All About Austin, Part 2!

On the second half of my trip, Austin decided to give us a reprieve from the rain & we woke up to clear skies! A crew of us headed out to Dog Almighty, home of award winning vegan chili, to meet up with Bonnie Rue from Model Citizen Clothing! Bonnie rocks tigers like no other & even makes a shirt featuring Natalie from Bake & Destroy that I was able to get my hot little hands on! Everything on the menu at Dog Almighty can be made vegetarian & a fair amount can be made vegan. I'm not a huge mock meat gal, so I opted for a big bowl of chili, some tater tots, & a chocolate covered graham cracker. The tots were awesome, of course! The chili was good, although Texans don't put beans in their chili & I like beans! Everyone who had hot dogs topped in chili or Chicago-style were happy with theirs, so if you're down with the dogs, check 'em out.

After eating, Bonnie & I went roller skating at Playland Skating Center, home of the disgusting gum jar & the Texas Rollergirls. We managed not to fall & also managed to work up an appetite, so we sped over to BANANARCHY! (Seriously, I love saying that.) This was my 2nd attempt to acquire a frozen treat from their tiny wooden stand, so I was thrilled to see them open. I had one and a half delicious frozen fair-trade bananas dipped in chocolate & rolled in Oreo cookies. They also have nuts, cinnamon, coconut & other vegan dipping options. This is arguably my favorite thing I ate in Austin. I loved it!

If you haven't heard about the bats in Austin, you are missing out! There are bats that live under the Congress Bridge & if you stand on it, you can hear tens of thousands of them chirping. Every night from March to November, the bats take off in to the sky to forage for food at dusk. It's an amazing sight as the already darkening sky gets even darker as it fills with tiny bats flying away. I wasn't able to get a photo of the bats, as the lighting isn't ideal, but Bonnie, Chris, Crystal, Charisse, & I REALLY enjoyed this! If you're in Austin, you should definitely check it out!

After bat watching, we headed to vegan, organic, macrobiotic restaurant & school, Casa De Luz for a healthy meal. Each night students prepare the meals & the menu changes daily. We started with a Garden Salad & a Black Bean Soup with Sun Cheese & Toasted Pepitas. I really enjoyed the Sun Cheese & took a fair portion of it for my soup & later, my meal. The entree for the night was Basmati Veggie Rice, Burdock & Carrot Kinpura, Baked Cabbage, Blanched Greens with Lemon, & Radish Pickle. Macrobiotic plates can be a bit bland sometimes, I enjoyed most everything, especially the Cabbage, but I wasn't afraid to add Sun Cheese & season with Gomasio. For dessert, I had a naturally sweetened blueberry tart with a hearty crust.

The next day, I attended a potluck organized by Crystal & Chris from Vegan Explosion! I love a good potluck & they know that, so they were kind enough to put one together for me. A group of awesome people from the PPK & Vegans Rock Austin were in attendance, I got the chance meet PPK friends, as well as quite a few new people! Before the potluck, Kristen from Sugar Skull & I quickly whipped up some Oatmeal Cream Pies, like the ones on her blog. I also brought a case of Dandies Vegan Marshmallows, so we could make S'mores! The spread of food was delicious with everything from Frito Pie, Cheese Balls, & Texas Caviar to super Fudgy Brownies & a hearty Lasagna. Betsey, Crystal & Chris' little chihuahua showed us how to polish off slices giant of Watermelon, while I showed everyone how to eat far too many S'mores! Despite the heat I am not accustom to, I had a great time.

On two occasions, I had the chance to sample treats from Sugar Mamas Bakeshop. While they're not a vegan bakery, they typically have 2 rotating vegan cupcake flavors every day, which you can see on their menu, & other assorted treats. I stopped in there towards the end of the day & was saddened to find no vegan cupcakes & the next day's flavors didn't appeal to me! We grabbed a Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwich filled with vanilla buttercream & luckily, the chewy cookies with a sweet filling hit the spot. Knowing my unsuccessful attempt to obtain cupcakes, Bonnie was kind enough to come by the potluck with a box of cupcakes to share! The flavors of the day were Mint Chocolate & Ginger Lemon, both were pretty tasty, although I surprisingly preferred the Ginger Lemon!

On my last day in Austin, I had about 16 hours to kill, as I had a very early morning flight that wasn't worth sleeping before. Bonnie, as usual, was totally awesome & showed me around! We started off at Daily Juice for a raw food fix, deciding to share our dishes. We were both intrigued by the daily special, the PB&J which boasted Cinnamon Pecan Butter & Goji, Strawberry, Mulberry jam between Banana Nut bread. We both had a laugh, as it wasn't quite what we imagined & we both agreed it wouldn't be a repeat purchase. We also shared the far better Enchilada Plate with Sunflower Cheese, Zucchini, Corn, & Kale in Coconut Cilantro tortillas. While not quite the enchiladas of Cafe Gratitude, they hit the spot.

After a bit of vintage shopping, we headed to the Cathedral of Junk! I'm not sure how to describe this place, it has to be seen to be believed. Basically, a man has constructed a 2 story palace in his backyard, made entirely of discarded items. It is free to the public & while it may feel strange going to someone's house & walking in to their backyard, it is worthwhile! If you don't go for the junk, go for the wandering chickens & the bunny!

I couldn't resist taking one last trip to Toy Joy, as the soft serve flavors had changed to Spicy Chocolate & Vanilla, so I was intrigued. The spicy chocolate was quite interesting with a kick of cayenne at the end, I ordered a mini sized swirl & the vanilla toned down the spice nicely. We also shared a delicious Butterfinger shake full of organic chocolate sauce & crushed Chick-O-Stick! Toy Joy also has a fair amount of vegan candy like the hard to find vegan gummy Lions by Seitenbacher, so I stocked up before heading home.

Late that night, after games of bowling & dancing at a Michael Jackson tribute night at the new spot opened by Alamo Drafthouse, we decided grab one last meal around 4am before I got on the plane. Kerbey Lane Cafe is the spot for 24 hour dining in Austin, with multiple locations & a fair amount of vegan options. A Breakfast Platter with 2 Cinnamon Pecan pancakes, a large bowl of sauce, a very small Tofu Scramble, & 2 tiny veggie sausage patties hit the table & we were surprised at the measly portion sizes, as Crystal & Chris normally share a platter with food to spare. We also ordered the Mocha Tofu Cheesecake as well, which was your standard tofu & melted chocolate dessert, good, but not excellent. Good, but not excellent is a pretty fair assessment of Kerbey Lane Cafe. It's a great late night dining option, but hardly a "must" when in Austin.

Overall, Austin is a great place to visit with a lot of vegan options, many of which I didn't make it to. The people are friendly & the weather was unpredictable, but I would certainly go back! Speaking of going back, I am headed to Japan this week! Ryan & I just had our wedding anniversary & to celebrate we are returning to Japan, where our honeymoon took place. We'll be in Tokyo, Kyoto, & Nara. Any suggestions on where to go are welcome. I just found out "Tokyo VegeFood Festa" is happening while we're there, which is an all vegan event at Yoyogi Park. I'll be back in 2 weeks with the details on where the vegan hotspots are in Japan!

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