Vegan means not only meat-free, but also no dairy or seafood. So there are lots of air quotes on the menu when talking about “burgers,” “calamari” or “pie.” But the chefs in one North Shore restaurant have gotten creative, making dishes that should appeal to anyone.
You’d expect to see salads on a vegan menu, but at Spirit Elephant, tucked in among the boutiques along Green Bay Road in downtown Winnetka, the kitchen has to use vegan cheese, often derived from coconut milk. But you don’t feel like you’re missing anything on the blue cheese-covered wedge – there’s mushroom bacon along with pickled red onion and tomatoes. The goal of the restaurant was simple.
“A chef-driven, very creative, craveable, delicious restaurant with amazing food that just happens to be vegan,” said owner CD Young.
Buffalo wings are made from cauliflower. But a thick, juicy burger?
“We use a lot of mushrooms to create that meaty, steak-y feel,” she said.
The Jorge Burger features either an Impossible Meat or black bean patty with a bourbon reduction; mushroom bacon, a mammoth onion ring and vegan cheese.
What about the calamari?
It’s made from trumpet mushrooms; the stems are hollowed-out to be those rings that you’re familiar with,” she said.
Meaty, nutritious Lion’s Mane mushrooms are rolled in cornflakes, fried then tossed with chili spice.
“And then we have a harissa dipping sauce and a pineapple chutney,” said Young.
Spanish bomba rice is cooked until tender, then topped with a bouquet of color.
“It’s a vegetable harissa paella, which also takes advantage of that heat and a little bit of sweetness and all of the beautiful, colored vegetables. That one is packed with vegetables,” she said.
You’ll see plenty of those outside, on the massive back patio this summer. But then you have to ask the inevitable: how do you tackle a chocolate mousse with no dairy or eggs?
“It’s just a rich coconut mousse that’s decadent and creamy with cocoa powder, whipped cream and fruit – it’s something,” said Young.
Here’s where you can go:
924 Green Bay Rd., Winnetka
847-348-9000
Elephant & Vine
2315 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago
719 Church St., Evanston
from NBC Chicago https://ift.tt/zwNQCmj
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