Chocolate–that’s my kryptonite. Nothing makes me weaker in the knees than feasting on a chocolate dessert after dinner! My ancestors sure knew what they were doing by using the magical cacao bean as currency back in the day. But so many Dallas confectioners bastardize their chocolate creations by incorporating dairy,…

Let’s be honest folks–vegan cheese substitutes can be hit or miss. Some of those products you get at Whole Foods might taste alright, but once you nuke ’em they tend to fold instead of melt. Only a handful of vegan cheeses on the market actually do a decent job emulating…

Our Lisa Petty likes to poke fun at me about my avoidance of salads. “Do you EVER eat salads?” she snarks. But I do eat my fair share…only I’m not usually happy about it. Allow me to explain where I’m coming from. I was a Golden Corral kid. There was…

A lot of people ask me where they can get some good vegan Tex-Mex around town. I usually guide them to Monica’s, where vegans can get the best enchiladas in Dallas, but I understand that driving down to Deep Ellum isn’t always practical…especially if you’re on the wrong other side…

My good friend Sara and I met a few years ago at a yoga class. We instantly hit it off, and started doing everything together…grocery shopping, dining, working out. She even moved into my building. But over the past couple of months, we’ve both been on crazy schedules. No more…

The guys at Park are awfully proud of their wine list. It is pretty impressive. They even go as far as denoting which wines are organic, produced by women (what’s that all about?), and which are vegan. But while they can “get you drunk,” as our waitress joked, their vegan…

After a rough Saturday night–I’ll spare you the details, but I will say this: there was much vodka involved–Sunday’s hangover carried into Monday. Tuesday–still not human. So I got online to Tweet about my misery. Then I saw a Tweet from one of my raw food friends that read, “Alcohol…

Funny how Vapiano, the German-based fast-casual restaurant in Mockingbird Station, actually feels like Germany. Maybe it’s the color scheme–a little like the Nutelleria in Frankfurt–or maybe it’s the fact that the system here is so foreign, and words sorta get lost in translation. As Date and I entered Vapiano, a…

“Puff balls.” That’s what one of my non-veg friends calls the Orange “Chicken” at Suma Veggie Cafe. No–the guy’s not the brightest bulb on the block, but others unfamiliar with vegan meat substitutes might also find it difficult to describe the glazed balls of who-knows-what…although, I now have a funny…

The only thing worse than listening to Coldpay is listening to Coldplay on the sitar. Unfortunately, that’s the kind of crap you’ll hear while dining with your hot date at Bengal Coast.Yes, vegans can score hot dates, too…sometimes.Bengal Coast is a South Asian fusion restaurant located on the cusp of…

My fascination with other cultures started back in the summer of ’87 during a family vacation to Disney World’s Epcot Center. Yep, Epcot Center. I know what you’re thinking, but I remember dragging my folks around each prefabricated little country, collecting knick-knacks and sweets from shops along the way. Incidentally,…

The City of Ate’s, um, kind and generous editor…yeah…once asked me what I thought this city needed in terms of vegan food. My answer: “I wish the Mexican restaurants would catch on.” Because it’s true–Mexican restaurants are slim pickings for vegans in Dallas due to the fact that most of…

“Little boxes on a hillside, little boxes made of ticky-tacky, little boxes, little…” Okay, okay–I’ll stop. But doesn’t The Colony remind you of that town Agrestic from the show Weeds? Well, maybe not quite as affluent. And there definitely aren’t any hills to speak of. But the houses all look…

There’s no denying that Dallas can be sorta cliquish. If you’re wearing the right shoes (or Tweeting from the hottest gadget), you might break into a particular crowd. Sure, the bar scene can be different. Hand someone a stiff drink, and you could find your BFF for the night. But…