Home
Where do John and I live? For the moment, London, England in a posh flat with a friend we met in Bolivia. Yesterday, it was a converted water tower in Leiston, England, a small town two hours northeast of London. It’s taken me awhile to get used to this concept, that home is where I am today. It’s been four months but it’s finally starting to sink in. My thinking on this subject was sparked by Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros. They have a song called Home. Have a listen, it’s pretty magical.
We went home home, as in Canada, for a couple weeks and had a great time eating foods we missed and catching up with family and friends. Being in Toronto and Ottawa felt familiar, but different, all at the same time. It’s a lot cleaner and more expensive than South America, that’s for sure. And there were some familiar faces. But, I feel just as much at home here, on my laptop typing away beside John, as I do anywhere else in the world. Home is wherever I’m with John. It’s sappy, I know, but true.
Okay, this isn’t a blog about love. Or maybe it is, just not the kind between people. More like the love between vegans and their food.
It all seems old hat to me, being what I’m used to, but here are some photos of the delicious food we indulged in while visiting the Canadian cities where many of my loved ones live and where all the stuff that couldn’t fit in our backpacks is crammed into a storage locker.
Peace Garden, Ottawa, Ontario
We couldn’t travel to Ottawa without dining at some of our favourite cafes and restaurants. One of the first places we went to was Peace Garden (47 Clarence Street), where we always order the Indian special.
Wild Oat, Ottawa, Ontario
John couldn’t resist making a visit to the Wild Oat (817 Bank Street) and ordering his dish, the Wild Plate.
The Manx, Ottawa, Ontario
Whenever we go out with people who want to eat meat, we always head to The Manx (370 Elgin Street). Everyone can find something on the menu to suit their preferences and order a glass of beer or wine. They have a great curried cashew tofu burger, that’s served with a huge side of potato wedges or salad.
Bread and Sons, Ottawa, Ontario
If we’re looking for a quick lunch, fresh bread or vegan baked goods, we head to Bread and Sons (195 Bank Street). They’re a great bakery and takeout lunch spot with several types of cheese-free pizza slices and homemade soups. In terms of vegan baked goods, you can find some yummy cookies, muffins and squares.
Urban Herbivore, Toronto, Ontario
While in Toronto, we checked out Panacea, the all vegan grocery store, and Hibiscus for the first time. Urban Herbivore (64 Oxford Street) is one of the places we never miss. We always make a point of stopping in for a BBQ tempeh and avocado salad. Their gigantic muffins are great too.
Vegan Dinner Party
We did eat some meals at home. This picture is a from a beautiful dinner party I had with some of my favourite ladies, Lisa (flickr cupsoflove) and Valerie (flickr valeriedoucette). Both of them have great flickr accounts with lots of pictures of vegan food.
Fruit Breakfast Smoothie
Smoothies are my ideal breakfast. It was great to stay with my mom and have access to a blender 24/7. Sometimes I had two per day! The one in this picture was made with strawberries, pineapple, raspberries, peaches, grapes and melon. An even better combo is frozen blueberries, frozen banana, vanilla almond milk, and a dash of maple syrup.
Coconut Ice Cream with NuGo Chocolate Bar
Ice cream was one of the desserts we really missed while in South America. In three months, we had no more than two servings. We made up for lost time and picked up a tub of So Delicious coconut flavoured coconut milk ice cream. We also split a a pint of soy-based Purely Decadent Peanut Butter Zig Zag with some friends. Crushed cookies included.
Tofurky on Salad
Oddly enough, one of the things John found himself craving was Tofurky. I’m not a big fan but managed to find one on sale for him. We ate it with roasted veggies and used the leftovers for salads and sandwiches.
These are just some examples of the types of vegan food you can find in Canada, specifically Ottawa and Toronto. If you’re visiting, get in touch and I’d be happy to give you some more suggestions.
12 Comments »
mmm. now you’ve made me hungry before bedtime! smoothies is one thing i really missed while we were traveling. nothing beats a homemade smoothie with frozen banana in it somewhere.
