RESTAURANT REVIEW - Cafe Caliban (Inside Prospero's Uptown Books), Kansas City, MO

After visiting the flagship location of Prospero's Books on 39th St., April and the hedgehogs were excited to finally try the reportedly delicious food at Cafe Caliban inside Prospero's Uptown.

Cafe Caliban (inside Prospero's Uptown Books)
3600 Broadway #107, Kansas City, MO
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April and the hedgehogs hadn't managed to make it to Cafe Caliban yet on this visit to KCMO because Prospero's Uptown is only open until 5 pm, and Cafe Caliban is only open until 3 pm. They decided to visit today for lunch. However, when they got there, there was a sign that said "Emergency - be right back", and the door was locked.



April waited in her van for a little while, listening to the radio, and the hedgehogs played "who can spot the most number of blue cars" (Hedgie won, but Buttercup says he has an unfair height advantage). Just as they had decided (sadly) that it might be time to leave, a car drove up, and a gal got out, opened the door of the bookstore, and went in. April and the hedgehogs gave her a minute to get situated, then went in themselves.









April had heard that the vegan tacos were really good, but she couldn't pass up the jackfruit panini, since she's been on such a jackfruit kick lately. The gal working there made some quinoa salad to go with it, and gave April some "conspiracy-free" (filtered) water.



The panini was delicious; grilled perfectly and very flavorful, with mushrooms, onions, and peppers mixed in with the shredded jackfruit. The cool quinoa salad was a great accompaniment to the hot sandwich.

April hopes to get a chance to go back to Cafe Caliban once more before she leaves so she can try the tacos. She left this time with full hands as well as a full stomach -

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
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(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?)

Vegan MoFo Round Up (So Far!)

I *totally* had another post planned for today. I was also *totally* going to blog it out last night (along with Sunday and Monday's posts, since I'll be spending the majority of all three days performing at the Kansas City Renaissance Festival. However, instead of working on my planned post last night, I got completely lost in other people's Vegan MoFo posts.

Since this is what took up most of my time, it only seemed fitting to share with you what caught my eye.


One-Ingredient Banana Ice Cream topped with Chocolate Espresso Sauce by EasyVegan.


Zucchini Fudge Brownies, à la Little Debbie by EasyVegan.


Breaded & Baked Zucchini Chips by EasyVegan.


Seared Tofu by CompassionPassion.


Double Chocolate Chip Cookies by CompassionPassion.


Newfoundland Tea Buns by The Vegan Cookbook Afficianado.


Apple Cranberry Bannock by The Vegan Cookbook Afficianado.


Sticky Toffee Pudding by The Sweet Life.


Peaches & Cream Cheese Tarts by The Sweet Life.


Pear and Ginger Ricotta Cheesecake with Salted Caramel Drizzle by Manifest Vegan.


Fieldstone Orchard & Pear Honey Jam by The Vegan Crew.


Vegan Grilled Cheese with Smoky Tomato Soup by Olives For Dinner.


Vegan Bacon-Wrapped Scallops with Paprika Cream Sauce by Olives For Dinner.


Tamarind & Date Chutney aka Sweet Chutney by Vegan On The Prowl.


I told you I had spent most of my time looking at other people's blogs! I can't wait until I have enough time to make all of these delicious-looking creations!

A Very Decadent Snack

This is a decadent snack! Take an apple, slice it sideways (I used a Pink Lady apple), spread half the slices with peanut butter (I used Peanut Butter & Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams), and sprinkle with chocolate chips (Enjoy Life Vegan Mini Chocolate Chips work best, but I didn't have those, so I used Sunspire organic & fair trade vegan chocolate chips). Put the plain slices on top of the chocolate slices, and boom - apple sandwiches!

I also made hot cocoa with an Abulita cocoa wedge and some flax milk, and steeped a mix of herbal & white tea and yerba maté in it.

This snack is very simple to make, and very addictive. If you come up with any modifications or alternate toppings, post them in the comments!

Restaurant Review - Gypsy Coffee House, Tulsa, OK

Gypsy Coffee House
303 North Cincinnati Avenue
Tulsa, OK 74103
(918) 295-2181
Hours: Mon 7am-10pm, Tues-Thur 7am-11pm, Fri 7am-2am, Sat 11am-2am, Sun 11am-10pm


Gypsy Coffee is a really cute coffee shop in downtown Tulsa with a bohemian feel. It's a good place to go for a light lunch, and also a welcome escape from too-loud bar music late at night. (I love Mark's Irish rock band, Poor Paddy, but I prefer to love them from a distance so that my ears don't explode.) *grin*


The vegan food selection can vary, but the menu has a Boca Burger, listed as a "totally vegan burger with organic greens and tomato on wheat", Veggie Delight, with "avocado, tomato, sprouts or greens, and onion", and the Veggie Wrap, with "greens or sprouts, tomato, avocado, and onion" (ask for them to leave off the ranch dressing on the Delight and Wrap). There's also the Gypsy Greens - "garden greens, sliced almonds, raisins, and mandarin oranges", as well as chips and salsa, pickles, and fresh fruit. At once point, they had a delicious vegan apple pie, but the people who made it for them changed the recipe and are now making it with eggs. (Perhaps if enough people go in and express their dismay at the absence of vegan deserts, they'll come up with something good...) As far as coffee goes, they've got a good selection of good coffee house fare - mocha, latte, cappuccino, etc., all of which can be made with soy milk (though make sure to request that they leave the whipped cream off of mochas and other coffee drinks, or they'll put it on by default).



As I was leaving the last time I was there, the barista thanked me for coming and asked if I'd had a good time. I told her everything was great, though some vegan deserts would really have been welcome. She replied that all of the companies in town were either too expensive or just weren't doing that sort of thing right now. She also mentioned that she'd tried to make some vegan baked goods in the past, and they'd never turned out correctly. I told her about the '1/2 banana = 1 egg' replacement, and she thanked me, saying that she'd never known something so easy could work (plus, they have bananas in with their fresh fruit that she says can go bad before they're all sold, so I mentioned that using them as "eggs" in baked goods could be a win-win situation). She said she would also mention it to her boss, so hopefully some vegan baked goods will be forthcoming!

They've got live music every Friday and Saturday night (usually acoustic solos or duos), as well as open mic every Tuesday.