Eating Plants in Vermont
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
Being vegan, I am find myself on the verge of an adventure when I am anywhere but home and experience pangs of hunger. I've had great success in Burlington, Vermont, my hometown. It's small for a city and very friendly. It has been getting a lot of recognition in the press lately about what a wonderful place it is to live.
It is well-deserved press. You can see live music, good live music, in dozens of places every night. There are at least three cool coffeeshops in town. During the warmer months, there are street performers out and about on the downtown mall. Lake Champlain is great for boating, fishing, or gazing. There is a bikeway that goes from one end of Burlington to the other and takes you past some great views. There are community farms and gardens that offer fresh fruits and veggies to their members for 6 months out of the year and the local restaurants go out of their way to favor local produce in their menus.
It's those establishments that this is about. Thanks to the Burlington area restaurants, I tend to forget that the whole world doesn't have vegetarian sympathies. That's a nice kind of forgetting.
Less than a mile from where I live, is the Five Spice Café, on the corners of Church and King Street, the home of the best Asian Cuisine in New England and the most inclusive menu I have ever seen. Their curries are diving and can be made with your choice of meat, tofu, tempeh, or seitan. The atmosphere is cozy and friendly and so is the service. They offer appetizers to satisfy omnivorous and herbivorous predilections. There Sunday Dim Sum brunch is fabulous. Make reservations.
Ahli Baba's Kabob Shop is on Main Street and looks like it's been there forever. The falafel is warm and soft throughout but crispy just before that. Their pakoras are just spicy enough to be perfectly complimented by the salad they are served on. Sweet potato fries (chips) are a sinful treat and they're always fresh here.
The Daily Planet has a vegetarian-friendly menu and a great drink menu as well. A dark and stormy (ginger beer with dark rum) is a comfort in its own right. The Daily Planet is tucked into a side street just off the main foot traffic route, so you can be close to the busiest part of town and removed from it at the same time.
Leonardo's Pizza downtown delivers, so it doesn't much matter where it is, as long as you are in their delivery area. Leonardo's has taken the logical next step is vegetarian pizza. While most pizzerias simply remove the cheese for their vegan or vegetarian customers, Leonardo's offers soy cheese on any of their pies. It's a divine accommodation.
Neci Commons is the restaurant attached to the New England Culinary Institute. Their vegan selection is not vast, but it is fabulous. Since there are so many students doing the cooking, they are often willing to experiment or improvise for you. Their pastry selection is Temptation refrigerated behind glass, so be strong or surrender entirely.
Pacific Rim, across from Town Hall Park, is a small restaurant that serves blissful concoctions and recipes. Their cranberry-ginger juice is perfect. The have a nice selection of teas and beer. Anything on the menu is great and their sushi menu has some good vegetarian options. The topic of vegetarian sushi is one best dealt with separately, but while we are on it, I'll take this opportunity to mention my favorite street food vendor in Burlington. The Church Street Glori Nori vegetarian rolls vendor. There are many people who go to Church Street specifically to order dinner from this wagon. Summer has officially begun when it returns to the Marketplace.
Paradise Burrito is underground on the Marketplace and they are usually busy. Inexpensive, tasty, vegetarian and non-veg. selections, and large portions make this a popular and easy place to eat.
Parima is one of the most elegant restaurants in Burlington. The atmosphere cannot be beat and the food is even better. It's in what looks like an old modified house. Once inside, you feel like you're in another world. It's relaxing to be there and fulfilling to eat there.
The Penny Cluse Café is probably the most popular place in Burlington to eat breakfast. In the heart of downtown, the dining area is surrounded almost entirely by glass, so you get to watch the city go by as you eat light pancakes, fluffy omelets made to your specifications, fresh fruit, and drink fresh coffee, tea and juices. This is the only restaurant I have ever been to that serves scrambled tofu. They do a good job of it.
The Sai-Gon Restaurant and Lounge is home to two great distinctions: a swank lounge and a sublime, vegan, hot and sour soup. Their meals are delicately seasoned and nearly sublime in flavor. When they have live music, the lounge is packed. Packed or not, it is a sweet place to spend an evening. All of this for your pleasure at the most reasonable of prices.
Stone Soup is a home-like place to get some great and comforting food. The restaurant was named for my favorite folk story and the atmosphere reminds me of the feeling those villagers must have had when they ate their stone soup. All of their baking is done on the premises. Their menu is slightly different every day, always a pleasure to discover, and usually vegetarian and vegan.
