I had the opportunity to visit a friend in Colorado over Memorial day weekend which made for an interesting eating adventure since he has turned vegan.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my fruits, vegetables, and obviously carbs.  I also don’t eat much meat typically Monday through Thursday.  However, if I’m at a restaurant, I usually won’t settle for a plate of vegetables (I know, I’m exaggerating but you get the picture).  Here is a look at my dining adventure and some thoughts on the vegan dishes I did try that weekend.
White House Pizza – Carbondale, CO: Day 1 of my Colorado extravaganza consisted of white water rafting and the 20 mph winds made an easy rafting ride twice as long.  The only thing I had to eat all day was the TCBY frozen greek yogurt with granola from the airport (highly recommend).  We were starved and the other non-vegan and I decided on some pizza.

White House Pizza is a casual spot and we had no trouble getting in on a Friday night. I ordered the Garlic Cheez’ Bread with extra marinara sauce and the Sundried Satisfaction with Housemade basil pesto sauce, chicken, sundried tomato, and roasted garlic cloves.  I love cheesy bread.  It’s probably one of the most perfect foods that exist and it sure hit the spot after a long day.  The marinara was plentiful (critical to enjoying cheesy bread) and the dough was more bread like versus pizza.  I prefer the cheesy bread of the pizza variety but I enjoyed every bite.

Cheesy Bread

My pizza also did not disappoint and I’d definitely come back to White House Pizza on another visit to Colorado.

Sundried Satisfaction

Eco Goddess – Aspen, CO (now closed):  I won’t spend much time on this one since we actually went on the closing day of this vegan friendly restaurant.  I ordered the ‘buttermilk’ biscuits with mushroom gravy, a hummus/vegetable sandwich, lemon bar, chocolate/peanut butter truffles, and chocolate cake (we ate all this during a 6 hour drive).  All were amazing but my favorites were the biscuits, the lemon bar, and the chocolate cake (I don’t believe it was vegan).

Foolish Craig’s – Boulder, CO:  Foolish Craig’s is another featured member on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives.  It also has a great little patio out front, great for people watching and serves breakfast till 5:00 pm.  I ordered the Crab Cake Benedict with a size of Cheesy Grits.

The crab cake had a slight sweetness since it had corn incorporated into the mixture and the hollandaise was thick and plentiful (just how I like it).  The cheesy grits were good but grits aren’t my favorite thing in the world so I’ll probably substitute the sweet potato fries next time.  I was lucky to snag one away from my friends before they devoured their entire plate. I almost forgot about the crepe!!  Foolish Craig’s are known for their crepes and I ordered the Strawberry Nutella Crepe (I was the fat kid while my two dining companions SPLIT a veggie burger).  This crepe was one of the best I have had.

Strawberry Nutella Crepe

There were large amounts of strawberries and they didn’t skimp on the nutella.  I was in a sweet food coma! Overall, Foolish Craig’s lives up to the hype in my book.

Also on my culinary journey in Colorado, I had the opportunity to try some homemade vegan food.  I decided to give it a whirl and see if this is something I could ever possibly do (short answer, NO).  I tried my friend’s homemade veggie burgers which had a crumbly texture.  There are few things that should EVER have a crumbly texture (e.g. cookies) but burgers are not one of them and it seems to be a vegan, you need to get accustomed to that.  I did like the homemade sauce he made. My friend also made vegan enchiladas which looked absolutely repulsive (sorry friend) and I refused to try them.

Overall, it seems my vegan friend has lost his palate (questionable if it was ever good in the first place but…).  It’s very sad and I appreciate his personal reasons for becoming a vegan but so much of the joy I get out of food would be removed from my life.  That would make me a very sad panda.  Anyways, that’s my culinary journey through Colorado.  I hope to be back again soon.

Till next time, peace out food ninjas!