It's like I got this music in my mind

This past weekend was a continuation of my birthday celebration. The first part was back on August 4th to try the sneak preview of V-Street. This weekend I requested since it was my "almost birthday" (2 days before it) to go check out the Bethlehem Veg Fest!

I had been wanting to go to this veg fest since it began a few years ago, but was never usually around for it. I'm excited I had the chance to experience it this year and everything that it entailed!

Although it was a cloudy day with a 70% chance of rain, that did not stop the crowds from coming. It seemed to be busier than I expected - and the university nearby was having its move-in weekend too which could have been a factor! Luckily the rain held out and only did spurts of light showers here and there.

{The ever lasting long line for the Cinnamon Snail Food truck}

{A delicious hot-sauce sampling stand while waiting in line for Cinnamon Snail}

{Mentioned hot sauce being TOO hot and needing to buy a delicious pineapple drink to cool down with!}

{Getting so close for the Cinnamon Snail! There were MANY awesome vegan options for lunch at Veg Fest, but I had my heart on finally trying the Cinnamon Snail food truck I had heard so much about.}

{My delicious lunch from Cinnamon Snail - Lemongrass 5 Spice Seitan - with curried cashews, argula, sichuan chili sauce and wasabi mayo over greens}

{Jason's lunch - Korean Barbecue Seitan - served open faced on a grilled tortilla slathered with chili butter, kimchi, and greens. Both were so delicious! }

{Cute pigs to pet :) }

{When I saw that Rachel from Miss Rachel's Pantry was doing a demonstration, I was very excited to stick around and watch! Although she cooked tempeh, which is not my fave, she did an awesome job explaining her steps and going through the demonstration despite the rain going on! }

{ One of the few times I enjoyed Tempeh. :) }

{Of course, how could I pass up the Vegan Treats table?! So many awesome things to choose from! Such as the vegan chicken and waffles donuts! The everything but the kitchen sink brownie won me over though - because I hadn't had a brownie in a much overdue time. Next time though - the donuts! }

I've had quite a vegan-filled birthday celebration and am so glad that my husband is willing to join me in these events. :) Cheers to 26!

Sneak preview

Although my birthday is still 19 days away, Jason surprised me with a birthday night just two days ago that was an absolute amazing experience.

Since moving to Philadelphia for college back in 2006, I loved having options of vegan friendly restaurants in the city. One of my favorite spots was Horizons on South Street. This was upscale, not an everyday type of restaurant - but the food was so delicious that I wish I could afford to eat there for every meal. However, it made an excellent special occasion restaurant that I looked forward to each time I went. After Horizons closed in 2011, the owners opened up Vedge which still held the high standards of food that Horizons did, but now in a smaller, tapas-style dinner.

Vedge is one of my favorite restaurants, and we still typically go there on special occasions (birthdays, anniversary, around valentines day, randomly if we're in the city to grab a drink and dessert, etc.). I was VERY excited when I found out that they were opening a new street food style restaurant called V-Street. I kept checking out updates on their facebook and twitter and around the vegan internet rumor boards about the different types of food they may be serving in their new restaurant. I could not wait!!

Jason told me this past Friday that we'd be going to an exclusive tasting preview of V-Street. I was SO excited! I kept thinking of what they may make and looking forward to the event. It did NOT disappoint and only makes me even more excited for the restaurant to finally open (which should be in October 2014!).

We started out with a delicious sake based cocktail that Kate made. It was very fresh and a great way to start the meal.

Our first course was the Banh Mi Chopped Salad. This included tofu, green chile, cucumber, daikon, bean sprouts, and shredded greens topped with a delicious creamy cilantro sriracha dressing all on top of a piece of grilled baquette. Definitely an amazing starter salad!

Our next course was the Funky Kimchee Stew. This was a delicious kimchee stew with charred broccoli and fried rice. Not expecting to be blown away by a soup/stew when it comes to street food - but this was absolutely amazing and I'd order it in a heartbeat!

Our third course was something I had to google prior to eating it. We saw the menu as we sat down and saw the word "Langosh". Both of us not knowing what that was - thanks to Google explaining that it was a type of Hungarian flatbread, we were excited for this course to come around! This was a langosh with creamy sauerkraut dill dip and smoked beets. I believe the beets were the only item I did not eat that night. I have utmost confidence that Rich & Kate know how to cook vegetables to make anyone like them, however I have quite the aversion to beets. The dish did not disappoint around them though! 

Our final course was a delicious grilled carrot. Not just any carrot though. This course was described as Choripan - whole roasted carrot with black beans and chimichurri. Although we were definitely getting full by this point, this dish was still extremely exceptional and ended the meal on a very high point. They stated that this will typically be served sandwich-style - so I'll be interested to see how that is when V-Street does open.

No meal is complete without dessert - and Kate is AMAZING at desserts so I was very excited to try her  concoction! As full as we were, she had us drooling as she put together this intricate and beautiful dessert. This was called the "Halo-Halo" and was comprised of  sweet potato ice cream, blackberry sorbet, and fruit salad topped with coconut whipped cream. This was the best way to end the night on  a sweet note.

Attending this evening's sneak preview of V-Street was such a great experience and really built the anticipation of the restaurant to open in October.

And of course, as good as this meal was - you know I will be at Vedge on my actual birthday coming up. :)

V-Street

126 19th Street

Philadelphia, PA
Expected opening: October 2014

Vedge
1221 Locust Street
Philadelphia, PA