Vegiterranean

[tino27]

I and a group of other eG'ers (and some local Cleveland folks not a part of eGullet) had a chance to eat at Chrissie Hynde's new vegan restaurant in Akron, OH, Vegiterranean. We converged on the restaurant around 7 pm and left at 9:30 pm, very full from our meal.

First, a bit about the restaurant itself. It is on the trendy North Hill property and located more or less directly across the street from Luigi's (I know that will only mean anything to us locals). It occupies the first floor in a building full of recently built loft condos. Visually, the restaurant is very minimal -- clean lines, simple colors. The floor is a varnished concrete. The lighting was unobtrusive and well, kind of just cool looking. That being said, our table had one end that was lit pretty well and the other end was a little darker. One downside of the floor and sharp edges was that the restaurant was relatively loud. It was difficult for me to hear conversation at the other end of our table.

Originally the restaurant was billed as a vegetarian restaurant, but from what I've read from other diners who have eaten there, the menu went 100% vegan 1 week before opening. The executive chef Scot Jones (who was there last night) also runs Fedeli Restaurant in Canton, OH which is a more traditional Italian and Mediterranean restaurant.

After sitting down and ordering our drinks, our server brought us out a little starter, some bread with a tomato compote. She called it bruschetta, but the bread was neither grilled nor rubbed with garlic, so it wasn't really authentic. The bread wasn't bad, but it wasn't particularly noteworthy either. The accompanying tomato compote, however, was marvelously sweet and tomato-y. It had a nice balance between sweetness and acidity.

The 7 of us decided to start out with some appetizers and I think between all of us, we must have ordered most of what was offered off of the menu. NancyH grabbed a menu on the way out, so I'll rely on her to correct the names of the dishes. We ordered

* Spiced tomato and chickpeas

* Whole grilled artichokes with red pepper coulis and an aioli

* Marinated olives

* Fritto Misto with sweet chili sauce

* Banana peppers stuffed with basil risotto and lime buerre blanc

For me, the starters were all delicious. I especially like the tempura style vegetables with the sweet chili sauce ... yum. And the spiced tomatoes and chickpeas were delicious and earthy, being spiced with cumin.

After our starters, we each ordered a pasta / entree / pizza. Pastas are whole wheat and can also be orderd in a gluten free variety as well. Many of the entrees were served with a meat substitute called Gardein. Both "chicken" and "beef" varieties of this protein were offered. I was the only one brave enough to order something with this item in it, the Roasted Chicken asparagus risotto. I guess my curiosity got the better of me.

The "chicken" came already pre-sliced in the risotto. I have to say, it looked like sliced chicken breast and the texture was very similar to a cooked chicken breast. Tasting the protein by itself, I could definitely tell it wasn't actually chicken. However, when mixed with the risotto, it wasn't quite as easy to tell. Overall the risotto was a success, although the rice had just a touch too much chalkiness to it. The plate was garnished with a sprig of thyme, but for my palate, I was having a hard time detecting the thyme flavor in the risotto.

NancyH's dish of creamy leek, mushroom, and walnut penne was the clear winner at our table and is probably the dish I would order the next time I go to the restaurant. The loser for me was the linguine with portabella and wild mushrooms. It wasn't bad, per se, but it just had an off flavor profile that I didn't particularly care for. The pizzas were decent, if a little lacking in the salt department. Soy cheeses were featured throughout the meal, sometimes successfully and sometimes not so much.

All of us were too full after our entrees to order dessert. Next time!

For all of the food we had, the prices were extremely reasonable and the portions were very large. You could definitely go in and have an app and a pasta / entree and get out of there for $25.

Overall there were a few things that bothered us as a group.

* Surprising lack of certain staples, like lentils and other beans

* Surprising lack of roasted vegetables, beets, root vegetables, etc.

* The inclusion of Gardein and soy cheeses seemed to detract from the menu for us rather than add to it. It was almost like they were trying to cater to a non-vegetarian audience rather than celebrating the range of cooking techniques for vegan ingredients

* While tofu was offered on some of the menu offerings, the lack of variations other than just plain tofu was a little shocking. I expected a grill, marinated tofu for instance. No such luck.

I certainly realize that picking Akron, OH is a risky place to open up a vegan restaurant that will continue to be successful, and I can appreciate trying to cater to as wide an audience as possible, but somehow it felt like the menu was trying too hard to convert non-vegans into the vegan way of thinking.

All that being said, I enjoyed the experience and will be returning again to try some of the other menu items we didn't have a chance to try last night.

Now that I've got the thread started, hopefully NancyH, Edsel, and others who attended last night can share their impressions as well.

BTW, their website is http://www.thevegiterranean.com. That being said, I was wholly unimpressed with the information on their website. At least it finally has a phone number so that you can get in contact with the restaurant.

[NancyH]

We had a wonderfully fun time at Vegi Terranean!

Here are a few photos - the rest are posted on my blog: Fun Playing With Food

Bread with that marvelous Tomato Relish

Hot Peppers Stuffed with Risotto and Soy Mozzerella

I loved these, but they were fiery!

The Loser - Linguini with Mushroom Ragu

Actually, the fresh linguini itself was delicious, but the ragu just didn't work well for us.

The Winner - Penne with Cashew Cream

As I say on the blog - I definitely recommend this place to vegetarians, and I wouldn't turn down an invitation to eat there again. On the other hand, there are so many great restaurants and so little time in the Cleveland area . . . 'nuff said.

[moosnsqrl]

I love the name.

After 14 years as a vegetarian (although not vegan), I think I can shed some light on the menu offerings. I think most people are capable of turning out good roasted vegetables, lentil dishes, etc. at home. It's the more "normal restaurant" kind of offerings that I missed - like what they're doing at Vegeterranean. Some vegans find meat analogs disturbing but some of us enjoyed old favorites made sans flesh. Add to that the relative difficulty in sourcing high-quality meat analogs (in domestic quantities) in many areas and it really is nice to be able to go to a restaurant and get comfort food like your risotto, Tino. While your crowd is adventuresome enough to wish for lentils and roasted parsnips, most carnivores would be less-excited about accompanying a vegan to dinner if that were the bill of fare, since that's the stereotype of such a restaurant - lentils and brown rice or maybe a veg burger with visible oats in it.

My favorite restaurant during my veg-hood was Native Foods in Palm Springs. And it was because they made their own fabulous seitan and served it bbq'd, on a bun, with carmelized onions. Living in the epicenter of bbq, I missed being able to go to a restaurant and order something like that. And Tanya's was so good, I started making my own seitan using her recipe, just so I could enjoy it without flying to the desert.