However, its vegan food is abundant and well established. I could dedicate a whole entry (or series of entries) to Gracias Madre. I’ll say it again and in many different ways, but it was incredible. Everything was intensely flavorful and fresh. Menu, service, presentation, drinks all fantastic. We had two of our first three dinners there, and we didn’t feel as though we were making a safe choice. We also had a wonderful meal at the famous Millennium. The facade of the place is fairly unassuming; it’s been housed inside a hotel for a long time and doesn’t seem to suffer any consequences from this. We also had memorable eats at Cafe Gratitude, Herbivore and Source.

Gracias Madre – I don’t think any meal could be better than what we got here. We sampled a good portion of the menu on the two nights we ate there. We had grilled corn on the cob, an empanada, a quesadilla, a Caesar salad, mole, tacos, guacamole and a wonderfully sour-ish cauliflower and cheese dish. The salsa was outstanding and so were the tortillas. A wonderful cashew cheese was dripped on nearly everything, and the drinks and drink lists were stellar. We fell in love.

Cafe Gratitude – I can’t believe someone advised against us going here. This is owned by the same folks as Gracias Madre, and the same care is taken with each aspect of this business. We had an unbelievable cacao shake that was nutty, malty and chocolatey. Then we had a coconut-bacon BLT, which was exotic, but also impossibly tasty and healthy. We also shared a great rice bowl, and had to visit another location in Healdsburg, where we got tacos, falafel and raw key lime pie (made with avocados).

Millennium – This is the vegan mecca. It didn’t disappoint. We couldn’t resist the fried squash blossoms as an appetizer. The flowers were polenta encrusted and accompanied by a grilled nectarine and jalapeno salsa, zucchini remoulade and pickled green tomatoes. I ordered a pastry roulade as an entree, and Nicole had a semolina crepe. Mine had grilled seitan sausage with mushrooms, potatoes, lentils, chard, shallot and fennel. It also had a cherry red-wine reduction and black pepper-thyme oil with pickled chard stems. This was not a texture I see much anymore — flaky, chewy, crispy. Just an ideal, artistic meal. Nicole’s was not as impressive, but great nonetheless. Her crepe contained leeks, carmelized onions, lemon tofu cheese, roasted zucchini cream sauce as well as a chili powder and onion salsa. That’s masterful, right? We felt like we were in the hands of experts the whole time. We also shared an almond-chocolate dessert with white chocolate mousse, mocha filling, almond crust and a raspberry sauce.

Herbivore – This wasn’t on the same level, but we had a nourishing, tasty meal. I had falafel, and Nicole got moussaka. Both were well executed meals, and Herbivore delivered on the fast and healthy vegan front.

Source – Good stuff here, though we only shared a delicious artichoke spread. Their menu is huge, and the location is strange.

We’re still in shock over the quantity and variety that we are getting from the CSA. Here’s a rundown of weeks 1 and 2:

Week 1: head lettuce, baby arugula, komatsuna, tot soi, baby bok choy, garlic scallions, broccoli

Week 2: sweet hakurei turnips, radishes, kohlrabi, baby bok choy, tot soi, broccoli raab, swiss chard, baby lettuce, curly kale, red Russian kale, collards, salad greens, cilantro, dill, oregano, thyme & sage

And, we’re excited to pick up this goodness this coming week: napa cabbage, large bok choy, hakurei turnips, radishes, kohlrabi, summer squash, zucchini, cauliflower, head lettuce, arugula, baby salad mix, broccoli raab, collard greens, curly kale, red russian kale, Swiss chard

What we’ve made so far:

A delicious arugula, radish and pecan grain salad with vegan blue cheese.

Roasted potatoes and turnips with truffle oil

Greens and broccoli with cilantro pesto

Pasta with greens, garlic, olives, Field Roast sausage and an herbed dairy free cream sauce.

We participated in famous Dan’s (http://danmanseau.wordpress.com/) birthday dinner last month at the Apollo Grill in Easthampton. We have only been there a handful of times for full-on dinners, but it doesn’t disappoint. They threw together a wonderful vegan plate for us with risotto cakes, asparagus, roasted potatoes and Brussels sprouts. And we couldn’t resist the sweet potato-avocado tostada with roasted tomatillo salsa. Makes us want to go there more often.

