RESTAURANT REVIEW - FuD, Kansas City, MO (and the Hedgehogs see Marian Call!)

Last night, April and the hedgehogs were very excited to go see Marian Call in Kansas City! This gave them a perfect excuse to finally try out FuD for dinner beforehand.

FuD
813 W 17 St, Kansas City, MO 64108
Facebook page
(Cash or check only.)



FuD is located in a very pretty building that's probably just over 100 years old. Among the regular chairs and tables, they also have two window seats with cushions at the front of the restaurant. The hedgehogs were very impressed.








It says "National Unicorn Appreciation Year".

April noticed that FuD had several taco options -



Much as she would have liked to temporarily join in the Taco Cleanse again, April was overwhelmingly drawn to the Jackfruit Reuben (panini-style Jack Fruit spiced & stacked with Garlic Sweed Cheese, Thrillanaise, & Sauerkraut on Rye.) She hadn't had an actual reuben in over 10 years (before she was vegetarian), and thought that the idea of one with jackfruit was a fabulous idea.





The sandwich was heavenly! The jackfruit, sauce, and sauerkraut provided a very convincing reuben flavor, and the grilled rye bread was a perfect compliment.

April's Kansas omnivore host, Duane, got the Smokeywich (pan-grilled Local Organic Tofu decked out with Dillanaise, Sweet Pickle Thrillanaise and spicy Chilinaise, Purple Onion, Lettuce & Tomato on Sourdough Bread.) He said that the sourdough bread was surprisingly mild, and that the main flavor was from the Dill-, Thrill-, Chilinaise, and veggies, instead of the tofu. He liked the sandwich, but thought that the tofu could have been more interesting. A bite of the reuben, however, had him exclaiming "Ooh, that's good."



To go with the sandwiches, April and Duane got an order of eggplant fries, which they both loved. They were the perfect combination of sweet, salty, and spicy.



After all of that, the hedgehogs insisted that they get dessert. Duane decided on vegan ice cream on a brownie topped with vegan caramel sauce.



April splurged a bit and got vegan ice cream on a brownie in a dark chocolate bowl, topped with chocolate sauce.



A note on the bowl - it was made with probably at least 80-85% dark chocolate, and was a tad bitter. April prefers her chocolate no darker than about 55%, so half of the bowl went home with her to be melted into her Chocolate Oatmeal the next morning.

After dinner, April, Duane, and the hedgehogs drove to Barnes & Noble, where they got to see Marian Call (and Scott Barkan) play a wonderfully geeky concert. The hedgehogs think Marian is very nifty.





Marian is doing several upcoming concerts in Kansas/Missouri/Oklahoma/Texas/East Coast/Europe, and she's just a regular ol' traveling musician with no manager or anything (like me!), so if you can go see on of her shows, check it out! She's awesome! (Seriously, how many other musicians do you know who play the typewriter?)

Gen Con 2013 & RESTAURANT REVIEW - Cafe Gratitude, Kansas City, MO

When last we left our intrepid explorers, they were looking for parking in downtown Indianapolis for Gen Con 2013.





An hour after reaching downtown, Hedgie finally spotted a garage that only charged $10 a night (there was no free parking anywhere). April parked and proceeded to make multiple trips from the garage to the convention center and then more trips to the hotel (because walking 8 miles in Toronto wasn't nearly enough), as the hedgehogs provided moral support.

April got her CDs set up on the table she was sharing with Marc Gunn -



- and went to play music for all of the wonderful geeky attendees (including an adorable Robin).



While at Gen Con, food consisted mainly of heat & eat Indian packet meals, cereal, and Cliff/Luna/Pro bars, so the hedgehogs regret to inform you that there are no exciting food pictures. To make up for it, here are some pictures from Gen Con itself -


Cardhalla. Anyone who wanted to could add to the impressive array of card structures.

Amazing cosplay -



After 4 days of exciting and exhausting fun, April and the hedgehogs packed up, said goodbye to Indiana, and drove to Kansas City, MO, where April would be staying during the Kansas City Renaissance Festival. April had a free week in between Gen Con and KCRF, and was planning on flying home to Austin for a quick visit, but had a chance to eat at Cafe Gratitude before the flight.

Cafe Gratitude
333 Southwest Blvd, Kansas City, MO 64108
Facebook page





Everything at Cafe Gratitude is vegan, and lots of it is raw as well. The names of all the dishes are affirmations, and they even have a "community supported grain bowl" called "I Am Greatful", that helps to feed the hungry - "Shredded kale with quinoa, black beans & garlic-tahini sauce. Payment is by donation. Minimum donation is $2.00. Suggested value is $7. Feed yourself & someone in need $14. For grateful bowl policy details, see server."

On this particular visit, April had the "I Am Rich" juice (orange, carrot, lemon & beet) and the "I Am Fabulous" (a raw lasagne which isn't actually on the menu), which were delicious.



For dessert, she splurged a bit and got the "I Am Joy", a vegan truffle that does a great job impersonating an Almond Joy candy bar. (So very, very tasty.)



Since she went to Cafe Gratitude the day before her flight, April decided to also get something for the next morning's breakfast. The "I Am Peace" (live onion bagel with cashew crème cheese, nori “lox,” tomato, onion, capers & sprouts) sounded intriguing, so she got it to-go.



A note on the "I Am Peace" - it was delicious, but the "bagel" was really more of a raw flatbread.

Here's what April and her friend got the last time they visited Cafe Gratitude -


I Am Worthy - kale, beet, celery, apple & ginger juice.


