Vegan fast food – Veggie Grill has arrived in Boston!

This review will be backwards compared to how I usually do them. Usually I research a place, studying the menu and then go there, writing a review afterwards. Last week I was in Harvard Square, Cambridge with the kids, we were at the Museum of Natural History and spent longer there than I thought I would so we couldn’t to the place that I had researched beforehand and was pushed for time. I did a quick search of vegan places and found a place within walking distance.

I had not heard of Veggie Grill before I went there, not that surprising since they are a chain primarily located on the West Coast and just opened up a location in Harvard Square, Cambridge in October 2019 which is the only location in the Boston area. The menu is completely vegan and I would describe it as a veganized menu of a traditional fast food restaurant. There are burgers, ‘chicken’ sandwiches, burritos and tacos and a kids menu with ‘chicken’ wings and mac and cheese. I repeat everything is vegan, including the sauces (eg. ranch), cheese and toppings. I hadn’t seen the menu beforehand and was surprised at the variety – at most restaurants you have a couple of vegan or vegetarian options but here there is a full menu of all the favorites. Since it was my first time here I decided to order a bunch of different items to try them out.

First thing I noticed was that I could have pre-ordered on an app – will definitely do that next time. Ordering through an app ahead of time is ideal if you have kids since you have a limited window before they get bored. The restaurant is super clean and the staff are very friendly. The kids meals all came with a main, side and dessert – we ordered a chikin’ wings, 2x mac and cheese with sides of fries, cauli-mashed potatoes and gravy and carrots and cookies for dessert. I also ordered the crispy cauliflower and tempura green beans and a Nashville hot chikin’ sandwich. The kids demolished their lunches and the sides. The gravy on the cauli-mashed potatoes was delicious – would love to know the recipe. They also loved the crispy cauliflower and tempura beans. My oldest son kept calling the cauliflower, chicken. The Nashville hot chikin’ sandwich was also very good, chikin’ was like a pressed chicken texture, sauce not too hot and the ranch sauce was a good addition. I kept thinking throughout is all this definitely vegan? I even asked one of the workers to confirm which they emphatically did. It was quite the effort to make everything vegan. I left quite impressed and happy with myself that we all had a vegan lunch that everyone enjoyed, wishing there were more locations in the Boston area closer to where I lived.

Tempura green beans

Crispy cauliflower bites

Nashville Hot Chikin’ Sandwich

Best responsibly sourced meals of 2019

Well it is the end of 2019 and the beginning of a new decade so I thought I would reminisce about some of the best responsibly sourced meals that I had throughout the year.  I have split them up into some categories and for some it was quite difficult to pick one.

Best burger – BRED gourmet (Boston, MA), Karl Strauss Brewery (San Diego):  A grass-fed burger is one of the easiest responsibly sourced menu items to find so I have picked one on the East and West coasts.  I have the extreme fortune to live 2.5 miles from Bred gourmet in the Lower Mills area of Boston and I have not found a better grass-fed burger to date, see my full review here.  I have had almost everything on the menu but the Maui burger with grilled pineapple, pepper jack cheese, plantains and BBQ sauce is one of my favorite burgers of all-time.  The California-grown all-natural grass-fed beef burger at Karl Strauss Brewery in La Jolla, CA is my pick for the West Coast.  Topped with a cage-free fried egg (maybe skip the pork belly since I don’t know where that is from yet) this is an amazing burger.

Best steak (East Coast) – Mooo (Boston, MA): I am splitting up the best steak category into East and West coast since I had so many good experiences. Mooo is one of my all time favorite restaurants and I have not found anything that comes close. See my review here. A source for the steaks is stated on the menu and they even give you a hint on how it was raised (grass-fed, grain finished etc).  My pick for the West Coast is Cowboy Star in San Diego, they also state which farm all their cuts are from and is a more relaxed atmosphere than other high end steakhouses.

Best BBQ – Sweet Cheeks Q (Boston, MA):  One of my favorite styles of food I thought I was resigned to cooking my own BBQ until I found Sweet Cheeks Q.  See my full review here – but think all natural chicken and heritage breed pork turned mouth-watering BBQ.

Best fried chicken – Crack Shack (Encinitas, CA): A fried chicken lovers dream, all their chicken is Jidori (see my post on Crack Shack and Jidori chicken here). Unfortunately this small chain is only in California.

Best roast chicken – Le Coq Rico (Paris):  The french take their roast chicken very seriously and I was extremely fortunate to go to this famous restaurant where they specialize in this particular dish.  Famed chef Antione Westermann focuses on sourcing heritage breed poultry from local French farmers. No review yet (but one is planned).   They also have a restaurant in NYC if Paris is too far to go for the best roast chicken you will ever have in your life.

