Let me start by saying that I did not pay for this…but rather, I was invited by General Motors to a showcase of a new engine technology so that I could right about it for some other blogs I write for (on environmental technology and fuel economy). So, by no means am I wasting on such decadence.

That said, I was a little worried going into it about how it would mesh with the whole vegan thing, so I am glad to report that I have very favorable findings. I only spent one night there, so I only really got in two meals, dinner and lunch. For dinner we (my girlfriend accompanied me) ordered room service from the day menu, even though it was 11:05 PM, just past the end of the standard day menu period. I got Penne Pasta without pesto and cheese, and she got some sort of panini filled with meat and horror, :P. The service was great, and my order was not messed up in the least.

The Penne, for its part, was amazing. It may have been 22 bucks + tax and tip (thanks GM!), but it was still delicious. You can see it in the above picture, but I doubt any picture can really do justice to something so fulfilling hitting your taste buds after eating nothing since lunch time.

When the next day had rolled around and the conference ended (the day of the posting), I found myself staring at a salad for lunch wondering what had happened to that vegan lunch they had said something about. After just a few minutes of discouragement, I was brought a special plate of what appeared to be delicious food. I certainly couldn’t finish it all, but I really enjoyed it. I couldn’t tell you what it was, but take a look for yourself:

So, all in all, it was a good conference, the Ritz was ridiculously extravagent and shocking to someone like me, but they also were careful and courteous, and renewed my faith in finding vegan options on the road.

Does anyone have any vegan hotel stories, whether fanciful or horrible?

Sorry for eating half the bagel, but I was really hungry and forgot about taking the picture halfway through.

Anyway, after a bike race at Tufts, I took the opportunity to meet a good friend of mine down the road at David Square, where she took me to this very nice, rather bustling cafe. The people there put up with me not knowing what I wanted to eat, and what’s more they even had vegan muffins (of the chocolate variety).

The muffin was super tasty, and it was all I could do to not buy a big, fat, vegan cookie with it. That said, I highly recommend Diesel Cafe to any vegans wandering around Cambridge.

It all started last weekend in Pittsburgh, on the way back from spring break in Asheville (where there were definitely some good eats). On Saturday night we decided to go out on the town in search of good eats, and when it came time to decide whether to eat at the Greek place or the Mexican place, I figured I’d go Mexican since I usually have pretty good luck finding vegan foods at Mexican places.

When ordering I found a vegetarian section, so I thought, “great, this shouldn’t be too bad.” Here’s how ordering went:

Me: Could I get the vegetarian burrito whatever (I forget exactly what) with no dairy?

Waitress: Sure, are you vegan?

Me: Yep.

Waitress: No problem.

Me: Thanks!

Sounds great so far, right? Well, when the brought out my non-dairy, vegan food I was pretty excited until I noticed it was covered in cheese…Instantly my spirits plummeted. What should I do? From an ethical standpoint, it wouldn’t make sense to send it back and just waste it all, but then again making a point of it might make life better for future vegans? Besides that, would I even be able to take the taste of cheese anymore? Long story short, I ended up thinking “screw it” and deciding to eat it, because I didn’t want to make a fuss. I got sick, had my night ruined, and felt bad in general.

But really, what could I have done? At least there’s no chance of me falling off the vegan wagon, though, ^_^.

Anyway, in Pittsburgh before the races, I realized there was no way I could eat on the road and stick to my no sugar rule. I’m not going to go wild and eat all the things I never could because of sugar, but I’ve allowed myself to eat bagels (and bagels only!). They are easy to get for breakfast, have lots of carbs, and are cheap. There’s really not other substitute, and as long as I’m doing all this I might as well do my best to eat proper and not bonk out in the races.

As far as I’m concerned I’m still a vegan athlete, just on the road I need to make an allowance for practicality. Hate me if you will, but being vegan has to work for life as much as you need to make your life work with veganism (at least sometimes), I feel.

When I heard we we going to a place called Tupelo Honey Cafe I didn’t know if I should’ve been apprehensive or not. Perhaps everything would have honey in it and I would be troublesome asking to not have any. Or perhaps it would be just another hippyish Asheville eating establishment.

Turns out it was another one of Asheville’s fine eating establishments. Since they had lots of breakfast food, their vegan items were a little less than you might’ve found if it was all lunch/dinner, but they still had some appetizing options. I ended up with a black bean burger, which I was told was vegan and made at the restaurant. With that I ordered some sweet potato fries as a side and settled down in my chair at one of the outdoor tables.

Shortly into the wait, another waitress came out to ask if I was the vegan, and if I was a strict vegan. When I answered yes she alerted me to the fact that the sweet potato fries were fried in the same out that might have animal fat with it. Since that’s a problem, she kindly allowed me to substitute the fries for a salad, which I don’t think was an option with my lunch.

I was extremely impressed and happy with the level of service, and especially with the food. The sandwich was rather large, filling, and delicious. It wouldn’t be a stretch to call it the best vegan burger I’ve ever had. The salad was also great, and well complemented by a bit of Vermont maple syrup.

All in all I give Tupelo’s (and Asheville) a huge thumbs up. I can’t wait to go back!

Firstly, I’ll say that even though I was very careful to remember my camera I was a little bit rushed and forgot such important things as my camera’s data cable, my cycling license, and my race numbers (these last two things being necessary for the race in Pittsburg on Saturday).

In any case, cycling has been going great and I’m lucky enough to have today off due to pouring rain and the fact that I was pretty much cracked yesterday and have nothing left in the tank. The good thing to note, however, is that the limiting factor has always been my legs and not my energy levels.

Anyway, to get to the point, two days ago we were taking a somewhat easy recovery day (30 miles), so another team member and I decided to hang around town a bit. The first stop was a little place called “The Noddle Shop,” which served delicious noodles and had tons of vegan options. I was blown away!

The menu, which has a special designation for vegan food, was perhaps 1/3rd vegan, and everything looked delicious. I ended up with grilled noodles, or fried noodles, or something like that that I can’t quite remember (I was, frankly, distracted by the waitress). For 7.50 I got a great meal that I really enjoyed and filled me up even after 20 miles of riding bikes. My companions were all similarly satisfied.

From there we went back to the Cupcake Corner, which happened to be next door, and I got myself another piece of chocolate orange cake. Even though I couldn’t finish it, it was just as heavenly as it was the day before.

So, for another place to check out in Asheville (and one that’s a bit cheaper than Salsas), check out the Noodle Shop.

Photo credit: Flickr 

As I recently posted, for this week and a bit I am down in North Carolina training with my cycling team. So far things have been pretty good, but I was a little nervous today before we all went out to dinner with not wanting to inconvenience people too much.

First we went out to a place called Salsas, which is the cactus you can see in the background of the picture. They described themselves as a Mexican/Caribbean restaurant and it was extremely easy to order vegan there. I got a Veggie Enchilada with no dairy and was amazed at the richness of the flavor and the fact that I couldn’t finish my meal, even after a hard day’s riding. The price came in at about 20 bucks when we all split it up, so a little expensive for a college student, but I imagine we won’t eat out much and it was totally worth it.

From there we went to the Sisters McMullen Cupcake Corner, which is an extremely small cupcake place just next door. I was wondering if they’d having anything I could munch on, but luckily I was presented with two clearly marked vegan options. The first was a spice cake, the second a chocolate orange cake. Let me tell you, it was heavenly. On top of that, the proprietor was extremely nice and the overall experience was great, I hope I can get back there soon.

So if you live in or are ever traveling through Asheville, give these two great places some business.