The Elephant Walk

I have a feeling—and this is just a wild conjecture—that I’m about 10 years too late for the peak of popularity for The Elephant Walk, the Cambodian/French restaurant with locations in Boston, Waltham, and North Cambridge. I’m guessing it was pretty darn trendy around the time when any sort of “fusion” cuisine was all the rage. In any case, I had never tried it, and it perpetually lingered on my “restaurants to try” list—until the day that Michelle took over for me as Restaurant Selector and picked it for a girl's night out with Skylar and Maeve. Perfecto!

The Elephant Walk’s décor, at least at the Boston location we were at, reminded me of one of those elegant restaurants you’d find in the middle of a random Vermont town. It was as if you had stepped into someone’s (really nice) living room.

I was first won over by my spicy martini—but you know me and spicy drinks… so I'm biased.But on to the important part: the food. The idea of the restaurant is that there are three categories you can choose from: Traditional Cambodian dishes, original Cambodian dishes (e.g. Elephant Walk original dishes), and original French dishes (also Elephant Walk original dishes, but French). We mixed it up and tried a bit of everything.

First we started with the vegetarian rouleaux (which was also vegan) - Cambodian spring rolls with shiitake mushroom, carrot, onion, bean sprout, peanut, and beanthread, served with fresh greens and vegetarian tuk trey. This was a traditional Cambodian dish. I really liked the sauce you dunked it in. Plus, the spring rolls were perfectly fried-- yum.

We also sampled the Crêpe de Canard aux Poires --you guessed it, an original French dish-- a savory crêpe filled with braised duck, pear, scallion, and crème fraîche. This sounds like the most delicious thing in the world, but it was kinda mushy and could've been executed better, IMHO.Next up, I pretty much forced everyone in to getting a tofu dish, so we tried the organic tofu amrita (also vegan) - "tofu, flash-fried and sautéed in a lightly sweet Cambodian satay sauce with coriander, cumin, cardamom, galangal, cinnamon, ginger, peanuts, star anis, and lemongrass; with button mushroom, onion, and scallions" (description straight from the menu).I really enjoyed this-- and wish I had known about its existence during my short period as a vegan. Finally, we also shared this original Cambodian dish--grilled pork tenderloin served with a caramelized sauce of black pepper, garlic, mushroom soy sauce and coconut milk. Despite my love of bacon, I really don't like pork all that much, but this sauce was so yummy I didn't really mind.Looking back, I enjoyed the Cambodian dishes the most. While The Elephant walk doesn't offer the most cutting edge cuisine, or the best meal you'll have in Boston, I'd still recommend The Elephant Walk for nights when you're craving Asian-- but don't feel like sitting in one of those empty restaurants, with the plastic tablecloths and the soft muzak, where you're thinking, "Why didn't I just take this home and sit on my couch?" You know you've been there... =)

Lunch at The Other Side Cafe

Last week was a great week because I had not only my brother and nephew visiting, but also my dear Ann from Cali!! To maximize our precious time together, Ann came in to the city to meet me for lunch. She left restaurant selection up to me, but if I knew my Ann, I had a feeling she would be in the mood for breakfast (despite it being after 1). So I decided to take another chance on the Other Side Cafe at the bottom (or top?) of Newbury Street.

My first visit was a few weeks ago with OmGal and friends (including Alec, Ruth, and Meadow) for lunch on a rainy day when we all sat inside. The dirty sheet hanging above our head that covered the skylight was probably one of the most unappetizing sights I've seen at a restaurant, but my veggie chili and California wrap, along with all the vegan and veggie options on the menu, swayed me to try it again.

This time, sitting alfresco made the experience much more appealing. True to form, Ann ordered from the breakfast part of the menu-- the waffle egg sandwich:
I opted for the Tex-Mex scramble, vegan-- tofu scrambled with salsa, chipotle, jalapenos, and vegan cheese, with tortillas, guacamole, and vegan black beans. What a hearty meal! While the beans didn't sit all that well, I still felt sort of virtuous for having tofu ;)

Bottom line: Go here when it's nice out, or beware the dirty inside of the restaurant possibly ruining some yummy lunch (or late breakfast) food.

Dish Gal's Forays Into Veganism...and a recipe for Sweet Potato & Black Bean Quesadillas!

