P.F. Chang's China Bistro

Located in the Pinnacle Hills Mall, at 2203 S. Promenade, P.F. Chang’s China Bistro can be readily identified by the life size horse statue in front of their establishment.  If you miss that, there is always the tantalizing smell of garlic wafting through the air.  Since many major cities have one, P.F. Chang’s is not indigenous to Northwest Arkansas.  But it has food and atmosphere to rival the better Chinese restaurants in the area, and it provides a welcome alternative to the proliferation of Chinese buffets.  It is also VERY vegetarian friendly, with numerous vegan friendly options and even a gluten free menu.

The night that we come we are seated after a brief wait, by a friendly greeter gentleman that we never see again.  The waitress arrives shortly and we order vegetarian lettuce wraps for an appetizer.  The vegetarian lettuce wraps are very tasty.  We have ordered them over and over again without being disappointed.  Vegetarian lettuce wraps consist of baked tofu, diced and mixed with spices.  You scoop the mixture into lettuce shells, and eat the filled shells like a sandwich.  Though my wife is a carnivore, she eats the lettuce wraps with glee.  If you order them with a side of brown rice, they can serve as an entrée.  You might also want to order another appetizer to complement them.  Sichuan-style asparagus is one of my favorites.

As opposed to salt and pepper on the tables, P.F. Chang’s has bottles of vinegar, spicy oil and soy sauce.  They also provide hot mustard and hot sauce.  And the waiters and waitresses provide free demonstrations in how to mix them together. 

P.F. Chang’s has four items on their vegetarian menu proper:  the Coconut Curry Vegetables, Buddha’s Feast (steamed or stir-fried vegetables over brown or white rice), Ma Po Tofu and Stir-Fried Eggplant.  The Coconut Curry Vegetables is a rich and sensuous dish, and I reserve it for special occasions when I have earned the calories.  Buddha’s Feast is a lighter dish that can be ordered with baked tofu, a low calorie alternative to the crispy fried tofu in the Coconut Curry and Ma Po Tofu dishes.  According to Calorie Lab, the Coconut Curry Vegetables has 950 calories, of which 567 are from fat.  The steamed Buddha’s Feast has 200 calories, while the stir-fried Buddha’s Feast has 340 calories.  The baked tofu would add to the calorie totals of each.  By the way, all the vegetarian dishes are vegan.  I have, however, ordered vegetarian fried rice with baked tofu on occasion, and I assume that this has egg in it.  Tonight I decide to ask for somethinng a little different.  I ask the waitress if the chef can make the Almond and Cashew Chicken with tofu instead of chicken.  The chef has no trouble obliging me, though the dish comes overflowing with tofu.  There are very few vegetables, almonds or cashews.  I am still happy with the dish, just not echanted by the broccoli forest. 

If you were wondering, my wife usually orders the Chang’s Spare Ribs.  She absolutely loves this dish, which comes with a very unusual cole slaw to tempt vegetarians.  Tonight though, she opts for the Wonton Soup.  She is absolutely delighted with it.  As you can see from the photo, it's a meal in itself!
                       

The atmosphere is dark and romantic, with a few prized booths for special occasions.  Oftentimes there is a 45 minute wait on Friday nights.  Since we had a Border’s bookstore right next door, until it closed recently, we never found the wait very annoying.  You can also order a drink and sit at the bar, though we have rarely done this.  We did have the best lime margarita we had ever tasted at P.F. Chang’s.

In general we spend $25 to $30 on dinner, which I realize must come as a complete shock to anyone reading this in New York or Los Angeles.  Since I know that people outside Northwest Arkansas are now following my blog on Twitter, I assume that some of you will want to try P.F. Chang’s in other cities.  My wife and I have tried P.F. Chang’s in Tulsa and St. Louis as well, and found them very comparable in quality to the one in Rogers.  The prices are also comparable, but obviously this would not be true everywhere.  In all, P.F. Chang's is a restaurant that come highly recommended for their food, atmosphere and service.  The prices are reasonable.  But be prepared for the wait. 

21 Day Vegan Kickstart

In lieu of eating out this January, I have opted to try the 21 Day Vegan Kickstart. The kickstart is sponsored by The Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine. They are a group of physicians that are committed to bettering the lives of people and animals through conscientious medicine. The kickstart occurs every year in January, and is a chance to embark on a vegan diet with the support of a wide range of experts and celebrities. Once you sign up, you receive a daily email with breakfast, lunch and dinner recipes of the day, as well as insights from the guest of the day. Today, Day 11, the guest is Rip Esseltyn. Bestselling author of the cookbook, The Two Engine Diet, Rip is a firefighter and triathlete who is also a vegan.

Today’s suggested menu is cereal with plant milk (I use rice milk) and banana for breakfast, missing egg sandwich with creamy broccoli soup for lunch, and Farmhouse salad with leftover Quinoa Pilaf for dinner. Yesterday’s staple menu included oatmeal with mango and cinnamon for breakfast, a vegan veggie burger for lunch with leftover Mexican Corn Salad (a dinner salad from the night before), and Cream of Broccoli Soup with Quinoa Pilaf for dinner.