I Am Awake - gluten-free buckwheat-banana pancakes drizzled with maple syrup. (Delicious!)


I Am Creative - a unique creation of pizza flavors with tomato, basil, hemp seed pesto, nut parmesan & cashew ricotta cheese on our live onion sunflower crust. (This may be April's favorite thing.)


Dessert Tray. We'll have one of everything, please.


I Am Bliss - chocolate hazelnut pie. (Very rich, very tasty.)

Dinner & a Movie - Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Film - Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Travel Tie-In - Roy Neary and others travel to an isolated area in the wilderness and the UFOs travel to Earth from outer space.
Food - Mashed Potatoes, Devil's Food Cake, and Coconut Whipped Cream



OK, first things first. This post will have some SPOILERS in it for those who haven't seen the movie. I know, the movie's 35 years old. Well, so am I, and I only just saw it two nights ago for the first time.


At the start of the movie, UFOs are seen all over. After seeing them, Roy Neary and several other people start seeing a shape in their heads, which they then attempt to recreate, through painting or modeling. This shape turns out to be Devil's Tower National Monument, a mountain where the UFOs come and make contact with humans.

Throughout the film, Roy's chosen method of recreating the mountain is modeling, first out of shaving cream, then mashed potatoes, and finally bricks, dirt, and chicken wire.



I couldn't possibly have a Dinner & a Movie post of this movie without mashed potatoes (The mashed potatoes scene was spoofed in UHF, Muppets From Space, That 70s Show, The Simpsons, Bruce Almighty, and Canadian Bacon), and I'm also going to add Devil's Food Cake (since the mountain was Devil's Tower and the mud sculpture the child does in the film looks a bit like chocolate) with whipped cream (like shaving cream, only tastier).

Also, since I'm neck-deep in a sewing project I have to finish tonight, I'm just going to post the recipes for now, and I'll come back and add photos at a later date once I've had time to make the food.

Mashed Potatoes
Devil's Food Cake
Coconut Whipped Cream (or alternate recipe)

Dinner & a Movie - Doctor Who / Vegan Fish Fingers & Custard

You know how, when you're trying to go to sleep, and you really *ought* to be asleep, you get this awesome idea? And then, you tell yourself you'll remember it and write it down the next day, but then you get even more ideas, and they're all so cool that you finally have to get up and organize them on paper (or screen)?

That happened to me last night. I was idly thinking about what my next blog post was going to be, and I started thinking about movies and television (well, Doctor Who specifically), and thought, "wouldn't it be neat to combine movies with food and make that a feature?" Boom - "Dinner & a Movie" was born! I'm really excited about this idea, and I think it's neat that I thought of it right before Friday, which seems to be the most popular day for such things. So, every Friday I'll be selecting one of my favorite movies or television shows that has something to do with travel (since I *am* the Traveling Austin Vegan, after all), and posting either a recipe or some ideas for pre-made vegan food to fit with the movie/show.

Grab your fuzzy slippers (and your sonic screwdriver) and join me for the inaugural "Dinner & a Movie" post!



TV Show - Doctor Who
Travel Tie-In - The Doctor (and his companions) travel through time and space.
Food - Vegan "fish" fingers and custard



[Amy begins cooking]
The Doctor: Ahh! Bacon!
[the Doctor eats the bacon, then promptly spits it out]
The Doctor: That's bacon! Are you trying to poison me?
[Amy begins cooking again]
The Doctor: Beans!
[the Doctor eats the fried beans, and promptly spits them out]
The Doctor: Beans are evil. Bad bad beans.
[Amy butters a slice of plain bread]
The Doctor: Bread and butter! Now you're talking.
[the Doctor runs outside and flings the bread and butter out]
The Doctor: And stay out!
The Doctor: I know what I need! I need... I need... I need... fish fingers and custard!
---From "The Eleventh Hour", Doctor Who


Mark grew up watching "Doctor Who", but even though I'd seen lots of British television, I had managed to not even hear of it until just a few years ago. (I know, I occasionally live under a rock.) About a year ago, Mark suggested we start watching the new run (with Christopher Eccleston), and I agreed. I was almost immediately enamored with the show, and we watched episodes at a slightly alarming pace until we'd caught up to the (then) current episode. I've now seen all of the 9th, 10th, and 11th Doctors (can't wait for the upcoming Christmas Special!), and one of my other friends has started hosting a Classic BBC night at his place, where we've been watching selected episodes from the 1st and 2nd Doctors as well as "Blake's 7". We're on hiatus now, but we're going to start up again with the 3rd Doctor in a few weeks. So far, my favorite Doctor is the 10th (David Tennant). Today's foods, though, come from the first episode of Matt Smith, the 11th Doctor. I can't remember any other episode that I've seen which has had so much to do with food (at the beginning, anyway).

As we watched the continuing adventures of the 11th Doctor, I couldn't stop thinking about fish fingers and custard. I'm always excited about trying to veganize things, and this seemed like a good challenge. On a trip to Wheatsville, I came across Sophie's Kitchen Breaded Vegan Fish Fillets, and knew I had a winner.


With the addition of some ZenSoy Vanilla SoyPudding, we were ready for that evening's episode.



Of course, if you want to take a more DIY route, you could make your own. Here's some recipes I've found that look pretty good -

Trembleique (Coconut Milk Custard)
Quick Vanilla Pudding/Filling

Vegan Fish Sticks
Crunchy Tofu Strips
Fish Sticks & Tartar Sauce
No Fishy Sandwich or Sticks

I will probably try some of these out towards the end of December in honor of the Christmas special. If you make your own vegan fish fingers and custard, let me know!