travel

Vegan on the Go: Eating Vegan at the Cleveland Airport

/ Kelly / 4 Comments

Hi, all! I returned to Madison bright (seriously – it was sunny!) and early (got up at 4:30 AM; landed at 9:00 AM!) this morning after a lovely Christmas with my family in Rhode Island. I’ll talk all about that soon, but first – something else.

One of my most popular posts is the one where I talk about vegan options at O’Hare. That post gets hits every week, if not every day. All y’all folks with smartphones like to search for eating options while you’re on the go! So let me help you out with some more info about how to eat vegan in airports. This time, I’m talking about vegan options at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport in Ohio.

I had a two hour layover in Cleveland last weekend, so I spent a decent amount of time wandering the terminals and seeing what I could see. And here’s what I saw:

  • Paciugo Gelato and Caffe (C terminal). If you’re in the mood for gelato/sorbet, there are clearly labelled vegan options at this location. They’re marked as dairy-free, and according to their website, Paciugo also offers soy-based gelato. I’m not sure if they ever have the soy options available at the small airport stand, but there were at least two vegan sorbet choices when I stopped by. (For the record, I didn’t eat any – I was hungry for real food!) A kind reader informed me that Paciugo is closed as of 2/15/16.
  • Currito: Burritos Without Borders (main food court): I love the concept of this place. They make burritos with an international flair. I had the Bangkok burrito, which features peanut sauce, Asian slaw, cucumbers, rice, and organic tofu. It was spicy and delicious – the perfect lunch. I really like that you can substitute organic tofu for the meat in any burrito. If you don’t feel like choosing from the burrito options they’ve created, you can do a make-your-own burrito and choose exactly what goes in. They also offer smoothies, many of which can be made vegan (or are already vegan). I didn’t get one, but they looked quite tasty!
  • Subway (D terminal). Not much to say about this one – this is pretty much a given at any airport!

There are surely more vegan choices at this airport (there’s a salad place, for example), but those the most obvious ones I noticed in my walk around the terminals. I hope this helps some hungry vegan who finds herself with some time to spare in Cleveland one day!

Dublin: Blazing Salads and a Lone Gnome

/ Kelly / 1 Comment

For our two two-day, two-night stints in Dublin (they were the bread around a four-day Edinburgh sandwich), S and I found places to stay via AirBnB. During our first stay in Dublin, we rented a room with a truly lovely older Irish couple. They were the epitome of hospitality, despite Hans’ slight mockery of “céad mile fáilte and all that bullshit.” Every morning we broke our fast at their table; they served up bread, jam, berries, and a host of un-vegan things as well, and they doled out site-seeing advice galore. With their house as a conveniently located home base, we explored the city in comfort.

Between their recommendations and my memories from studying in Ireland five years ago, we were pretty set with ideas for things to do. When it came to eating, we needed a little help. I downloaded the HappyCow app on my iPad and used it before we set out for the day to find vegan eateries that were nearby, and this approach worked wonderfully.

After arriving in Dublin and resting up, we needed sustenance. HappyCow told me that a vegetarian food bar (delightfully called Blazing Salads!) was but a ten or fifteen minute walk away, so we set out. We found Blazing Salads in the middle of a bustling shopping area, and we knew we’d struck gold when we entered the small shop and saw their signage:

Three big chalkboard-y signs that describe Blazing Salads' philosophy.

Healthy food and whole, seasonal ingredients! Yes please!

The center of the shop features a salad bar with various varieties of salads and hot bar type items. There’s also a refrigerated section with juices and pre-made sandwiches, a pantry-like area with staples and freshly baked breads, and a counter at the front with other freshly made savory items. I chose from that section, ordering a vegetable and samosa spring roll to share and a brown rice ball stuffed with aduki bean and vegetables for myself. S chose a cold tofu, veggie, and sprout sandwich. While we waited for my selections to be heated, we nabbed a spot at the window bar (there’s no indoor seating) and I sipped on a bottled juice.

A small bottle of very orange juice and a small paper bag with a carrot pattern printed on it.

So much orange!

Strictly speaking, we didn’t need that to-go bag since we ended up eating in the shop. But the cashier gave it to us, and it was so cute that I just had to keep it! The colors complemented my juice nicely, too.

Soon, our hot foods were heated and ready for the munching.

Foods!

That spring roll was filled to bursting with veggies, and my brown rice ball was a scrumptious, savory blend of beans and veggies. We had a couple of soy-based dips, and although I liked how they kept my rice from getting dry, their added salt made both the roll and the ball a bit too salty – umami overload! Even though I only ate the rice ball and half the roll, I was quite full when I finished. I wish I’d snagged a bite of S’s pita sandwich, though – it looked so yummy!

