VIP in the Vegan Cafe

In case you were wondering, I’m pretty well known in the town I live in. I may even be a little bit of a celebrity.

Because of this, I get invited to cool events such as a Chamber of Commerce Business event featuring a new Vegan Cafe which will be opening soon.

Okay, I’m totally lying. The only reason I was let in the door is because my mom is in a business networking group in my town. Otherwise, the crazy girl with the camera would have never been let in.

In case you’re new around here, I have been dying to try the food at the Vegan Cafe for months now – ever since I heard one was opening up in my town. I don’t feel as if I live in a very “vegan friendly/raw” area, so when I heard about this, I’m pretty sure I squealed like a 10 year old and jumped up and down.

The cafe is opening in January, but for now, they opened up their almost finished cafe for a tasting, and you better bet I was counting down the days for this event.

I wish I had gotten some good pictures of the actual cafe, but the lighting was dim (it was a classy event, don’t you know – which is why I showed up in my puffy vest). Thankfully for you, once it opens, I will be there once a week (at least) so you’ll get pictures in the future.

I did my best to take pictures of the food, but the shadows are out of control.

Up first: Spinach Dip

While I should have taken pictures of the sign that told me what was in it, I know it was nut based (perhaps cashews) – whatever it was, it was delicious.

Up next: Raw Spaghetti and Marinara

The first thing I wondered was why my zucchini spaghetti has never looked like this. Note to self: invest in a spiralizer walk down the street to the Vegan Cafe. This was my mom’s all time favorite dish. The marinara sauce was incredible. It had a tomato and olive taste to it, and the “noodles” were better than any zucchini spaghetti I’ve ever eaten.

I was very upset not to have gotten a good picture of my favorite dish: the Pizza.

You can see it below in the horrendous photo on the bottom right hand corner of the plate.

The crust was made out of almonds and flax seeds (dehydrated, so it was still raw) and it was incredible. I had two pieces and almost went back for another piece so I could take a decent picture of it.

I also had a raw bagel with a spread on top, but for some reason Live Writer is not wanting it to be inserted into this post. Oh well, onward we go…

For dessert there were two options – and you better believe I had them both. First up was raw vegan fudge which I lost all ambitions and shoved it in my mouth before I even realized my camera was slapping me in the face reminding me to take pictures. Needless to say, it was amazing.

Last but not least, was the Carrot Cake.

I’ve had one other raw/vegan carrot cake before, but my mom and I decided this was better than the other one.  It tasted exactly like a carrot cake, but with a different texture.

I think the greatest thing about this Vegan Cafe is that it is part of the Thanks Jordan Foundation, a foundation dedicated to helping families who have children with cancer. Taken from their website, Thanks Jordan describes itself as following:

“Thanks Jordan is a foundation based on “Celebrating Life“. In doing this we help families of a child with cancer maintain as much normal activity and family life as humanly possible during their present and future battles.”

An amazing cause & amazing cafe. Until the cafe opens in January, I’ll be studying this:

And deciding what my first meal will be….

I’m thinking a raw bagel sandwich… nut cheese, avocado, spinach, and tomoatoes

Or, maybe Pumpkin Pie Soup with a Wrap….

And then maybe I’ll have a smoothie for dessert…

Or the carrot cake…

or the fudge….

Oh fudge, I’m going to have a hard time deciding. Good thing I’ve got a couple more weeks!

They’ll have to roll me out of that place.

Question: Do you have any good vegan/raw places around where you live?

Tagged as: food tasting, Lockport Illinois, Thanks Jordan Foundation, Vegan Cafe