carrots, radish, red onion, and castelvetrano olives.

Hot Italian is located at 1627 16th Street (corner of 16th and Q).  Their phone number is 916-444-3000, and their website address is http://www.hotitalian.net/.  The restaurant is open daily from 11:30 a.m. until late night.

New Blogging Schedule

Sacramento Vegan is switching to a new blogging schedule.  Beginning this week, new blog articles will be posted on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays only.  As always, if you know of restaurants you think I should write about, please let me know.

Noodles & Company

I was at Loehmann's Plaza last week and noticed a Noodles & Company restaurant, a chain that I hadn't tried before.  So I decided to check it out. 

As its name would suggest, Noodles & Company specializes in noodle dishes, specifically noodle dishes from three different regions:  Asia, the Mediterranean, and America.  The menu indicates which items are vegetarian, which they define as excluding meat and fish.  The menu also says that they'll customize anything:

            "We're happy to make your meal just the way you want it.  Most of our

            dishes start out vegetarian, so you can add your favorite protein.  Make

            it more or less spicy.  Add, subtract or substitute veggies, cheese or

            noodles on any dish."

There is also a disclaimer on the menu that says:

            "We have The Big Eight (peanuts, tree nuts, soy, milk, eggs, fish,

            shellfish and wheat) in our restaurant and there may be cross contact.

            Our menu descriptions do not include all ingredients.  Please see a

            manager if you have food allergies, dietary restrictions or preferences."

So, now that I have that out of the way, what did I order?  Well, I decided that the Asian menu options probably required the least amount of tinkering with ingredients, so I opted for the Japanese Pan Noodles, described as "carmelized udon noodles in a sweet soy sauce, broccoli, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, Asian sprouts, black sesame and cilantro."  I added tofu for an extra cost.  I thought this dish was quite good, and just exactly the right size for lunch, which means I didn't end up taking any leftovers home. 

The other Asian options were Pad Thai (I'm going to order this next time, without the scrambled egg), Bangkok Curry, Indonesian Peanut Saute, Thai Curry Soup, and Chinese Chop Salad.

The Mediterranean and American dishes looked like they would be a little more problematic for vegans, since many have cheese or cream cooked into the sauce.  Of the Mediterranean dishes, the Pasta Fresca and the Med Salad looked as though they could be made vegan.  I'm not sure any of the American dishes can be made vegan except possibly the Spaghetti & Meatballs without the meatballs.

In addition to their restaurant at Loehmann's Plaza, Noodles & Company has locations in Elk Grove and Roseville.  More information about their menu, locations, and hours of operation can be found at http://www.noodles.com/.

Sacramento Vegan Is Taking a Long Weekend

Blogging will resume on Monday.