Leaf, Boulder CO

From Vegan Gastrobot

On our trip to Boulder we stopped by Leaf for happy hour after a day of exploring. It was a weekday, but when we got there the place was empty. We got some drinks and tried the raw wrap (the only small bite on the happy hour menu that was vegan). This was amazing! I was very skeptical as it seemed like something I wouldn't like much. Rainbow chard, pea shoots, mixed sprouts,carrots, basil almond paté, and cashew “ricotta. Really it was the pate that was putting me off - I still remember trying some vegan pate in Paris and bleck. This was just incredible. All of the flavors worked so well together and it was so light and I could have eaten a few more of them. This was so good that we made a point to come back later in our trip for dinner since I was intrigued but he raw thanksgiving dinner (we were there in November).

From Vegan Gastrobot

So when we went back we did get the raw thanksgiving dinner - stuffed mushroom with a cranberry sauce, almond corn croquette, mashed winter vegetables, Brussels sprouts, butternut squash,a veggie croquette with a cashew sauce, and Brussel sprouts and shaved squash. This was incredible! I wish we had a raw place in Seattle where I could get food like this. This might have been my favorite thing we ate while in Boulder - everything was just perfect!

From Vegan Gastrobot

Unfortunately we also tried the vegan enchiladas - corn, summer squash, zucchini, black & red beans, mazina tortilla, cilantro rice, guacamole, roasted tomatillo & tomato salsas. Leaf is a more expensive restaurant and I don't mind paying more for food if it is amazing. This was not amazing. It sounds like it would be really flavorful and delicious, but it just tasted like nothing. I don't understand how you can have so many different flavors and have it come out tasting like nothing at all.

From Vegan Gastrobot

For dessert we had peanut butter chocolate tart. I am not sure if there was peanut butter in this as you could not taste it at all. What you could taste was chocolate, coconut and mint - 2 of which I really do not like so I did not like this at all. The menu did not list anything about coconut or mint. I hate when places do that - why do you have to add flavors, but not list them? I don't understand.

Leaf was a mix of absolutely amazing food, and food that was not really good at all. I would definitely recommend going and trying their raw dishes as they were all amazing! Their cooked food though...I would skip. It is not worth it especially for the price.

Caravan of Dreams, New York City

From Food

On our tour of New York City we stopped into Caravan of Dreams. This place was amazing! I really wish we would have been hungrier when we stopped by here so we could have tried more food. I loved the atmosphere, the people working there were very nice, all in all a great restaurant. We weren't that hungry so we just tried a couple of the raw appetizers and we were not disappointed. The first thing we tried was the beet ravioli which was so delicious. The beets were sweet and tender, the filling and sauce added a little bit of spice....All together perfect. I love the sweet and spicy combo.

From Food

The other appetizer we tasted was the raw Squash Manicotti. This was also amazing. It was very light and flowery and just perfect.

From Food

Then we asked to see the dessert menu just to see what they had, even though we were not really hungry. What a mistake. How could we not order something? We ordered the warm banana nutella - caramelized banana and vegan nutella wrapped in a crepe with 3 different sauces drizzled over it. It was supposed to come with some ice cream as well, but we knew we would not be able to eat it so we asked to have it left off. This was amazing! Not too sweet, but just spot on. It was also fairly light for a dessert which was good.

Overall I would definitely come back here, though next time I won't eat beforehand and will try more. I spied on the tables next to us and all of the entrees looked amazing! I really wish we had this restaurant in Seattle as we would frequent it often, even though it is on the pricey side. If you want to go out to a nice restaurant or someplace special while in NYC this is the place I would go. I cannot say enough good things about it.