Serindipity: No Fear Vegan Eats

Sunday, October 6, 2013

No Fear Vegan Eats

Heeeeeyyyyyyy!!

Do you remember those No Fear Shakespeare books from high school? I do! They had the modern day translation on the left and the real Shakespearean text on the right side of the page. They made reading Shakespeare more digestible to those who were a little nervous about jumping in full force. GET THEE TO A NUNNERY! Sorry...that's my favorite Shakespearean line. Okay back to food and Philly fun! Well HipCityVeg is the No Fear Veganland! It's real vegan food but with non-vegan sounding menu items.
So last weekend my lovely long-time-no-see roomie and I went to one of our favorite places ever--Philly<3 My love affair with this city is no secret. I phind it so phabulous because it is the loveliest marriage of history, shopping, glamour, sports, and restaurants. I love seeing Cara because she is soooo funny & I miss her as my roommate! Growing up I specifically wanted a brother because I did not want to share my room...EVER! I like my own space, my own room, and I'm definitely not the biggest sharer of my personal stuff. I just like my own stuff, you know? Well Cara and I are perfect roomies because we get that about each other. She gets that I need my own space and I get that she does, too. We work well together. Sometimes I think it's hard to live with your best friend because it's just too much time together. Well, Cara and I lived together for 3 years and we totally worked/never got tired of each other. I'm sure that I got on her nerves but she never said anything. I miss having her 6 feet away from me at all times.

Anyway, I digress. We wanted to try something new for dinner and we wanted veggies! We tried vegan food! We went to HipCityVeg for dinner. Let me tell you...this was fantastic! The BEST DINNER I'VE HAD IN A LOOOOOONG TIME!! I had a Groothie (the cure to my missing green juice from the farmer's market) and a Buffalo Bella! Oh my LAWD it was daaalish! Goodness! Hold on, I'm dreaming about it right now...okay I'm back! I lerved it! The best way I can describe it is a little vegan burger from heaven! It was a "crispy portobella, celery slaw, tomato & buffalo sauce" (http://hipcityveg.com/menu/)!! The burger was AMAZEBALLS! It was a giant mushroom!!! I love buffalo sauce and I think we could be very happy together! I'm definitely going back! I think I'm gonna stick to my typical Erin maxim of always eating the same thing every time I go to a restaurant. Maybe I'll try something new...but probably not because the Buffalo Bella was AMAZEBALLS!

I know that the idea of vegan food scares some people but I want to squelch those that are fearful of vegan eats! Don't be scared! Was it my beloved chicken burger with feta? No. Was it equally dalish just different? Yup! Don't be scared of vegan food. It's not gross and mushy and blecky. It's fantastic! It is so flavorful I didn't even miss the turkey or chicken.

HipCityVeg is a cool urban place located in the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood. It's more of a takeout place so we decided to picnic in the Park. After eating our mucho deliciouso dinner we took pictures (obvi) and we found a cute frog statue! We decided to do a One Frog Closer to Prince Charming themed photo shoot! So cute! While Cara was posing and be cute I saw my biggest. darkest. scariest. most feared. life fear. EVER! RATS! Mice/Rats/Vermin/Rodents are my biggest fear in life! In college there was a mouse in my apartment and even though I never saw it, and it was contained to the pantry, I NEVER WENT IN THAT PANTRY AGAIN! (I also have a fear of cats but that's a different story) So I screamed and did the Erin's Afraid Pose aka I curl up in the fetal position while still standing. It's...um...interesting to see! Well, I must have screamed loudly because everyone in the park starting laughing at me. Womp Womp. I'm glad I made everyone else laugh. Winning, right? So a few minutes later we changed locations in the park and were taking a Fred Astaire Singing In The Rain-esque photo, when an onlooker said, "Look out for the RAT!" I cowered again in fear and she laughed. LAUGHED at me!! There was no rat, but she didn't need to embarrass me on purpose. Not cool. Anyway...then we walked around and went down to the world famous LOVE statue and took some shots. Cara was joined by a sweet teenage skateboarder. He posed just like her. So sweet!!

Philly was Phab as always! I love my city and I can't wait to go back! I'm having a Big Philly Weekend in a few weeks and I can't wait to explore the arts and cultural side of the City of Brotherly Love!

Have a Great Monday!!

-Erin

Some Pics From The Night