SF During the Holidays

Ok, so the above message is a little late, but Happy New Year, you fabulous eaters, you! I do so apologize for falling off the face of the planet there for a while, but I assure you I was eating well and plan to catch you up completely. Starting now! So..... my parents came to stay with us in SF the week before, and including, Christmas. They are both vegan and love food just as much as I do so, needless to say, we had a great time, starting with the Maggie Mudd cake you see above. I had it delivered (free in SF!) on the day they arrived and that amazing little package contained some of the best darn vegan ice cream in the world. One double dark chocolate layer, and one 'peanut butter palooka' layer, to be exact. Those are my favorite flavors and I highly recommend that combo should you order yourself a cake from MM any time soon. (HINT: You should!)

On our first night together, we headed to Cha-ya for some vegan noodles and sushi. This place never disappoints. The food is always fresh, tasty, and beautiful. I mean, just look at the noodle salad my mom had (above) and this sushi plate:

Yeah, I love Cha-ya. But let's move on, shall we?. The next day we headed up to wine country. There was lots of drinking. :) Can't do too much of that without needing some food though. After reading a recent horrible review of the once-so-wonderful Ubuntu, we decided to forgo our usual trip there and we hit up Whole Foods instead. Gotta love the Whole Foods salad bar:

That hearty creation kept me full through some (read: lots) more drinking and the drive home (thanks, sober Dad). Once back in SF, we had only enough sobriety left to order pizza from Amici's. Daiya-laden deliciousness arrived in minutes. (Too drunk for photos)

The following day we at at home until dinner time, when we hit up Gracias Madre for their awesome Mexican fare. As usual, the wait was long and the service was pretty crappy, but the food more than makes up for it. Also as usual, I had the Platillo de Lugumbres (above), which is your choice of two sides, served with rice, beans, and tortillas. My two sides? Always two sides of the greens. What Gracias Madre does with kale is nothing short of magic. Same thing goes for their

potatoes:

The perfectly roasted potatoes in their Papas al Horno are crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and topped with the just-spicy-enough cashew cheese sauce. To. Die. For.

So that's all I have time/energy to write about for now. Holidays part 2 coming at you shortly, promise! Meanwhile, eat well and, if you're in SF, enjoy the sunshine!