Magpie, Hope and Olive’s sister in Greenfield, does it right. It’s supposed to be just a pizza place, but its layout and details work on a different level than one might expect. It’s beautiful and delicious and just very well thought out, just like Hope and Olive. They’ve done well by Greenfield. We ordered roasted veggies with truffle oil and an arugula-fennel-lemon-thyme pizza. Tasty stuff all around. They cook nearly everything in their 700-degree wood-fired oven, and the tastes and textures are superior because of it.

We spent some of our April vacation in Jersey and New York. We ventured into the city, partly to try out a vegan place called Candle 79. The owners have been in the vegan restaurant business in NYC for some time, and it shows at Candle 79. The interior is gorgeous, and the meals are well crafted. It’s fine dining. We started out with the chef’s amuse bouche arancini, then ordered spinach-morel ravioli and cocktails. The arancini and ravioli were fabulous. Every ingredient was fresh and cooked precisely. The ravioli was a highlight.

For dinner, Nicole ordered the seitan piccata, and I had mushroom-stuffed tempeh. Again, both were expertly prepared with maximum sensual impact. I think Nicole’s was superior, and mine was delicious, but I think I prefer a less stacked meal. I don’t like when ingredients blend together. I’d rather have an entree with sides, for example. We also ordered onion rings with a chipotle sauce and a peanut butter-chocolate dessert with raspberry sauce. Overall, a great meal that came at a great price. The cocktails were forgettable and $15 each. I expected less of a stacked iteration from the dessert, too. I’d only recommed it if you’re flush.

Spring has teased us with warm weather and light harvests. We bought some wonderful watermelon radishes and paired them with lettuce, pickles, Hungry Ghost bread and broccoli salad. This is lunch to me — an invigorating, seasonal, fairly healthy and tasty small feast and small victory. I love sandwiches and sandwich making.

From Tal Ronnen’s cookbook, we tried a cashew-saffron pasta with white wine and artichokes. The creaminess of the meal might have been indulgent, but it made sense to our taste buds somehow. The pasta was satisfying, piquant and fitting as a celebratory meal.

The dessert was creamy, too, and also recalled that fabulous meal at Portobello. We made cannoli, and they really didn’t fall short. Nicole included chocolate chips, orange zest and sweet, delicious cannoli shells. They finished our indulgent, creamy and memorable meal.

We make it in our own ways. Nicole is more adherent to the pesto label — she uses nutritional yeast. I don’t, but we both use garlic, aminos, tamari, pumpkin seeds and oil. Sometimes I throw in peanuts and ginger, too.

It makes a wonderful sauce for stir fried vegetables and rice or raw vegetables and papadums or even, if you diluted it, salad dressing. It isn’t something we tire of. We can’t get enough.

Sometimes I get a hankering for some Southern delights. And grits are one of those cravings. Collard greens are another in some way. The grits actually came out very creamy and tasty. We used soy milk and Daiya to get the texture and taste right. In the collards, we used liquid smoke and apple cider vinegar for flavor. Together this dish is divine, and with fresh tomatoes really flavorful stuff.

We also recently used celeriac for its flavor. We copied a regular recipe from the New York Times for a creamy celeriac-chestnut soup. It came out so tasty vegan, too. It reminds me how much flavor comes from vegetables and how they really provide a great base for non-veg soups and sauces, too. One always starts with Mireproix (or some variation of it), and one must build flavors from that, but it really is the base.  We also often use liquor (usually wine), nutritional yeast and a good brand of broth to build the flavor. Celeriac brings its own earthiness to bear, too. It smells and tastes like a combination between a broccoli stem and a celery stalk.

We also got a Dutch Oven for Christmas and Nicole recently made a whole wheat and thyme bread. It was dense and delicious, and will inspire us to do more bread baking soon.

For Thanksgiving, we made a squash-mushroom Wellington, which came out better than I thought it might. We made Brussels Sprouts with apples, onions and a mustard glaze. Nicole’s mother brought our favorite breadcrumb-and herb-stuffed vinegar peppers, and we also had traditional sides like mac and cheese and stuffing. The Thanksgiving tables, along with the guests, were stunning.

The centerpiece and fondest dish for Christmas was the Easter Pie. Traditionally, Italians would make this quiche-like entree for Easter with eggs, sausage and cheese. We did it for Thanksgiving, and it couldn’t have been tastier. Pesto, bruschetta, stuffed peppers, marinated mushrooms and artichokes also accompanied the pie.

It’s always great to spend time with family on holiday breaks. We’re fortunate they’ve been supportive and appreciative of our lifestyle choices (mostly), and we think it’s especially nice that they let us reimagine holiday traditions.