Vegan Hampton Roads

Sorry for the lack of updates, folks! I’ve been in a K-hole known as student teaching the last 14 weeks and if you or anyone you know has ever student taught, you know how ridiculously exhausting it is. But I’m virtually done** which means I’m back to obsessing over delicious vegan food in Hampton Roads!

With my first update as a recovering student teacher, I’ve got some good news and some bad news. The good news first:

1. San Antonio Sam’s in Norfolk is now offering Daiya vegan cheese on any of their dishes for an extra $1.50. If you haven’t heard of Daiya or gotten a chance to try it, it’s the new haute vegan cheese. You know how us vegans are - always on the search for the most realistic vegan cheese - that elusive creature. Well, I had a chance to try Daiya out at zpizza in Virginia Beach and it is pretty delicious. It even has that oh-my-god-it’s-like-Napalm-in-my-mouth-it’s-so-hot feel like real cheese! Flavor-wise it’s pretty mild. I only tried the mozzarella version, but the company makes a cheddar flavor. I generally didn’t go to San Antonio Sam’s for food because the vegetarian menu consisted of mainly cheese and sour cream-laden Tex-Mex dishes, but I’ll be stopping by soon to support the addition of Daiya to the menu.

**update: Evidently Sam’s is now using Follow Your Heart vegan cheese instead of Daiya. FYH is vegan, but in my opinion isn’t as great as Daiya. Regardless, it’s great to see a restaurant catering to vegans and those with dairy sensitivities!

2. Swirls has a cold weather special going on - buy one get one free! Someone should go with me so I don’t eat two cups of vegan frozen yogurt by myself.

3. La Bella Italia in Norfolk is advertising a four course menu that’s “vegetarian & vegan friendly.” I stopped by a while back and couldn’t get a straight answer about what was vegan since the four course menu was all meat or cheese dishes. I’m planning on calling again and hoping I get someone a little more informed about what the four course vegan menu might look like and, more importantly, whether it’s worth $30. If someone finds out before I do, please update here!

And now for the bad news: Chickette is no longer vegan! Neither are some Morningstar products!

I’m more upset about the Chickette, because quite a few local restaurants have it on their menus as a vegan option, including Red Dog Saloon and The Taphouse, both in Ghent. The Taphouse has already switched out the non-vegan Chickette with a new brand, but still lists it on their menu as Chickette. Red Dog is going to use up the rest of their Chickette, which they buy in bulk, before considering a switch. Here’s the info from the company’s Web site:

In January 2009, we communicated the following information to the Food Allergy and Anaphylasis Network (FANN).  Starting in the Summer of 2009, MorningStar Farms Griller Recipe Crumbles, MorningStar Farms Sausage Style Crumbles and Worthington Chickette Chub Roll will contain milk and egg ingredients. The ingredient statement will include this change and will also list “milk and egg ingredients” in the “contains” statement.  Because product formulations may change from time to time, consumers are strongly encouraged to read the package label prior to every purchase. For more information, contact MorningStar Farms at (800) 962-0120 or visit our website at www.morningstarfarms.com

Oh, and in case you end up at Yorgo’s wondering about their Chickette salad…it’s vegan! They used Chickette originally, I think, and just kept the name, but the salad is made with delicious Gardein faux chicken. Whew…because I just couldn’t take that sort of heartache. That vegan chicken salad might be the best thing on the planet. The same goes for the Chickette Sandwich at Charlie’s Cafe. The restaurant uses Boca chicken patties, which are vegan, but just calls it Chickette on the menu (thanks to Matthew for that info!).

** If you know of a school looking for a hardworking and optimistic new teacher, let me know!

I’ve been sitting on this blog post for a while because, frankly, there are just too many vegan options for me to try. This blog may die before I try everything at Yorgo’s available to vegans.

Yorgo's Bageldashery in Norfolk. The counter is calm for the photo, but this place can get busy enough on the weekends for a line to form outside the door.