When I tell people that I was vegan for four days, the reaction is completely polarized: Either the person is shocked and impressed ("You ate no meat for four days!?") or laughs at me and gives me that "I knew you couldn't do it" face. Hrmph. Neither is really the reaction I was looking for.

But I'm getting ahead of myself... let's start from the beginning. A few weeks go, I attended one of Dish Mom's dinner parties, which I love as the food is always fabulous. I had been eating pretty healthily leading up to it-and even during it-until I reached this beautiful cake that had caught my eye the second it entered my home. Tall, dark, and very handsome, this chocolate cake was sprinkled with fleur de sel, suggesting that whoever made it knew what they were doing. Sweet and salty? Yes, please!!

Finally, the cake was cut. It was heaven. But when the sugar high wore off, my insides were NOT happy-- my system was definitely not used to that much sugar, eggs, flour, etc. The next day, I definitely had a food hangover. I knew I needed to cleanse. I needed to get back to pure ingredients, and get as far away from baked goods as possible.

And thus goes the story of how a salty chocolate cake led me to choose veganism.

During my brief 4 day experiment with being vegan, I noticed some things. First, lunches, breakfasts, and snacks weren’t that hard—even desserts (Whole Foods has a ton of vegan baked goods). But dinner was another story. I quickly even became sick of quinoa salads (I'd been having a lot of them leading up to the vegan adventure, including this one below for lunch, dinner, and then another dinner...) And when I decided to have a veggie burger for dinner one night, I quickly became frustrated when I realized most contain egg whites—and spent a long time wandering the grocery store aisles, pouring over each ingredient list until finally I found this one-- an Amy’s vegan veggie burger.

One fun grocery store discovery—veggie cheese. I bought the pepper jack flavor, which at only 35 calories a slice, I expected to taste pretty crappy. But I was wrong- this stuff is flavorful! And, as the packaging claims, it really does melt well. Downside though—the ingredients list was filled with unknown, chemical-sounding ingredients. Blech.

I wish I could’ve stuck to the vegan-thing longer, but sadly I have the world’s most sensitive stomach, and it completely rebelled against my brain’s decision to go vegan. I mean, it staged an all-out coup, twisting and turning and generally making me want to lie down in the fetal position. So sadly, after four days, I caved and had an omelette. Sigh.

There were things I realized I could never give up, like white fish like halibut or tilapia. I love my chicken sausages (SO easy and cheap). Egg sandwiches are a Dish Gal favorite. And of course, the occasional cheeseburger. But other changes have stuck-- I've been still enjoying soy milk with my coffee instead of regular milk. I've continued with the tofu lunches. And I love the emphasis on fruits and veggies.

And so I’ve decided to join the “flexitarian” bandwagon—those people that eat mostly vegetarian and the occasional meat product. This article explains the term more, and credits the recession for its increasing momentum and popularity. Besides fiscally making sense, I’d add on for myself the environmental benefits of eating mostly vegetarian. Paul McCartney recently brought some attention to the “Meat Free Mondays” cause, which promotes the idea that if everyone in the world gave up meat for one day we could greatly help the environment. New York Times food writer Mark Bittmann has even gotten some attention for his "Vegan Before 6" strategy, where he lets himself choose anything after 6 p.m., allowing him to reap some of the health benefits of being vegan, while remaining a "foodie."

In the meantime, here’s my favorite recipe that I made up from my vegan days. . . This was SO good, I can’t wait to make it again. I have a feeling my meat-loving friends will enjoy it, too =)

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Quesadillas
Serves 1
2 tortillas
1 medium sweet potato, cubed, into 1” pieces
1 slice Monterey jack veggie cheese (or can be just vegetarian and use real Monterey jack cheese, but that has way more calories if you’re interested)
1/4 cup black beans, rinsed
handful of roughly chopped cilantro
½ lime, juiced
cayenne pepper
olive oil

1. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Toss cubed sweet potatoes with a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Place on a baking sheet and roast for about 25 minutes total, tossing once halfway. Remove and let them cool a bit.
3. Smush them in a bowl, and then season with S&P, lime juice, and a dash of cayenne pepper.
4. Spread this mixture on a tortilla. I used a high fiber, low-cal one with flax seeds. Add black beans and the cilantro. Then add the cheese, and top with the other quesadilla.
5. On a greased (with cooking spray) non-stick skillet, heat to medium-low heat and cook quesadilla, flipping once, about 6 minutes on each side.
6. Enjoy!