Hi Jill! I envy you having someone in your life with whom you feel so at home no matter where you are. What a blessing! And I’m really enjoying listening to “Home” as I type this.
I had no idea there were so many amazing veg restaurants in Canada. Your photos are fantastic, and they all make my mouth water. I’m so glad you got to enjoy all that yummy vegan food, as well as So Delicious coconut milk ice cream. I think I’d really be craving that most of all, if I lived somewhere that I’d have to do without it for very long.
Canada never looked so delicious! :) Love this post. I need to learn how to make lentils like those ones from Peace Garden. I ate so many lentil dishes just like that in India and I’m craving it now big time.
Great post Jill! For a moment I thought you were going to write something that wasn’t about food, but nonetheless, I like the way you weaved a cute personal story into a post about food :) On a sidenote Calina and I were singing this song earlier today in our hostel in Popayan, Colombia. It’s pretty cool that for the rest of our lives this song will always remind us of this point in our life and of our travels.
Take care, miss you guys!
Calina and Dan
I can’t believe you missed ZenKitchen in Ottawa — delicious gourmet vegan fare. It opened less than a year ago on Somerset Street in Ottawa’s Chinatown and it’s divine. Later this month, it will also open for lunch. Check it out: http://www.zenkitchen.ca
Glad to hear you enjoyed your trip!
-Jantine Van Kregten
Ottawa Tourism
@Jantine Van Kregten – Don’t worry, I didn’t miss ZenKitchen. I’ve been there many times and love that restaurant. We just didn’t have a chance to eat there while visiting. When we are back in Ottawa and working with a bigger budget, we will be frequenting ZenKitchen again :)
WOW – you are so lucky! We have NO vegan restaurants where we live. We have one who has a vegetarian/vegan night every other Thursday and another cafe type market who sells some items. Other than that it’s slim pickins’.
I envy your trips around the world, exploring, tasting and enjoying. My husband and I aspire to do the same someday!
I just had the “ice cream” at Hibiscus for the first time, its so so so great!
Another great resource for finding vegetarian and vegan stuff is the Toronto Vegetarian Association’s Vegetarian Directory! Main page here: http://veg.ca/directory Monthly updates here: http://veg.ca/toronto
Hello synchronicities.
My husband and I – both vegans – are about 7 months into our travels. In London at the moment, too, sharing a lovely flat with a lovely couple we found on Crashpadder.com. So not long before arriving in the UK I realized that the idea of “home” had totally lost it’s meaning. Or found new meaning anyway. The art on the living room wall of our current flat says it best:
“My home will have no windows, doors, or floors, nor bricks or mortar. My only home is on your arms and nowhere else.” Yep, yep.
Thanks for sharing your experiences and all the yummy food pics. You rule.
First off, I love your blog. I just passed through Ottawa coming from Mont Tremblant. Let me tell you, a vegan vacation in Mont Tremblant was not easy at all. We cooked most of our meals with tofu and tempeh we brought with us, food we got at Rachelle-Béry in Saint-Jovite, and veggies we got at Metro. One day we biked 5 hours to Val-David to go to a raw vegan restaurant called Kirlian Café. Anyway, right before we went over the bridge to Ottawa we went to a place in Gatineau called La Belle Verte. It’s a mostly raw mostly organic vegan place with lots of non raw options. It was completely amazing. I think I might take up that Contribute offer on the bottom of your page and see if you accept any of my posts :] I have my own vegan travel & life blog at http://topofthecropcafe.tumblr.com
How did you find parking in Ottawa? There was construction everywhere. I had to park in the garage for the National Gallery of Canada. We went to the gallery so it wasn’t so bad anyway (and the gallery was great). It cost $10, though, to park.
Urban Herbivore is one of my favorite places in Toronto. Best sandwiches around! I’m also glad you had a chance to check out Panacea.. they are doing awesome things for the Toronto vegan scene. :)
All those dishes look tremendous!
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