Wednesday, August 8, 2007

The death of a vegetarian restaurant

The closing of Nu Age Cafe, a mostly vegan fine dining restaurant in Austin, comes as a complete shock (See story in Austin American-Statesman). My wife and I were there when they opened their doors and saw with pride as they slowly picked up their clientele. We enjoyed one of our wedding anniversaries there. I absolutely loved their sesame seitan and the brown rice served in banana leaves. They had amazing deserts and an incredible assortment of fun drinks. Since moving from Austin, I have missed the vegetarian restaurants I used to frequent, and I must say Nu Age Cafe held a special place in my heart. The closing of Nu Age Cafe had nothing to do with the quality of the food. It was because of a death in the family. This news comes a few years since West Lynn Cafe in Austin closed. That was another fine dining vegetarian restaurant. It sold to Cosmic Cafe, a Dallas-based vegetarian Indian restaurant chain. That, too, closed. Losing a cherished vegetarian restaurant feels like a death in the family. It feels like I've had the breath sucked out of me. I can only hope a new vegetarian restaurant will soon emerge from this sad tale that will take me on a new adventure I won't ever want to leave from.

2 comments:

  1. I live in the valley and I am a vegetarian. I am not sure what exact food items are vegan. Its hard, there are so many foods that dairy and eggs sneak themselves into. McAllen seems to have more of a variety of restaurants that cater to vegetarians and vegans.The Blue Onion on Dove and in Weslaco has a good variety of dishes. City Cafe on 10th street has a great Greek Sampler plate with marinated grilled veggies, hummus, couscous, and pita(may have to skip on the couscous and pit). When I eat at PF Changs I always order the Budda Feast with Brown rice, it is delicious. Its too bad there is not a whole foods market, maybe as the valley grows more. For now Sun Harvest and HEB has the best variety for organic produce and vegetarian/vegan food. Next time you are in San Antonio there is the only vegetarian/vegan restaurant called GREEN. greensanantonio.com. Hope this helps a little. if you find any other places let me know.

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  2. I just found this info, so I thought I would pass it on. here is a list of local organic farmers in the rio grande valley. Just go to this website.
    www.localharvest.org

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