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Fire and Earth Kitchen is hosting a benefit for Mosqoy and you're invited!

Hey y'all!

I wanted to let you know about a super sweet event coming up hosted by Fire and Earth Kitchen. Saturday, May 11th, Fire and Earth is teaming up with international charity Mosqoy to educate, entertain and feed us all! Hurrah!

All the info is here: http://worldofgoodgathering.tumblr.com/ 

 From the site:

Evening to include:

*Vegan, gluten-free cooking demonstration, food sampling, and recipe sharing by Fire and Earth

*Presentation by Mosqoy with stunning photography of the Sacred Valley of Peru.

*Exhibit and sale of all natural handwoven textiles produced by women’s cooperative in Peru.
*Wine from local producers

*Food samples from local favorites, Firefly Kitchens & Seattle Salsa Guy 

*Appetizers, light buffet dinner, and dessert (vegan & gluten-free) by Fire and Earth Kitchen
*Live traditional Cuban music by local superstars The SuperSones

Soooo, basically, a bunch of awesome folks are getting together to eat amazing food, listen to sweet international jams, and talk about all the badass work they do? SIGN ME UP.

Tickets are $55 in advance, $65 at the door and you can buy them here (all proceeds benefiting Mosqoy). 

Get to it and see you there!

Vegan Love from Pettirosso on Capitol Hill

Perhaps you've already ventured into the expanded and improved Pettirosso under the savvy ownership of the sisters that own Bang Bang. If so, you are a smart and classy vegan. If not, and you've not thought twice about this place in years, you need to give it a try. Trust me.

Under Yuki and Miki Sodos' purview, Pettirosso is a sweet, cozy, modern, and delightfully vegan-friendly bar. You'll find Sean's Vegan Mac (made famous at Bang Bang), an other fresh and interesting vegan specials. During their daily brunch you can order vegan biscuits and gravy (if they don't run out - it is very popular), tofu scramble, or upgrade to fried tofu and noodles for more of a lunch time meal. They even have a few fresh baked vegan treats in the dessert case.

Not only will you find scrumptious vegan vittles, you can also imbibe on quality concocted concoctions from their beautiful bar. Make sure to ask for your bloody mary vegan, they are happy to oblige. The atmosphere is perfect for hiding away on a rainy spring day or going out for an impromptu drink and a snack. Oh, don't forget to order some handmade pickles. Yummm. Pickles.

These sisters aren't just vegan-friendly, they truly love vegans. For real. They will treat you well. See you around!

Pettirosso
1101 E Pike St,
Seattle, WA
www.pettirossoseattle.com

Vegan-Friendly Mobile Falafel Food Truck

My first falafel was long before I had that vegan twinkle in my eye, but I've since relied on the Middle Eastern staple for many late night dinner or guaranteed vegan option when out with mixed company. On St. Patrick's Day, I visited the Fremont Flea Market for a little Sunday Funday and some extensive treasure hunting and guess what! I got hungry. So, I opted for a little falafel party at Falafel Salam. They have an 90% vegetarian menu and some funny dudes slinging snacks out of their mobile operation.

Gourmondo Catering Feeds Us Seattle Business Vegans

How many of you have been at a work thing (technical term) where everyone is getting a free meal except you? ::raises hand:: Well! Have I, Juawana, got news for you! Gourmondo Catering wants to feed you at your fancy pants business lunches! I was given the chance to try all three of their vegan options and let me tell you, I ate them all! In one day! Just kidding. I ate them one day at a time. But, it definitely made up for the times I had to buy myself lunch at conferences and all-day trainings when everyone else was fed for free.  

Vegan Peanut Butter Cup Show Down in Seattle

Juawana and I were volunteering at Vegan Haven one Sunday afternoon when we decided to use our hard earned money and our valuable volunteer time to do what every person who has ever tried to pick the perfect vegan chocolate peanut butter cup, has wanted to do: Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Taste Test! The Contenders: Justin's Organic Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups, Sjaak's Organic Peanut Butter Bite, Cleo's Peanut Butter Cups by Go Max Foods, and Mama Ganache Bittersweet Peanut Butter Cup.

Of course, with a testing team of two, we had to add a tiny bit of science to our results - so we calculated the value and also provided you some feedback on their chocolate to peanut butter ratio and their sweet to salty ratio and scored these along with flavor and texture on a 1-10 scale. Without further ado:


Juawana's impressions: My favorite was Cleo's but it might have something to do with all the dopamine that floods into my brain when I eat something that sweet. I also preferred the texture over the rest because it was soft and melty in my mouthy. Next in the ranking for me was Sjaak's. Where Cleo's was a little too sweet, the Sjaak's salt to sweet ratio was perfectly balanced on my tongue. The Justin's weren't too sweet and had the added bonus a salty aftertaste, but overall I wasn't impressed by flavor and the chocolate was too hard. My least favorite was the Mama Ganache with chocolate a little too on the bitter side (and too much in ratio to the PB) and the texture was much to dry for me to fancy. My score sheet: 

Anika's impressions: My favorite was the Justin's brand because it was the least sweet and the chocolate was very bitter and flavorful. If you like your candy less sweet, then Justin's is perfect. Cleo's was the sweetest of all four, and by far the smoothest and was very melted.  The Sjaak's chocolate was crispy and sweet - it's innards were more buttery than peanutty. The Mama Ganache was a bit too dry inside - kind of crumbly, no melt whatsoever, but there was lots of delicious dark chocolate. My score sheet:

The value bit: Here is how it breaks down cost per amount:

Cleo's = $0.052/gram
Mama Ganach = $0.047/gram
Justin's = $0.045/gram
Sjaak's $0.044 /gram

There you have it kids: If you like your cups sweet, then Cleo's is your winner. If you like your cups bitter, then Justin's is your perfect treat. If you like to get the most for your money, then make Sjaak's  your pick. If you like lots of super dark chocolate, then grab yourself a Mama Ganache cup next time you are at Vegan Haven or Central Co-Op.

Counter Clockwise from 12: Cleo's, Sjaak's, Justin's, Mama Ganache

El Borracho's Vegan Nachos!

I'm Nick, a new Vegan Score correspondent. Last year, the vegan-friendly Pan Africa Restaurant moved from their location by the Pike Place Market downtown to West Seattle. Mexican restaurant El Borracho opened a few months later in the space downtown. A hot tip last week alerted us that they offer a ton of vegan options: burritos, quesadillas, tacos, and nachos. (Thanks Lapoint!)

The vegan nachos are the best I've had. The chips stay quite crisp under generous amounts of Daiya cheese, vegan sour cream (!), and guacamole. Piled high on a dinner plate, there's plenty to share or keep to yourself if you're hungry.

The vegan quesadilla is available mulita style (corn tortillas) or gringa style (flour tortilla). I opted for the latter. It was tasty, with Daiya cheese, tender potatoes, and poblano peppers. They have several house-made salsas, all vegan, which I recommend if you want to add some heat.

Owner Kittie Davidovich also runs Le Bon Ton Roule in Ballard which has a ton of vegan Cajun options - more on that soon!

El Borracho is located at 1521 First Ave between Pike and Pine. They're open 11 AM to 10 PM Mon-Fri and 11 AM to 11 PM Sat-Sun.

For even more vegan Mexican food, check out past posts on El Chupcabra in Phinney Ridge or Bimbo's Cantina on Capitol Hill!