A pita stuffed with tofu, veggies, and sprouts.

Sprout overload!

Actually, who am I kidding – if I’d had any room in my belly, I would’ve gone for one of Blazing Salads’ desserts – their front case had lots of creative treats, many of them raw. Alas, I did not have room in my belly.

During that first two-day stint in Dublin, we also ate at Diwali, an Indian and Nepalese establishment not far from Blazing Salads. With many vegetarian and vegan options on the menu, S and I had a hard time choosing what we wanted. I opted for the veggie Karahi curry, while S chose a veggie vindaloo that he described as “the hottest I’ve ever had, by far.” Neither of us could finish our meals, so they returned with us to Hans’ and Deirdre’s house. Alas, they were also forgotten there when we left Dublin.

Before we left, though, we grabbed snacks at a health food shop called Nourish. Actually, to be honest, I’m not 100% sure that was the place we stopped, but I think it was. We stocked up on flapjacks (oh how I love European flapjacks!), a delicious peppermint-filled chocolate bar that filled the spot that Junior Mints used to occupy in my heart, and various other vegan bars. I kept them stashed in my purse for times of hunger… as one does. ;)

The other place we dined was Cornucopia, but I’m saving my review till later. As you’ll hear, this joint quickly became our most-frequented eatery in Dublin. ;)

Other than eating, we also toured Trinity College, saw the Book of Kells, checked out the (overpriced) Guinness Storehouse (the Foreign Extra is vegan, so make sure to ask for that as your free pint!), and took a themed walking tour. We also spent a lot of time just wandering around and familiarizing ourselves with the city, something I always enjoy doing (as long as I have a map!). And we hung out at St. Patrick’s Cathedral with this guy:

Close-up of a little gnome statue in the foreground with the cathedral in the background.

Hmm…

Heh heh. Up next in my travel tales: Edinburgh!

Vegan on the Go: O’Happy at O’Hare!

/ Kelly / 11 Comments

DUDES. I discovered the most amazing thing in O’Hare airport this morning! Check it:

O M G!

Initially I was a little confused as to why that banner was there – it was on one of those closed-off, in-construction type areas where they were obviously building a new eating establishment, so originally I thought it was saying that this was a “coming soon” type of thing. But then I realized that it was right across from the actual/current location of Cibo Express, so I realized it was an advertising tactic. Anyway, it worked – I could not resist investigating a vegan option! Not being a Portland native with vegan options hitting me in the face every time I turn a corner, I still get giddy and excited whenever I see the word VEGAN in the rEaL wOrLd.

And OH MY WORD! I was so thrilled to discover that Cibo had tons prepared, ready-to-eat, veg foods! Fruit cups, [various types of] sushi, packages of hummus and veggies, even [an admittedly tiny] KALE SALAD! And sandwiches GALORE, all explicitly marked as vegan! They had a jerk tofu one that looked particularly good, along with more varieties that I can’t remember. I think all the sandwiches are made in a local Chicago restaurant and then sold at the airport, which is cool. And there were tons of yummy organic and healthy drink options, too. There were also some non-veggie items, but we won’t talk about that. ;) Here’s what I ended up getting:

Hey there, vegan yumminess!

I purchased this at 7:30 in the morning on my layover in O’Hare, thinkin’ I’d eat it on my flight from Chicago to Madison. For some reason the idea of a “chicken” salad sandwich, as boring as it might seem, was really appealing; since it was early, I didn’t want anything too spicy. But the Chicago-Madison flight is so short – and I was so busily knitting – that I didn’t end up eating it until I was back home, maybe around 10:45. Still, it was reallllly tasty, totally like the chicken salad of yore. My only complaint was that the bread was a little soggy, but maybe that’s because it was sitting in my giant purse for two hours. Oops. The iced tea was also delicious; I’d never seen that brand before but I enjoyed it; it was subtly flavored and very refreshing.

Needless to say, I’m thrilled to know that decent vegan eats exist at O’Hare; you can find Cibo Express between terminals 1 and 2, by the big plane that’s sort of suspended in an odd corner in some sort of display (clearly I wasn’t awake enough to absorb any more detail than that). I’m also thrilled that my company will reimburse me for this meal. ;)

Anyway, that’s all for the moment – I’m quite exhausted after this trip!* I still have one more on-the-go type post to share, but I’ll save it for later. And now I need to catch up on all the awesome MoFo posts I undoubtedly missed during the past few days – don’t be surprised if y’all receive boatloads of random comments tonight!

Have you ever found a surprise!vegan option at an airport or similar travel-type location?

* Proof: I originally typed “O’Hair” instead of “O’Hare” in this post. The Irish version of Hair, perhaps? Now I’m picturing lots of freckly redheads running around nakie and singing hippie songs. Hee hee hee.