The bagel shop has been around for quite a few years - many of my friends worked there in high school and at its peak they had three locations in the region. Right now there is only one on Colonial Avenue in the Ghent section of Norfolk (aka the Hampton Roads vegan’s paradise), but it’s worth the drive from anywhere in the region. The lines can run out the door on the weekends, though - you’ve been warned!

First and foremost, I must say, the bagels are delicious. There are a ton of flavors, sweet and savory, baked every morning, including everyone’s favorite everything bagel. The shop recently started offering a whole wheat everything bagel that I like much more - it’s just as soft and chewy as the original, but you’ll feel better about eating it. At least I do when I slather it with vegan herb cream cheese.

If you’ve been on a carb overload and can’t stand the idea of eating a whole bagel, you can get anything on a wrap (whole wheat, spinach, sun dried tomato…even the jalapeno “cheddar” wrap is vegan!).

Yorgo’s offers the typical omni, sandwich fare, but the vegan menu started with Tofutti cream cheese. Just plain. But it was a start. Then the shop hit the big time and started offering a flavored vegan cream cheese every week or so. My personal favorites have been the herb (guaranteed to make you smell like garlic for at least two days) and chipotle flavors. I’ve also seen lemon caper, cinnamon sugar, roasted mushroom and garlic, and a sun dried tomato pine nut pesto. Haven’t tried those, though, because I was too busy getting addicted to some of their other offerings. Yorgo’s always has plain Tofutti on hand when they aren’t offering a flavored special.

Vegan flavor-of-the-moment cream cheese at Yorgo's Bageldashery in Norfolk shmeared on a toasted whole wheat everything bagel.

A delicous option if you’re not in the mood for vegan cream cheese is the TLT - tempeh bacon, lettuce and tomato with a herb vegan mayo. It’s great on a whole wheat everything bagel and the tempeh is sliced thin and seasoned well.

If you’re into deli salads, Yorgo’s takes the cake for the best vegan egg and vegan chicken salads. I used to go for the vegan egg salad with lots of spicy mustard and onions on an everything bagel, but my current order is the vegan chicken salad on a sun dried tomato wrap with lettuce, tomato and onions ($5.65). I really recommend the vegan chicken salad in a wrap, because it’s a bit crumbly on a bagel. The chicken salad as a sandwich is pretty pricey, but you can buy the salad in a tub for a little more than 6 bucks. The vegan egg salad is also available by the tub.

Vegan chicken salad on a sundried tomato wrap with lettuce, tomato and onion.

Other vegan menu specials I’ve seen include the Italian, which involves a vegan sausage chili thing, and the Inside Out Omelet, which is a tofu scramble in wrap with spinach and other toppings. Yorgo’s also offers a vegan sausage (or tempeh bacon) egg and cheese, which is surprisingly delicious.

I’ve written so much already, but I feel like I’ve just broken the surface of Yorgo’s vegan offerings. Have I even started on the baked goods? The bagel shop employs a vegan baker that has turned out some of the most amazing desserts I’ve ever had, vegan or otherwise. I’m still dreaming of the coconut cream pie.

Some of the other items I’ve tried - all vegan - include: Boston cream cake, carrot cake cookies, cinnamon rolls, brownies, cookies. Some of the ones I haven’t tried but I wish I had: banana split cake, Almond Joy cake, strawberry shortcake, chocolate raspberry cake. The big slices of cake tend to run about $3.25, which is steep for dessert, but the slices are huge. It took me two or three sittings to finish my hunk of Boston Cream Cake. And if you’re going to try anything, go for the carrot cake cookie, which is basically two slices of carrot cake sandwiched around sweet cream cheese icing.

Disclaimer: I may have written a lot, but I feel like I’m forgetting even more menu items! If there’s something I forgot, leave it in the comments.

The basics:

Yorgo’s Bageldashery
2123 Colonial Avenue (near 22nd street)
Norfolk’s Historic Ghent
757.623.6609

Hours: Mon-Fri 6 am to 3 pm
Sat-Sun 7 am to 3 pm

*Yorgo’s has free wireless Internet and offers custom catering.

Remember, you can follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute Hampton Roads vegan dining news and conversation @veganHR. For local vegan food porn, check out our flickr stream.