Ritual Cafe

I had a great experience hanging out at Ritual Cafe the other morning.  I had some blogging to do, so I brought my computer, grabbed a few (gluten-free, woohoo) snacks and did some work.

Located downtown, right near Proof restaurant, Ritual Cafe serves up coffee, smoothies and even vegetarian food.  They had an awesome selection of vegan and gluten free pastries at the front counter and I was super impressed with my gluten-free banana-chocolate chip bread and apple cider cupcake. Yes, I had to try both.  And they were out of pumpkin spice syrup, so I got a gingerbread-flavored iced coffee and it was really good! 

They also offer a full menu of breakfast items like bagels, oatmeal, and a breakfast plate with eggs and toast.  For lunch they have panini's, quiche, hummus plates and more.  They even have a kids grilled cheese sandwich meal available for kids.  

What a cool place to hang out.  Of course it's a great place for Vegans, but anyone can enjoy these healthy menu items and casual atmosphere.  I'll be back to chat with a friend over coffee or use the free wi-fi to get some work done.  

They also offer live music many nights of the week.  You can check the schedule here. Very cool.

Interview with Chef Sam from Tacopocalypse

<------  Just take a look at Executive Chef Sam Auen from Tacopocalypse and you can clearly see he's ready to battle.

After getting its start at the Cumming Tap three years ago, Tacopocalypse is already ridiculously successful in its new location in the East Village.

Sam and his crew serve hundreds of hungry customers, innovative taco, burrito and nacho creations each day.  If you've read my blog before you know how awesome I think Tacopocalypse food is.  You can read our review about Brunchpocalypse here.

But his story doesn't begin there.  He's been cooking for himself since he was a little kid.  However, a bout of the stomach flu kept him away from eating tacos for about 5 years!  I couldn't believe someone who stayed away from tacos for so long can cook up some of the best around.

Chef Sam has chosen to compete in Battledish Des Moines 2013 because he has no doubts that his food can stand up to the best.  He is also excited to try some new recipes out on the Battledish attendees.  There are no guarantees, but Battledish goers might just get a chance to sample some of the first Tacopoca-noodles!  (I just made that name up, but I think it's pretty ingenious.)

Sam is a pretty interesting guy.  For a long time he was Vegan. He had a big impact on the Vegan restaurant scene in Des Moines as he worked in a ton of local restaurants and introduced his creative elements to lots of them.

Sometimes Sam is underestimated, like when he was hired at Centro to be a salad guy and was promoted within weeks to Sous Chef because they admitted they made a mistake.  But Sam has a style of his own.  He taught himself to make sushi and was highly successful as Executive Chef at Zen until its closing.  He didn't last long at Miyabi 9 though because he just wouldn't conform to someone else's style of doing things.  Sam feels that the best food isn't going to be found in the most expensive restaurants, but maybe in a gas station in Louisiana, or a taco stand at a bar in a town of 50.

I asked Sam where his drive comes from to take Tacopocalypse to such a high level in such a short amount of time and to open two restaurants at the same time.  Sam says he's just crazy about food.  He just can't stop thinking about it.

We can't wait for the battle!  But if you can't wait either, you can always stop into Tacopocalypse on E 6th street in the East Village any day of the week!

Fresh Cafe & Market

You might never know this awesome little cafe existed if you weren't looking specifically for it.  Fresh Cafe & Market shares a building with offices and a dance studio on 25th street in West Des Moines.  It's close to the Clocktower Square Shopping center off of University.

While the outside is unassuming, the shop is bright and colorful when you walk in the main entry and it's easy to spot on the first floor of the building.

Fresh Cafe has a plethora of fresh juices and smoothies, raw food items and vegan items.  Grilled summer paninis, raw lasagna, raw vegan tacos, gluten-free pasta primavera were just a few of the selections.

I went with the raw lasagna on my first visit.  I was shocked by how flavorful the lasagna was. The "pasta" was zucchini slices, the "ricotta" was a cashew blend and fresh tomatoes and raw marinara gave it a burst of flavor between the layers of zucchini.  It was topped with a walnut "sausage". I would definitely order this again.  I washed it down with a wheat grass lemonade which had quite the earthy flavor which was drinkable, but I had to remind myself that it was good for me to be able to finish the last few sips.

I noticed they had some vegan cupcakes and brownies available too.

What a great place to explore some healthy meal options without having to try these recipes on your own.  The prices are reasonable and the menu items range enough that you can test the waters without diving right into totally raw on your first meal.  But try it, because you might just like it!

New World Cafe

There are few restaurants around that can boast that every menu item is mostly organic, vegan and gluten-free.  New World Cafe in the East Village boasts just that.

The small cafe offers a changing menu of  all local, fresh menu items that are innovative and delicious, even for non-vegans!  They are quite busy for lunch and dinner and also offer fresh juices and smoothies.  Prices are quite reasonable and the environment is clean and casual.

I tried the "The New Mac & Cheese" with gluten-free pasta, kale and "cheese" sauce which has no actual cheese at all, but rather a cashew/pumpkin base which was delicious! And for $6 for a small and $8 for a large it is really a bargain.  I'm pretty sure a lot of you could get your kids to eat this mac & cheese and they'd have no idea they were eating something much more healthy.

I also tried the ginger lemonade which was sweetened with agave and so good!  On another visit I also tried the cucumber lemonade, which was good too, but obviously more "green tasting".

The menu for with week I visited is on the left, but the weekly menu can be found on their website here.

Whether you are a vegan, have celiac disease or are gluten-intolerant or just like great healthy food.  Stop in to New World cafe for lunch or dinner to try something new.

Tacopocalypse

UPDATE 8-18-2013 Tacopocalyse is opening a new permanent location in the East Village at 621 Des Moines Street. You can find them there now!

Hopefully by now, you've had the chance to try a delicacy by Chef Sam, but if not, here is the low-down. 

Let's start with Brunchpocalypse on Saturday and Sundays at their new location in the East Village at 621 Des Moines street.

Chef Sam uses local ingredients to make fantastic creations.  Korean chicken & waffles, breakfast nachos and tacos are just a few of the offerings.  Chef Sam's passion is Vegan fare so you are always sure to find something if that applies to you.  You can interchange brisket, pork, chorizo and whatever other special fillings he chooses that day into most of the dishes as well.

My meal of choice this Sunday was the breakfast nachos (top right photo).  A heaping portion of crispy fried tortilla chips with cheese, eggs, bacon chorizo and slaw.  At first glance I was worried that the slaw would overpower this dish, but it didn't. It was perfectly balanced with the chorizo and mild cheese sauce. Love.

We had our kid with us this day, and being a picky 5 year old, I had Sam put his nutella whipped cream on the side, so the picture doesn't do this waffle justice.  While the vanilla porter waffle was amazing by itself and my kid ate the whole thing in less than 5 minutes, I found myself spooning the nutella whipped cream (that he whipped together by hand that morning) into my mouth, it was that good.  For more exciting photos of their waffles and other offerings, check out their facebook page. 

Now that they are in their permanent location they are open every day for lunch and dinner during the week too.  Some the most amazing, creative tacos like Korean Chicken, Bacon Chorizo, Lemongrass pork, etc.  Sam started out working in a Korean restaurant when he was very young, so there is a lot of inspiration in there.  Everything is so good!  You just have to try it for yourself.