Quick weekend get away for our anniversary ( and to visit my daughter) and eating good!

[larry_stewart]

Tomorrow is my 32nd wedding anniversary, so we decided to take a road trip to visit my daughter in Maryland. Of course, we are making a few stops on the way and eating well. Sprig & Vine in New Hope PA.

Appetizers:
- Maple-Mustard Seitan Wings - miso-maple-mustard sauce | peppercorn-herb ranch
- Green Onion Pancake Roll - Roasted mushroom | frisée | sesame-tomato jam | kecap manis soy syrup

Main Meal:
- Risotto Verde - arborio rice | seared radish | snow pea | roasted romanesco cauliflower & asparagus | leek | fennel
- Tempeh Reuben - braised tempeh | sauerkraut | horseradish-thousand island dressing | pickles | rye bread

Dessert:
- Cashew Cheesecake - rhubarb-apple compote | strawberry coulis | cashew-oat crust GF
- Chocolate Blackout Cake - black cocoa-olive oil cake | chocolate custard | coconut anglaise | cake crumbs


All were very good, but the pancake rolls were outstanding. I almost ordered a second round for dessert ( and I should have, although the black out cake was great too).

Tomorrow we will hit 2 more restaurants, then head down to MD.

 

[blissful]

The food sounds delicious.
Happy Anniversary to you and yours!

 

[pepperhead212]

Happy Anniversary, and may you have many more! Enjoy all that good food and the company!

 

[taxlady]

Happy Anniversary. The food sounds really good. I hope all of your food on this trip will be delightful.

 

[larry_stewart]

Thanks guys. Unless in a major city, is rare to find a cluster of restaurants where there is more than 2 or 3 things we can eat on the menu, and mostly throw-together things with little effort. Luckily, here there are a bunch, so we are taking advantage of it. It's to walk into a restaurant and have a nice selection of quality food that the chef obviously puts time, effort and pride into. Equally as important, I love trying new things, so these restaurants open my eyes to new flavors and ingredients, or old ingredients with new ways to use them, as opposed to pasta primavera or a veggie burger. I always over - order in places like this so I can taste as many different things as possible, often taking mental ( or sometimes physical) notes so when I get back home, I can try and recreate what I tasted / learned.

 

[dragnlaw]

Larry, you always amaze me with your adventurous foray's into the world of different foods and their presentations.

Congratulations and Happy Anniversary! Have a wonderful trip, visit and more interesting restaurants to explore.

 

[Kathleen]

It sounds like so much fun. Hope your trip is wonderful, the visit with your daughter is fun, and your anniversary is terrific.

 

[larry_stewart]

So for lunch we took in from kind of a deli-like place. They have burgers, wraps, sandwiches, salads. We have been to this place before, so knew it was good. I got an Italian Hoagie, my wife got a 'Chick'n' sandwich and I also got a Cuban sandwich to pick at. They all were very good. Only got one pic.

For dinner, we went to the competitor of the restaurant we went to the previous night. It had a better location ( right on the Main Street), outdoor dining ( which I dont like, so we ate indoors at a window seat), and very nicely decorated. The service was good, and the menu had a nice selection of dishes, but being honest, the first place was significantly better. This place wasn't bad, and we probably would have liked it more if we hadn't gone to the other place the night before. We were supposed to go to a concert afterwards, but I had realized that the show was actually for the following night. I never make mistakes like this, but we were kind of tired anyway, so we just gave the tickets to our waitress ( in addition to a monetary tip). She was genuinely surprised, happy and grateful. So here it goes :

First course:
Mushroom Soup
Wedge Salad - (Butter Lettuce, Bacon, Tomato, Bleu Cheese Dressing)

My wife really liked the salad, for me, the soup was good, not great.

Second course:
Trumpet Mushroom Calamari   - Served with Tzatziki , Marinara, and Cocktail sauces.

Wasn't bad, just not exceptional.

Main Course
V-SPOT 24-Karat Meatballs  - Chunky Marinara, Micro Basil, Vegan Grated Parm, decorated with gold foil.
Golden Mushroom Scampi  - Served with our delicious scampi sauce over pasta

The Scampi dish was good. The meatballs were very dry and the sauce tasted like it was cooked down too long, or made exclusively from tomato paste. This was the only dish that was a disappointment.

Dessert
Grilled peaches with some kind of crumble on them,vanilla ice cream with a berry drizzle on top, and coconut whipped cream

This one was the best dish of the bunch. It was new on the menu, recommended by the waitress, and we were the first ones to have it. ( it's so new that it wasn't even on the menu yet). It was a triumph! It took us 6 minutes to finish it ( from first pic to last pic). I'm surprised it took us that long.

Overall, it was good, not great. I always wondered why some restaurants have huge menus ( like this one) and others only have a few dishes ( the one last night). I'm not sure if this was a factor, but better have a few things that you perfect, than have many things that are just so-so. Anyway, we would eat here again and try new things, but if we were in town for one night and had to make a decision between the two, I'd go back to the first place.

I guess part of the reason I started this post is to dismiss the stereotype and stigma of vegan food. Even when I see vegan foods advertised, I kinda cringe a bit. All you can think of is sprouts, quinoa, veggie wraps, tofu and crappy imitation meat products. Not that all that is bad, just not enough to convince people that the food can be good, even in a gourmet way with some experience and creativity. This is not directed to most of you guys, as I know many you through this platform for years (10 + ) , and have been interacting, sharing and learning with/from all of you, which I very much appreciate and enjoy. But every now and then, some opinionated jackass will join the conversation and say something ignorant and stupid. It's also not a ploy to try and convert people to a plant based diet, just opening up my world a bit.

 

[dragnlaw]

Last picture is the best testimony to a meal dish- ever!

 

[larry_stewart]

While visiting my daughter in Maryland, stopped off at a place just outside of Annapolis and got Babaganoush Toast. A grain bread topped with babaganoush, smoked mushrooms, caramelized onions and a sweet/ spice pepper jam garnished with cilantro. it was really good.