This long list is just an introduction to the adventures in food you can have in Burlington. Hopefully, these establishments are just the beginning to a world where vegetarians can walk into a place and not have to worry about having to explain or defend themselves before proceeding with things most people take for granted like buying soup, shampoo, shoes and other, non-sibilant, items and activities.
It is well-deserved press. You can see live music, good live music, in dozens of places every night. There are at least three cool coffeeshops in town. During the warmer months, there are street performers out and about on the downtown mall. Lake Champlain is great for boating, fishing, or gazing. There is a bikeway that goes from one end of Burlington to the other and takes you past some great views. There are community farms and gardens that offer fresh fruits and veggies to their members for 6 months out of the year and the local restaurants go out of their way to favor local produce in their menus.
It's those establishments that this is about. Thanks to the Burlington area restaurants, I tend to forget that the whole world doesn't have vegetarian sympathies. That's a nice kind of forgetting.
Less than a mile from where I live, is the Five Spice Café, on the corners of Church and King Street, the home of the best Asian Cuisine in New England and the most inclusive menu I have ever seen. Their curries are diving and can be made with your choice of meat, tofu, tempeh, or seitan. The atmosphere is cozy and friendly and so is the service. They offer appetizers to satisfy omnivorous and herbivorous predilections. There Sunday Dim Sum brunch is fabulous. Make reservations.
Ahli Baba's Kabob Shop is on Main Street and looks like it's been there forever. The falafel is warm and soft throughout but crispy just before that. Their pakoras are just spicy enough to be perfectly complimented by the salad they are served on. Sweet potato fries (chips) are a sinful treat and they're always fresh here.
The Daily Planet has a vegetarian-friendly menu and a great drink menu as well. A dark and stormy (ginger beer with dark rum) is a comfort in its own right. The Daily Planet is tucked into a side street just off the main foot traffic route, so you can be close to the busiest part of town and removed from it at the same time.
Leonardo's Pizza downtown delivers, so it doesn't much matter where it is, as long as you are in their delivery area. Leonardo's has taken the logical next step is vegetarian pizza. While most pizzerias simply remove the cheese for their vegan or vegetarian customers, Leonardo's offers soy cheese on any of their pies. It's a divine accommodation.
Neci Commons is the restaurant attached to the New England Culinary Institute. Their vegan selection is not vast, but it is fabulous. Since there are so many students doing the cooking, they are often willing to experiment or improvise for you. Their pastry selection is Temptation refrigerated behind glass, so be strong or surrender entirely.
Pacific Rim, across from Town Hall Park, is a small restaurant that serves blissful concoctions and recipes. Their cranberry-ginger juice is perfect. The have a nice selection of teas and beer. Anything on the menu is great and their sushi menu has some good vegetarian options. The topic of vegetarian sushi is one best dealt with separately, but while we are on it, I'll take this opportunity to mention my favorite street food vendor in Burlington. The Church Street Glori Nori vegetarian rolls vendor. There are many people who go to Church Street specifically to order dinner from this wagon. Summer has officially begun when it returns to the Marketplace.
Paradise Burrito is underground on the Marketplace and they are usually busy. Inexpensive, tasty, vegetarian and non-veg. selections, and large portions make this a popular and easy place to eat.
Parima is one of the most elegant restaurants in Burlington. The atmosphere cannot be beat and the food is even better. It's in what looks like an old modified house. Once inside, you feel like you're in another world. It's relaxing to be there and fulfilling to eat there.
The Penny Cluse Café is probably the most popular place in Burlington to eat breakfast. In the heart of downtown, the dining area is surrounded almost entirely by glass, so you get to watch the city go by as you eat light pancakes, fluffy omelets made to your specifications, fresh fruit, and drink fresh coffee, tea and juices. This is the only restaurant I have ever been to that serves scrambled tofu. They do a good job of it.
The Sai-Gon Restaurant and Lounge is home to two great distinctions: a swank lounge and a sublime, vegan, hot and sour soup. Their meals are delicately seasoned and nearly sublime in flavor. When they have live music, the lounge is packed. Packed or not, it is a sweet place to spend an evening. All of this for your pleasure at the most reasonable of prices.
Stone Soup is a home-like place to get some great and comforting food. The restaurant was named for my favorite folk story and the atmosphere reminds me of the feeling those villagers must have had when they ate their stone soup. All of their baking is done on the premises. Their menu is slightly different every day, always a pleasure to discover, and usually vegetarian and vegan.
This long list is just an introduction to the adventures in food you can have in Burlington. Hopefully, these establishments are just the beginning to a world where vegetarians can walk into a place and not have to worry about having to explain or defend themselves before proceeding with things most people take for granted like buying soup, shampoo, shoes and other, non-sibilant, items and activities.
