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Sweets & Treats (& Eats): Richmond, VA Edition

One of the things I love the most about going back to Richmond for visits has been the pleasure of watching it evolve. I would say it has become an even more progressive, food-loving, family-centric city over the last ten years or so.

Whenever we are planning a visit, John and I try to include a few new stops at restaurants that offer dairy-free options, which has been surprisingly easy as the city and surrounding area have a lot of vegan and allergy-friendly businesses.

Unfortunately, while central Pennsylvania has a lot going for it, it does NOT have a lot to offer in the way of eating out with dietary restrictions. We have been faced with plenty of rejection here when we’ve requested ingredient info and it is rare to find menus marked with V, DF, Veg, or even G, although gluten awareness seems to be outpacing the other Big 8 common allergens. Also, if I’m being honest, a lot of the options that are available for the dairy-free/vegan set in the area…have a ways to go in the taste department (certainly not all of them, though). We hope to see this change in the years to come, but in the meantime we pay extra-close attention, and go out of our way to patronize, vegan-friendly locations when we are out-of-town.

So when we were in Richmond a few weeks ago, here were some of the highlights:

WPA Bakery:

IMG_2554WPA Bakery has two locations, but we opted for the Church Hill locale. We made it there *just* before they closed. They are not exclusively vegan but every Sunday they offer vegan donut varieties.

On this particular day, the base for all five of these donuts were the same, but each had a different topping: chocolate, cinnamon/sugar, caramel (my fave), coconut, and powdered sugar.

They were more cake-y than some vegan donuts I’ve had, and even though I tend to prefer the fried, yeast-y kind, these were pretty good. The caramel topping was exceptional! IMG_2555

All of their fruit pies are vegan and we were lucky that even though we arrived late that day, there were a couple of options still available. We chose raspberry-apple and a mixed berry. The great thing I have found about a lot of pies, even the ones I make at home, is you can make a delightful, flaky crust without dairy, and these slices with crumble on top were tart, sweet, and fantastic.

Overall we  really enjoyed WPA. The staff was incredibly helpful and friendly and I love supporting the local guy when we can. We will definitely be back in the future.

Sugar Shack Donuts:

Because we do a lot of cooking and experimenting with food at home, we have been able to replicate a lot of traditionally dairy-full dishes to scratch that itch when we need to. Pastas, mac and “cheese,” pizza, if it’s savory, we tend to have it covered.

Unfortunately, my dairy-free baking is hit-or-miss, and donuts have been my personal white whale. I’ve never been able to make a good donut when ALL ingredients were still on the table, so take a few out of the running and I end up with dense, greasy little messes. It is sad.

One of the only things I ever miss about having dairy in my life are donuts. Yeasty, light donuts with fresh glaze are some of the best things on the planet as far as I’m concerned. Enter: Sugar Shack.

IMG_2675We have been to Sugar Shack on previous trips because they have always put themselves out there as vegan-friendly and have had a vegan option for quite a while. However, previously it was an alternative to their “regular” donuts and, if I remember correctly, they were more of a cake-style. Don’t get me wrong, they were amazing, but like I have said before, I have been hunting for a good vegan yeast donut for a while.

According to a recent article in Style Weekly, nearly all of their donuts are vegan now and GM/dough-maker Mike Goins spent two years perfecting this vegan yeast donut. I cannot stress enough how amazing they are. And not amazing-for-a-vegan-donut amazing but truly, empirically delicious. I would bet next to no one could tell the difference between these donuts and donuts with eggs and dairy. They are simply that good.

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We went to the flagship Lombardy location and these bad boys didn’t even make it out of the parking lot.

There were six in this box. But they were freshly glazed soooo…let’s just say I showed great restraint by stopping to take any photos at all.

 

 

The Daily Kitchen and Bar:

IMG_2582I’ll be honest. When John first proposed this restaurant to me, I thought it looked a tad too fancy for us to roll up with Oliver. Even though he can be an adventurous eater, at 21 months, he is in full-on moody toddler mode most of the time. Unpredictable is an understatement. But we wanted to do some shopping in Carytown anyway, so we agreed to do a little fly-by and if the vibe wasn’t child-friendly, we had some back-up options in the area.

There are so many great things about The Daily, but the big one is they list their entire menu on their website and denote paleo, vegan, and even if it has a vegan option. With a focus on sustainable, local foods (they have a list on their website of where most of their products come from!), it is a really refreshing place with LOTS of vegan options for us and an easy vibe.

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Our waiter was very comfortable with our questions and for those he could not answer, he did not seem bothered at all to go back and ask the kitchen for clarification. We were in before their lunch rush so we felt comfortable taking our time and asking enough questions to feel confident in our meal choices.