By the way, you don’t have to eat the dietary recommendations for any given day. The website prints out the menu for a week in advance. You can pick the recipes you want to cook for the week and forget the rest. Last night we made Monday’s dinner entrée, Barbeque Style Portobellos. Always a day late and a dollar short. But seriously, this dish is better than you can imagine. My carnivore wife could not stop marveling at how good it was. If you want to try it, here’s the recipe:

Barbeque-Style Portobellos
Makes 2 servings
2 large portobello mushrooms
1/2 cup vegetable juice
1/4 cup apple juice concentrate
1/2 cup roasted red peppers
1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon seasoned rice vinegar
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Clean mushrooms and remove stems. Cut into 1/2-inch strips.

Combine vegetable juice, apple juice concentrate, red peppers, soy sauce, vinegar, chili powder, garlic powder, and black pepper in a blender. Process until smooth, then transfer mixture to a non-stick skillet and heat until bubbly.

Add mushroom strips, turning to coat evenly with sauce. Cover and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until mushrooms are tender, about 10 minutes. Serve immediately.
(http://www.nutritionmd.org/recipes/view.html?recipe_id=132)

I substituted pretty freely to customize this for a household on a budget, using roasted green pepper instead of red, apple cider vinegar instead of rice vinegar, and the juice of one orange instead of concentrated apple juice. For fruit juice I used Welch’s grape cherry mixture. We spooned it over jasmine rice, though the options are abundant. You could use brown rice, French bread, English muffins or even baked potatoes. The recipe says to serve it with steamed spinach, but we used corn on the cob. And we had a vegan cranberry banana bread for dessert.

You can chat with other dieters on the Kickstart website, to find out what brought them to try a vegan diet for even 21 days. Sure some are lured by the promise of quick weight loss, but there are those with deeper motivations. You can also find some really cool recipes for things you would probably never imagine a vegan could make. How about grilled garlic vegan shrimp with chocolate cheesecake (pictured above) for dessert?

In the coming days I will talk more about the 21 Day Vegan Kickstart, why I decided to do it, and the experiences I am having with it. There’s also a 21 Day Vegan Kickstart book, by Dr. Neal D. Barnard, that you can buy. You can get it on Amazon, starting February 8, for about $10.

Kosmos Greekafe

I noticed that Kosmos Greekafé had generated quite a bit of comment on the Internet, and that it was favorably reviewed by lots of people on Urbanspoon. So I decided to stop by their store at 2136 N.College Avenue in Fayetteville the other day.

When you first walk in, the restaurant has a cold, antiseptic feel—almost like a hospital waiting room. But the server at the front counter is quite friendly, and lets me take a bit to peruse the menu on the wall behind her. I came wondering what they might have here for vegetarians, thinking falafel would probably be the only option. But the choices are abundant. There’s the Greek salad for $5.49 (or $2.99 for half), the Falafel salad for $6.99, the Vegetarian Pita for $4.99, the Falafel Pita for $4.99, the Vegetarian Platter for $7.99, and Spanakopita (spinach pie) for $7.99. There are also various appetizers and desserts that vegans and vegetarians might eat.
I decide to order the Falafel Pita since it has been a while since I have had falafel. Also, the price seems right. Or so I thought before I added fries and a drink and feta cheese. By the time I am done, my bill comes to about $8.50. I am surprised that it has escalated that far since I started by ordering a $5 sandwich. But the server is quite patient in walking me through the extra charges I have accumulated by opting for all the extra goodies.
Although I have been eating falafel for 30 years, I realize some people don’t know what it is. According to Wikipedia,
Falafel (/fəˈlɑːfəl/; Arabic: فلافل‎, [falaːfil] ( listen)) is a deep-fried ball or patty made from ground chickpeas and/or fava beans. Falafel is usually served in a pita, which acts as a pocket, or wrapped in a flatbread known as lafa. The falafel balls are topped with salads, pickled vegetables, hot sauce, and drizzled with tahini-based sauces. Falafel balls may also be eaten alone as a snack or served as part of a meze.

It’s hard to describe falafel in such a way that the inexperienced can truly experience its wonder. When I worked in a cafeteria during grad school in Iowa, the staff hated falafel day because the patrons went mad for it. The little chickpea balls must be fried in oil, which creates quite the mess. And yes, we are talking about carnivorous Iowa students devouring a dish without meat for lunch.
Not five minutes after I order, the server brings my order to the table I have chosen. I am astonished at the amount of food. The falafel sandwich is easily as large as a half foot sub, and twice as heavy. The falafel balls are fresh and cooked to perfection. The pita also has onion, lettuce and tomato in a tzatziki sauce. This sauce is also something you need to try. It is made of strained yogurt, cucumber, garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon juice. I had never had it before trying it at Kosmos. It was delicious. Far more common as a compliment to falafel, in my experience, is sesame tahini (a peanut sauce). In addition to the mammoth sandwich, there is also a full basket of fries. Why anyone would need to add feta cheese to the sandwich, let alone get dessert, is a mystery to me. I am even more astonished when I see myself mopping up the last little bit of tzatziki sauce with the last fry.
The food at Kosmos Greek Café is fresh, and the people are nice. The atmosphere could seem a little warmer, a bit less corporate. But at least the place is painted royal blue. I read once that McDonalds interiors are red and yellow because these are active, aggressive colors that make people eat and run (so that McDonalds can move more customers in more quickly). The food is so good here. Not being a fan of Greek food generally, it is hard to comment on how authentically Greek Kosmos is. I can see from the reviews on Urbanspoon that there is some difference of opinion on this issue. But the reviews there are mostly positive, and I think that is as it should be.

