The Last Meals at the Cafe at Crosstown Arts

Sadly, the plant-based cafe at Crosstown Arts (the nonprofit arts organization where I work in communications) stopped serving lunch and dinner last week. It's not closed. We're still open with vegan pastries and coffee every Tuesday-Saturday. But we're just no longer serving meals to the public. The cafe's first mission is to feed our resident artists, who come to Crosstown Arts from all over the world, and they'll still get fed breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

But those meals aren't available to the public now. We're moving to a model of more community-driven events in the cafe space, like vegan potlucks and pop-ups. And I'm excited for what's to come. But I'll sure be missing those vegan meals.

Here are the things I ate last week in the final week of food service. This Vietnamese Sandwich with sweet & sour oyster mushrooms was insane! The mushrooms were deep-fried and coated in a tangy sauce, served with homemade pickles and cilantro.

Next up, I had a Tofu Scramble Wrap with avocado, plus a side of home fries. The cafe's home fries were SO GOOD. And this wrap was a perfect breakfast for dinner.

And finally, I had to get the Bibimbap ONE LAST TIME. This Korean rice dish is served in a fried rice paper shell that's both beautiful and functional. The dish is typically served with a fried egg on top, but I always subbed tofu for the eggs. 

As I'm transitioning to eating more whole foods (and trying to eat out a little less), I suppose it'll be better for my health to not have such decadent amazing food right outside my office door. Just trying to look at the bright side! That said, I'll certainly be treating myself to a weekly vegan pastry.