Best seafood – Oceanaire seafood room (Boston, MA):  It can be difficult to find responsibly sourced seafood but Oceanaire Seafood room makes it easier as they clearly state the origin of almost all their seafood dishes so that you can make an informed decision.  Even though this is a chain the dining experience is top class, I have been to the Boston and San Diego locations and both were amazing.  No full review yet but coming soon.

Best Fish and chips – Rock and sole plaice (London):  You can’t beat London for fried fish and chips and there are plenty of places that use sustainable fish for this celebrated English dish.  I have been to quite a few (review to come) but Rock and sole plaice is my current favorite and is located right in Covent Garden and has been there since 1871.  Yet to find something comparable in the United States.

Best sushi – Harney Sushi (San Diego, CA):  Sustainable or responsibly sourced are not words one normally associates with sushi but Harney sushi takes pride in ensuring its seafood is just that.  I have been to the Old Town location (yes sushi in Old Town San Diego surrounded by Mexican places) and it is a funky place, expect something non-traditional but delicious and you will feel good about your food source. Review to come soon.

Best breakfast/brunch place – Farmers Daughter (South Easton, MA):  Complete transparency with the source of their eggs and meats which are all from local farms and clearly stated on their website.  Locally sourced chicken and waffles is not easy to find elsewhere and the pork belly banh mi looks delicious.  And they have a boozy brunch too!  Full review coming soon.

Best fast food place – Shake Shack (Dedham, MA): It can be difficult to find a responsibly sourced lunch particularly with kids (someone wants a burger, another a chicken sandwich, another wants nuggets) and you only have 30 mins.  Fortunately some fast food chains are make big efforts to provide good options (review coming soon).  My go to place with my kids is Shake Shack – their burgers, chicken and hot dogs are all natural (chicken is also cage-free).  Just exactly what their definition of all-natural is, not sure at the moment but in a pinch I will pick them every time over the bigger fast food chains.

Best fine dining restaurant experience – Deuxave (Boston, MA):  I don’t get to go to many fine dining restaurants so I like to make them count and my experience at Deuxave was top class.  Plenty of great options on the menu (Niman ranch strip steak, Giannone chicken) and from beginning to end was a memorable experience.

Best Sunday lunch place – Blacklock (London):  I had to create a category for this one as the meal was unquestionably one of the best food experiences I have ever had.  I am very fortunate to be friends with the owners brother and have managed to get a table on a Sunday at the Shoreditch location for lunch (have also been to the Soho location).  If you love meat you have to get the All-in which is a mountain of roast pork, lamb and beef and get the beef dripping chips as well.  Full review to come soon.

Best local farm – Copicut Farm (Dartmouth, MA):  My go to farm for when I want to stock up on local chicken and pork chops – all pasture raised.    They can also be found at the Milton and Hingham famer’s markets in the summer.  Check out my full review.

Best mail order meat – Porter Road:  I have tried a few mail order meat places and I try to buy from a local farm where possible first.  Sometimes though I need a cut of meat that is not easily bought from a local farm.  I ordered about 20lbs of pork butt from Porter Road and the experience was top class – they shipped it out within 24 hours and was packed perfectly.  I smoked that pork butt for pulled pork for a Christmas party and it was a big hit!

After writing this post about my favorite food experiences of 2019 I realized just how fortunate I have been to experience such amazing restaurants and farms.  It has been a lot of fun searching for these places and look forward to what 2020 will bring!

Where do you lie on the responsible meat spectrum?

In my opinion a good steak is one of life’s greatest dining pleasures.  Most people’s definition of a good steak is tender with plenty of fat throughout which melts in your mouth.  The cattle industry is mostly made up of Factory Farms and corn-fed cows which is not natural and not the way that cows were meant to be raised.  Humans desire for the ‘perfect’ steak has created the industry this way.  Feeding cows corn for long periods makes them fatter and pumping them full of hormones and other additives makes them grow faster so that they can be sold cheaper and faster.  Fortunately there are steakhouses like Mooo that prove that an amazing tasting steak can come from pasture-raised, grass fed cows like nature intended.

I have had the wonderful fortune to have been to Mooo on multiple occasions.  Located in the Beacon Hill area of Boston the menu is refreshingly transparent, stating the farm and source for each of the steaks.  They even state in some cases whether the cows were totally grass-fed or grass and grain fed in some cases, I will explain the differences later on but this level of detail is hard to find.  It is not my intention to give a restaurant review in this article, there are plenty of reviews online praising the quality of the food, service and everything else that makes this restaurant special.  My objective here is to take a closer look at the sources of the meat on the menu so that people can make an educated choice of the source that best suits their own meat beliefs.

