Salt Lake City Vegan

We just got back from a ski/work trip to SLC, which also turned out to be a vegan food trip (as they all do...) It was like everything we ate just got better and better.

Tiramisu from Sage's Cafe

Sage's Cafe, where we got that tiramisu, was actually one of the last (and best, but really hard to rank) stops, as we ate there on our last night. And I'm oh-so-glad we did. I got an amazing pasta casserole, or "casserulola", with pomodoro, spinach, tofu, and my choice of penne and mushrooms. Soooo good. Not enough on the plate, but I forgive because of how good it was. See below...

Best pasta bake ever.

I actually craved it again today, and we sort-of recreated this dish-- more later on that, probably. But mannnn, I wanna go back and eat that and some tiramisu again.

Mushroom stroganoff

Dan went for the mushroom stroganoff with linguine, which I would have gotten but for the garlic (and the garlic wasn't even overpowering when I tried it, not enough to get me sick, at least!) -- this was realllly good. I don't have a photo, but Dan's mom had a pasta primavera which also got a good review. Highly recommend Sage's Cafe, and they have a ton of gluten free options as well (both our dishes could be made gluten free.)

The first night, we went to Vertical Diner, a vegan restaurant with sandwiches, entrees, and breakfast options. Dan got the special, which was a country fried seitan steak and hashbrowns. I got a sausage philly pizza steak. Both really good--very diner-ish (appropriately). Dan wasn't a huge fan of his seitan but the gravy & the breading was great.

Country fried 'steak' and hashbrowns

Isn't that a huge plate?? The potatoes were good too.

Philly pizza steak with vegan sausage

I finished all of mine, albeit with some trouble; it was so filling! Those are mashed potatoes and gravy back there, YUM. I really liked the sausage. It seemed like the sausage and seitan were homemade, which deserves major props. It tasted like something my mom would make, but on a sandwich. Dan's mom got a pancake with blackberries, which I kind of wish I had gotten because I have a super sweet tooth and I love breakfast. But, I am glad I got to have a messy sandwich (toooo messy, I had to eat with a fork, but I am a wimp when it comes to messy food...)

Veggie sausage burrito with jalepeños

City Cakes & Cafe was probably my favorite place at which we ate, and that was our final food adventure. We went there for breakfast before heading to the airport. I had a waffle, not pictured because I ate it so fast. So good. And Dan's potato wrap was even better... aaaah. I don't even prefer savory breakfast and I loved it. Turns out we'd been eating City Cakes' muffins and scones the whole trip because we got them from Whole Foods for breakfast. They are amazing. I wish this place would combine with Sticky Fingers and offer both their menus in DC. I could eat the sausage wrap for breakfast like 4/7 days of the week, and that is saying a LOT given my affinity for sweet foods for breakfast.

Not pictured: A wonderful pizza and zeppoles (little dessert breads) from Este, a pizza place which can make pretty much anything on its menu vegan, and it's also a really cool place to hang out. Very nice wait staff and a really enjoyable time. I am just terrible at remembering to take photos (yet every time I pull my phone out to take a photo at a restaurant, I feel like I'm fulfilling a stereotype.....) but the pizza looked and tasted awesome, I assure you. I really recommend it, as it was the only non-fully-vegan place we went & still fulfilled my every need.

Also not pictured: The amazing salads & breakfasts from Whole Foods (some of which were thanks to City Cakes) -- aside from muffins and scones, we got some good tofu salad, vegan chicken salad, wraps, and spring rolls to tide us over for lunch a few days. I realize Whole Foods is everywhere, but the deli section is pretty different in different cities, and they do local baked goods and such. The SLC Whole Foods we went to was particularly good for vegans (though it didn't have the vegan chicken salad they had in Memphis, which still has my heart for favorite Whole Foods store.)

Special thanks to Sue, Dan's mom, who treated us to all this amazing food & our snowboarding fun... we couldn't have asked for a better ski trip partner!

Bonus photo: Dan at the odd Gilgal Sculpture Garden. What a weird place...