Kosmos Greekafe on Urbanspoon

Einstein Bros. Bagels

Einstein Bagels just opened a second location in Northwest Arkansas.  On College Street in Fayetteville, just in front of Ozark Natural Foods, Einstein will catch many of the people coming to this mainstay of alternative food shopping in Northwest Arkansas. 

The day that I come this store has just opened its doors to the public, and pandemonium rules the day.  There seem to be too few servers and even the manager is losing his cool with a new guy who obviously has not caught on to the fact that the person operating the cash register needs to help in other parts of the store when he’s not busy. 

Marlo's Taco Shack

If you live in Northwest Arkansas, it’s hard to throw a stick very far without hitting a Mexican restaurant.  They are everywhere, and Fayetteville is no exception.  Marlo’s Taco Shack really is just a shack just across from the Harps on Garland Avenue.  It doesn’t look like the type place where you would put a restaurant.  I came here today because I am starving, and exhausted from doing work near The University of Arkansas.  Also, I keep hearing reviews from friends and acquaintances who say things like “Mexican, you know the place I like is Marlo’s.”  Or simply “that’s where I go.”

Big wow!  The place is very homey inside, and the server is super friendly.  The only menu is a large board above the kitchen entrance.  I ask the cashier if there is anything vegetarian, and she says “Honey, I can make anything vegetarian!”  The menu is divided into roughly seven categories:  dinners, salads, burritos, tacos, nachos and singles (tostadas, chalupas and taco burgers).  There are a few other interesting items up there too.  My favorite is the tailgater bucket of large queso, large guacamole, large salsa and a huge bucket of chips for $15.99.  There is also a large entry at the bottom of the menu that says anything can be made vegetarian.

I decide to order an enchilada dinner.  It comes with two cheese enchiladas, and my choice of two of the following three:  rice, beans and guacamole salad.  I decide to omit the rice.  They also have Pepsi products instead of Coke.  I choose the diet Pepsi.  The cashier gives me chips on a paper plate, and a squirt bottle of salsa along with my diet Pepsi.  She says that she’ll let me know when my order is up.  I am not expecting much from the squirt bottle of salsa, but it is really very tasty.  The salsa has substance and a lively taste without being too hot.  The chips are just average chips, but I wish there were more of them.  In most Mexican restaurants you receive a basket of chips.  Here it is just a few (maybe a couple dozen).  My order comes up very quickly.  The cook says “vegetarian,” and the cashier nods at me to let me know this is for me.  There are no waiters or waitresses.  It’s like a Mexican McDonald’s on a budget.  You come to get the food when it’s done.  With drink, my order comes to about $7.

The enchiladas are small but very good.  The refried beans have no hint of lard taste, which is always a big plus for a vegetarian.  The guacamole salad is my favorite, and the next time I come I think I may just get a large guacamole salad.  The lettuce is fresh iceberg like you would prepare at home, and not the shredded stuff you get from a bag like at so many Mexican restaurants.  The guacamole is fresh, and mildly spiced.  It seems to be heavy on fresh avocado, with minimal cilantro and pepper spices.  The food is fresh and refreshing. 

One final note about Marlo’s is that it attracts a very interesting range of clientele.  I don’t see anyone even remotely Mexican working or eating here, but there are young and old, black and white, students and working class people.  It’s a very comfortable place that seems to attract people who want good food at a good price without the corporate feel of fast food restaurants.  I think you know by now that I’ll be back soon. 

Lancashire Boulevard Farmer's Market

This past weekend began as a drive around Bella Vista to drop in on some of the plentiful garage sales that great fall weather can bring.  It won’t be long before the weather turns too cool for outdoor sales.  The garage sales dampen our spirits, as it seems the good stuff has pretty well been picked clean by 10a.m.  I do grab three books for .50 apiece, including a pretty beat first edition of The Fannie Farmer Baking Book, and an obscure book about baking bread called Our Daily Bread(with one bread recipe for every day of the year, including Leap Year!).

Thai City

fried rice

Thai City sits just off the intersection of Highway 412 and Mt. Olive in Siloam Springs, Arkansas.  It’s right next to White Oak, in a heavily trafficked area.  But you could miss it if you were not paying attention.  We’ve always thought of this as a hidden treasure.  The food is great, the portions are ample, and it’s vegetarian friendly.  Run a by Hmong family, it’s a nice addition to the Northwest Arkansas restaurant scene.