One thing that certainly stands out about last year is a lot of really great things put into my face hole known as a mouth. Eating vegan has never been easier and the Twin Cities especially Minneapolis is turning into a haven for good vegan food. This is a picture heavy post because well, there's a lot of good stuff around now!
My favorite breakfast in town is hands down at the Modern Times Cafe. It's kale, tempeh, tofu covered in garlic tahini sauce. They also have a solid soy mocha.
My favorite new discovery is Nico's Taco Bar. I love the cactus tostada! Make sure to get salsa trios as well.
A dish at my favorite fine dining restaurant, Jasmine 26. The Basil noodles are light and flavorful. Make sure you also start with the Salt-n-Pepper Tofu, you'll be glad you did.
Truth be told, my love for Glam Doll Donuts has been tested this year. The maple vegan bar (shown above) is amazing but more than once I have gotten terrible vegan donuts there. Tiny, undercooked, dry. I am trying to cut them some slack as they learn to adapt because having a donut shop I like is fun.
The mind-blowing food revelation in town this year was learning you can get vegan gelato at the Mall of America. Paciugo has a fabulous Limoncello gelato as well as many other soy and water based flavors. What a great surprise!
This completely amazingly yummy waffle dessert comes from Kitty Corner Cafe. I can't decide whether I wish I lived closer to it or further away. I want to go here more often. I shouldn't. You should.
I love veggie sushi and Japanese food but most places are terrible at the vegan versions. This year I found two places I liked. The first is Masu. This is the veggie caterpillar. It's cute, delicious and the wasabi is actually strong. Often it is not. I like it ass-kicking. I wouldn't say it's that strong but it's better than most.
The second Japanese place I liked this year was Midori's Floating World Cafe. First, the name...lovely. Second, the food was fresh and perfect. Third, the service was pretty dreadful. It took forever to get our food and we didn't get to eat together. There are pretty decorations to look at as you grumpily wait so there's that.
Honorable mention Japanese is Unideli at United Noodle. The tiny spot in the store has great Vegan Shoyu and there's tons of it.
Favorite new fast dinner spot (or lunch) is Hot Indian Foods in the Midtown Global Market. The Vegan Channa is surprisingly delicious. I say surprising because Indian food is such an art and I don't expect too much from a tiny stand. My bad. You can get it in a fried bread wrap which is insanely decadent(or without like pictured here) but it melts in your mouth. The Indi-frites have a unique spice on them. The sauce they are served with is not vegan but ask for hot sauce with them instead, they make their own and it's out of this world.
This thing of beauty is an artful vegan pizza from Pizza Nea. My newest pizza discovery lead me to a long time spot that is perfect for a date with wine and romantic lighting. They teamed up with local vegan butcher shop The Herbivorous Butcher to make most of their pizzas available in vegan versions. The faux mozzarella is the best I've ever had.
I had two rediscoveries this year. The first being Harry Signh's. This simple rice and beans dish is so good and so hot you would not even believe it. There is a lot of vegan options here and I will warn you: my tolerance is very high and I find this food spicy as hell. It's really AWESOME.
My second rediscovered spot is Sen Yai-Sen Lek. I love the Tofu Peanut Satay. They are a community minded place with a seasonal menu and lots of good intentions. The Tofu Basil dish is also worth having.
There are plenty of places I could add but these were the new stand-outs this year for the most part.
As the new year starts and lots of people try out being vegan especially here: There's tons of places to go out.