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I opted for a BLT with avocado and a side of maple sweet potatoes. The sweet potatoes were probably my absolute favorite thing about this meal. They were sweet and perfectly cooked with a bit of a kick from the pepper. John had chicken tacos with a side of beans and rice. And our little O had a chicken and vegan cheeze quesadilla with sea salt french fries.

IMG_2585Overall it was a really hearty meal and we felt confident we were ordering food that fits well with O’s diet. Best of all, Oliver definitely seemed to enjoy his meal!

**I feel like it is important to reiterate here that we do not adhere to a vegan diet. I have a lot of respect for those who do, but for now we are only dairy free. Since vegan products by definition do not have dairy in them, we often use that as a barometer in finding eating out options.

Charm School Social Club:

IMG_2641Oh, Charm School! Where have you been all my life? This delightful local ice cream shop is just so perfect to me. From its mint green doors and accents to the minimalist decor to its vegan ice cream options. There are no words to describe how much I love Charm School Social Club. (I mean, can we talk about their Instagram…)

 

 

IMG_2629Baskin Robbins, it ain’t, and it is all the better for it. When we were there, they had about a dozen dairy ice cream flavors available, and another four or so vegan options. We chose the vegan sundae, which consists of two scoops, Magic Shell, vegan marshmallow fluff, nuts, and a cherry. We also had the option of vegan whipped “cream” but we did not see it in time so we did not get any #regrets.

I believe the four vegan flavors there that week were: vanilla, Mexican chocolate, peanut butter fudge, and cereal milk (Cinnamon Toast Crunch). We chose a scoop each of the peanut butter and cereal milk. They torch the fluff slightly for a toasted marshmallow effect. A subtle little flavor detail that really adds something special to this sundae.

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We miss our friends and family in the Richmond area daily, and now we have some memorable food options to add to our list of things we miss while we are away. Until next time, RVA!

 

Sweets & Treats: Ben and Jerry’s Non-Dairy Ice Cream

One of the highlights of my childhood was spending summers with my older sister in New York City. I often tell stories about the new and exciting things I was exposed to through those trips. One of those early credits goes to meeting, and subsequently falling in love with, two of my oldest and dearest pals: Ben and Jerry.

Like any good big sister, she would ply my other sister and I with any number of sweet treats during these visits. Regular trips to Baskin Robbins, Italian ices and frozen lemonades from street vendors, and various sweet buns from the Chinese and Korean bakeries, were all staples of my summers. So it should come as little surprise that I had my first taste of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in the late 1980s on one of these trips. Rainforest Crunch, to be specific (RIP, old friend). My life would be forever changed after tasting such a delectable sweet treat packed with more flavor and “goodies” than any other ice cream I had every had until then.

Fast forward twenty thirty(!) years and my love for Ben and Jerry’s has remained steadfast. From Phish Food and Bovinity Divinity (RIP) which guided me through many a late night study session in college (Freshman Fifteen, indeed) to their socially conscious activism, they could do no wrong in my eyes. So when dairy and the Lucy family officially parted ways, they were honestly one of the few treats I knew I would really miss eating and a company I would surely miss supporting.

But apparently Ben and Jerry’s heard my (and so many others’) plaintive cries and have developed an entire (recently expanded) line of non-dairy ice creams. Huzzah!

As you can see, I had to try one of each.

As you can see, I had to try one of each.

I have tried many non-dairy ice creams over the past year (probably more than any one person should)  and while most get the job done, few of them have the taste and feel of “real” ice cream. Ben and Jerry’s seems to have cracked the code, though. Perfect texture, chock full of tasty little tidbits, and the flavors are tremendous. You can find them here.

I loved the first four flavors so much that when word spread that they had a second round of flavors to be released, I stalked all of my usual haunts to try to nab them as soon as possible. Aside from specialty stores, like The Healthy Grocer, locally we’ve found the most robust selection of dairy-free products at Wegmans, with Giant running a close second. And although our local Target store’s selection of dairy-free products is pretty limited, we have been able to rely on them for this particular product, so I checked there often as well.

It took a little while  for it to find its way to the Central Pennsylvania market but they were absolutely worth the wait! I would have bet good money that the Coconut Seven Layer Bar was destined to be my new favorite since I am a massive fan of coconut treats, but the Caramel Almond Brittle won the day IMHO! Amazing flavor and the little pieces of almond brittle are exceptional. I can’t recommend these enough!

Little Oliver has not been introduced to too many sweet treats just yet, aside from his birthday cake, so John and I are continuing to taste-test plenty of options for him as he gets older and we eventually share more sweet treats with him. If they keep this up, Ben and Jerry’s will surely be a staple of Oliver’s childhood, like it was mine. Like mama, like child!