The farms stated on the menu are a who’s who of the cattle farms that are known for raising cows the way they should be – pasture-raised and treated humanely.  Let’s go through them one by one.

Greater Omaha – I have to admit that I passed over this at first and have not tried steaks from this farm.  Factory Farms are primarily located in the mid-west and my immediate response was that this was the same.  A closer read of their website has changed my mind slightly.  The company works with a number of smaller producers who are all located in within 300 miles of Omaha, Nebraska.  There is also a section where some of their producers describe their farm practices.  There are mentions of non-hormone treatment, humane handling, feed yards and growing crops such as corn and alfalfa to feed their animals.  This is where you need to make a decision on where you sit on the meat philosophy spectrum – are you a grass-fed purist or are you satisfied with the small farm that is growing their own crops including corn without hormones to feed their cows (still a much better situation than the a factory farm)?  Within the FAQ section of the website they state that all of the beef is pasture-raised and grain finished.  What does this mean?  This means that for most of the cows life they are eating grass in the pasture but at the end they are fed a grain diet (often including corn) to fatten them up.  There are some farms that are 100% grass-fed (grass-fed grass-finished).  Where do I sit on the spectrum?  I would prefer the 100% grass-fed side and look for those options but I can live with the grass-fed grain-finished from the right farm that is not using the right grain (no animal products, hormones or no-natural additives).

Painted Hills – The menu lets you know that the steaks from this farm are grass-fed, grain-finished.  The Painted Hills website explains the process of transitioning from grass-fed to grain fed – this is a gradual operation where the diet is switched from grass to hay and roughage then corn is slowly introduced until a level of about 70% corn. Also states no added hormones, antibiotics or animal products.  All this happens over 4 months.  On their website you can also buy their products and interestingly they also have 100% grass-fed product line which they state is 100% corn free.  These products will ship from Oregon, my absolute best preference is to buy products locally from farms in Massachusetts or New England.

Creekstone Farms – The menu just says all natural but the Creekstone website states that their cows are pasture-raised then corn-finished (no hormones, antibiotics, animal products).  They also have a product which has been fed non-GMO feed.  The Creekstone HQ and processing takes place in Kansas City and they say that all their farms are in the USA but they don’t say the locations (did find one section which stated that they are in the mid-west) and no mention of when the corn diet starts and how much of the diet is corn.

Australian Ribeye – Menu doesn’t say the farm but says 100% grass-fed.  I asked the waiter did they know the farm and he told me it was on the Darling Downs.  There is a great article published online from NPR in August which says that 75-80% of the 100% grass-fed beef in the US comes from Australia, New Zealand or South American since these regions have large areas of grass land where cattle can graze all year round. Love that they have this 100% grass fed option – would be great if it was from a local farm rather than flying it all the way from Australia, guess this shows how difficult it is to raise 100% grass-fed cattle in the US.

Mishima grade Wagyu ribeye – Menu says this is is all natural from Strube ranch.  The Strube ranch website says this Texas-based farm raises their cattle on pasture but once they are weaned (usually at 6 months) they are introduced to a grain based diet over 90 days then moved to an Iowa feedlot for 350-400 days – this is apparently a typical process used in Japan .  Their feed never contains antibiotics, hormones or animal products.  Here the cow is moved to a grain based diet much quicker than described above for Creekstone and Painted Hills and therefore lies further on the spectrum towards a factory farm situation.  The quality of the feed is all-natural but is a long way from the natural way of totally grass-fed.   For me this steps over the line.

Mooo does an amazing job at being transparent with the source of their steaks, as good as any restaurant I have dined at.  They state the farm and even the method which the cow was raised in some cases and most people may not even pay attention to these details (I ate here before I changed my meat philosophy and didn’t pay attention either).  However if you are a Selective Omnivore (or carnivore) and will only eat meat that adheres to certain standards you have multiple options here from 100% grass fed for complete purists to grass-fed but grain finished for a short time to mostly grain fed from all natural grain.  Hopefully this article can help you chose where you sit on the meat spectrum and make you make the best choice for your own meat philosophy.

NOTE:  would like to know if any of my information is incorrect or I missed some details on the farms

If you want to buy food that meets the all natural standards then try Copicut Farms

When I first embarked on this journey to find responsibly raised meat I tried the mail order services like Walden Meat Co and Crowd Cow.  Both are convenient ways to purchase meat raised the right way, slightly different business models as I explained in the reviews.  Something struck a cord with me with both was that I was buying meat from locations like California or Virginia and they were shipped by air and packed in dry ice with foam insulated boxes.  Seemed like a lot of packing to buy meat on a regular basis and didn’t flying meat around the country didn’t seem to be in the spirit of sustainability I was trying to achieve.  So I started to look for local farms near my home south of Boston that were raising chicken, pigs and cows in a responsible manner.  The ideal situation would be to find a farm that I could get easy access to and since I live close to the city my best bet would be a farmer’s market.

