Vegan Drinks Pizza Party!

Warning: This post contains graphic images of pizza and booze. 

Tonight was Vegan Drinks night again! In honor of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movie (which I still haven't seen yet), I figured we should have a pizza party, so I scheduled us for Mellow Mushroom. Memphis has a number of places offering vegan cheese pizza, but Mellow Mushroom is the only one with a full bar. And they have plenty of room for crowds.

Most of us started with beers, because, well, pizza just isn't pizza without a cold beer. I started with Sweetwater 420 Pale Ale (on the right) and Greg got a Curious Traveler Shandy (on the left). I took one drink of his lemony summer beer and decided that's what I'd be ordering next.

Of course, Autumn got a frilly cocktail, like she always does. This was the Elderflower Palmer (Maker's Mark bourbon, St. Germain, elderflower liqueur, sour mix, and a splash of tea).

Pam got girly with a margarita.

And then Greg and Stephanie had to have margaritas too. They opted for the Fiery Margaritas, served with a slice of jalapeno. The margs at Mellow Mushroom contain honey, and Greg never reads anything, so he accidentally got honey in his, but he drank it anyway. Stephanie, however, ordered hers with agave in place of honey, and she raved on and on about how good it was.

Susan ordered a Hendricks Refresher (Hendricks gin, cucumber, basil, agave sour, and maybe something else, but the notes I took in my phone didn't make sense).

Autumn went in for seconds with a Frozen Margarita. As you can see, she really liked it. And there's Stephanie in the background, all photobomb-vogue-ing for the camera.

We had a nice turnout this month. Here's an action table shot.

A couple people ordered salads and sandwiches, but sadly, I failed to photograph those meals. I did, however, take way too many pictures of pizza. I went with the Thai Dye Curry Pizza with curry tofu, cucumbers, tomato, basil, Daiya vegan cheese, and an olive oil/garlic base. I had the Thai chili sauce that typically comes drizzled over the pizza served on the side so my leftovers wouldn't get soggy. That's why you only see sauce on one slice.

I had planned to eat the whole 10-inch pie tonight, but I only made it through two slices. Pizza and beer are filling.

Pam went with the Holy Shiitake Pie with shiitake mushrooms, button mushrooms, portabellas, caramelized onions, Daiya vegan cheese, and an olive oil/garlic base.

Greg opted for the Mega Veggie with sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, green peppers, mushrooms, onions, black olives, Roma tomatoes, broccoli, banana peppers, artichoke hearts, tofu, Daiya vegan cheese, and a red sauce base.

Stephanie was feeding her whole family, so she got a large pie. I'm not sure what all was on this, but definitely Daiya vegan cheese. Peter doesn't look too happy about pizza for some reason.

Mellow Mushroom has Tuesday night trivia, and just as we were wrapping up our meals, the trivia guy came by and asked if we wanted to play. Sure! Our team name was awesome — Better Late Than Pregnant. Ha! I'm horrible at trivia, and I was busy running my mouth and being chatty, so I didn't end up participating. But Ken, Susan, Nathan, and Pam were great at it. And guess what? They won! They got a $30 gift certificate!

Fun with Fake Meat!

Take a close look at this picture:

If this wasn't a vegan blog, you'd probably guess this was a photo of chicken covered with dairy cheese. Right? But since y'all know I haven't turned to the dark side, I'm sure you assume it's fake meat and vegan cheeze. In fact, it's a Gardein Tuscan Breast covered in Daiya Cheddar Shreds served over brown rice with a side of sauteed cabbage. But isn't it crazy how meaty this meal looks?

I've professed my love for Gardein on this blog before, so I won't go and on. But I'm slowly discovering more flavors and textures of this magical meat substitute. Why couldn't this have been around back in my early veg days in the mid-90s? Veg meat has come so far! And so has vegan cheeze for that matter.

What's your favorite faux meat? If it's Gardein, which flavor/style do you love the most?

Bluff City Vegan Eats: Hi-Tone Cafe

I know Daiya vegan cheese has been making appearances in pizzerias in major cities across the country for, like, forever. But Memphis is always a few steps behind. We've had vegan cheese offered at our Mellow Mushroom in nearby Germantown for a few months, but Midtowners like me have to drive 45 minutes to get there.

Enter the Hi-Tone Cafe. This rock club features shows by local and national touring acts nearly every night of the week. It's the kind of music the cool kids like (indie rock, hipster music), so naturally, it's not really my scene for shows. But the Hi-Tone also serves food, and they've just begun offering Daiya vegan cheese for their delicious, massive homemade pies. Just last week, some friends/co-workers and I ordered this Veggie Pizza with Vegan Cheese:

Damn, was this pie tasty. The kitchen is super-generous with the Daiya and it's piled with veggies like mushrooms, spinach, etc. After ordering, we realized that we could have added veggie burger to the pizza for an additional charge. Oh well. Next time.

Here's Hannah and Ashley, ready to dig in:

Hannah's newly vegan, and Daiya is the first vegan cheese she's tried. She said she loved it immediately. My first vegan cheese was nasty old Vegan Rella back in 2004 (sorry Rella, but you weren't that tasty). Teese and Daiya truly revolutionized vegan cheese. As for Ashley, well, she isn't vegan, and she still loved the pizza. She said she'd order it again, even if she wasn't dining with vegans.

The Hi-Tone also serves Sunday brunch, and they typically offer some sort of vegan special. Some days, that means tofu scramble. Other days, that means vegan pancakes. I'd recommend you call first on brunch day though, just to make sure they have a vegan option. Here's a tofu scramble platter (with lots of taters, asparagus, and toast) that I ordered on a past Sunday brunch:

They also have homemade veggie burgers on the regular dinner menu, but I've never tried them. It's hard to order a burger when there's vegan cheese pizza available.

The Hi-Tone is located at 1913 Poplar Ave. Call 901-278-8663. Click here for their menu.