The closest Farmer’s market to me is the Milton Farmers market (2 miles from my house) and at that market was a meat vendor Copicut Farms.  Copicut Farms is located in Dartmouth, MA and they raise pasture-raised poultry and pigs.  I love this excerpt from their website which explains their animal raising philosophy perfectly:

“All of our animals are raised outdoors, and have constant access to our chemical-free pastures where they are free to forage for grass, legumes, and insects throughout all but the harshest winter months.  Pasture-raised poultry, pork, and eggs, and grass-fed lamb are a healthier choice, containing less cholesterol, less saturated fat, more omega-3, and higher levels of essential vitamins and nutrients than their non-pastured counterparts.”

They also have this paragraph under Human Processing:

“We designed, built, and operate our own State-licensed poultry slaughtering facility. This allows us to maintain an extremely high level of food safety and ensure that our animals are treated in the most humane manner possible throughout all stages of their lives.  Our pork and lamb is processed at the most reputable local Animal Welfare-Approved facilities under USDA inspection.”

This sounded like it checked all the boxes for me.  I visited the Milton farmers market many times throughout the summer to stock up mainly on chicken (parts with bones to make curries or stews) and eggs.  Sometimes the chicken was frozen but often it was fresh which was a bonus.  I also visited them at the Hingham farmers market on Saturdays when I couldn’t get to the Milton market on Thursday afternoon. Buying this meat is now the preferred way for me to buy chicken – responsibly raised with the right ethics and local.  The only downside is that I would buy a big batch at a time so I needed to ensure that there was plenty of space in my freezer and I needed to find the time to go to the  Farmer’s market which wasn’t always possible.  Thursdays I had to take time out during a work day and Saturdays wasn’t always possible with the work schedule.  Also the Milton market is not open during the winter. So some planning is required for sure but the produce is worth it.

BBQ pioneer in Boston – Sweet Cheeks Q

One of America’s culinary gifts to the world is BBQ.  Before I came to the US I had no idea how many styles, flavors and techniques there were that make up this delicious, smoky genre.  Traditionally BBQ was used to make less flavorful, cheap cuts of meat more tasty by cooking slow over a smoky fire.  Note the phrase ‘cheap cuts of meat’ – hence it is hard to find BBQ made from grass fed beef, free range chicken or heritage pork.  I love BBQ and have even started smoking and experimenting with different meats myself.  However smoking a pork butt or beef brisket is a long involved process that can take all day and a lot of prep and cleaning up.  Therefore I limit this exercise to 2-3 times per year.  During the other times of the year I needed to find a place to satisfy my BBQ cravings that was in line with my new meat philosophy.  Sweet Cheeks saved me….

This excerpt from their website was music to my ears:

“Doing it right: For us, it’s using the best of everything possible. All of our meats are responsibly sourced and all natural. Most of our beef is “Never Ever”, meaning it’s all sustainably-raised “Super Natural,” premium Black Angus beef that is NEVER EVER treated with hormones, antibiotics, or chemical additives. Other beef options are from small New England farms adhering to similar practices. Our pork is Berkshire, our chicken and turkey are all natural. We use local farms when possible. We’re committed to doing what’s right.”

I was lucky that I found Sweet Cheeks quite quickly during my search for BBQ constructed from responsibly sourced meat.  I haven’t found another BBQ restaurant in Boston that adheres to the same meat standards.  If I was to be real strict on the Meat Philosophy rules then I would need to ensure the the animals are being treated humanely and free-range, the beef needs to be grass-fed not corn-fed.  But the phrase above from their website is very comfortably and checks a lot of boxes.

I have been to Sweet Cheeks four times now and the BBQ is absolutely delicious – I have tried most the meats and they are all delicious.  The menus has plenty of hints to the meat sourcing philosophy – all natural chicken, heritage-breed pulled pork, all-natural pork belly and the phrase above should confirm your confidence to go all out here.  You order a ‘tray’ which usually consists of one meat and 2 sides – one hot and cold.  I suggest to go for the Fat Tray where you get 3 meats and 2 scoops (sides) – try them all and go back for your favorite!

Sweet Cheeks has been a savior for me – amazing BBQ concocted from responsibly sourced meat right here in Boston.  My search for others continues, haven’t found any others yet….