Vegan Restaurants in Albuquerque

Hi. I haven't blogged in forever! Not only have I been busy, but I think the warm weather has drawn me outside and away from the computer. Maybe I am only a winter blogger!

I have put a link on my site to the New Mexico Vegetarian Society which lists restaurants with options for vegetarians and vegans. But I have found a few more that aren't on their list (at least not the last time I checked). In time I hope to put a map up which marks these (maybe a less fancy site like the SuperVegan website for New York - my husband took me to NYC for our 1st anniversary a couple weeks ago and I spent a lot of time on that wonderful website).

La Salita - La Salita means "the little room," although in Spanish often ita/ito (little) can be more appropriately translated as "cute" or "of which I am fond." Either meaning works here. There are two locations of La Salita, and I prefer the one on Eubank South of Constitution on the West side of the street. The other location is on Coors South of Cottonwood Mall on the East side of the street. The Eubank location is litterally a small room without much ambiance. But the service and food are wonderful - it has a small, everyone-knows-eachother diner feeling and is often packed.

As to the food, find Rory, the hostess/owner/manager, who is short (like me!) and has black hair. She has told me that their tortillas are acceptable for vegans, as are their whole beans and I think both their chiles, but certainly the green. I special order a whole bean burrito with avocado or guacamole inside, green chile, no cheese. But they also have veggie enchiladas on their menu stuffed with calabacitas (which is corn, usually with zucchini and bell peppers) on the menu which can be ordered without cheese. The coup de grac, though, is that their sopapillas are vegan and they do not fry anything with meat in the sopa oil. Thus, one could ostensibly get a vegan stuffed sopapilla as well. I keep meaning to either sneak in a little agave nectar (sopas are often eaten with honey as a dessert) or just take an unopened bottle there and give it to them and ask them to save it for those who request it. There is nothing finer than a fresh sopa with agave nectar!

Scarpas - There are at least two locations for Scarpas - one on Eubank and Montgomery and one on Academy just East of San Mateo (there might be one on the westside as well). The people that work there let me read their pizza crust recipe and read the ingredients for their pasta - and those are both vegan! They also specially indicate vegetarian items on their menu. I want to say that I order their Pasta Julienne, but I am not sure I am getting the name right on that. Whatever it is, it is good. I also have ordered pizzas with veggies and no cheese and been very satisfied.

Green Light Bistro - I debated listing this one first, but I had to give the first shout to La Salita for their service. Green Light Bistro is a MUST-EAT for any vegan living in or visiting Albuquerque. They are all vegetarian and largely vegan! You can find vegan cakes and treats there! I had a fabulous vegan grilled vegetable sandwich when I went. Their food is fresh and tasty. I need to go one day just to have some cake, I haven't tried it yet, but it looks fantastic. It is now in the same building as Annapurna, which serves Ayervedic food (also largely vegan) so you can order off of either menu. Check out their website with mouthwatering pictures: http://www.999dine.com/nm/greenlightbistro/. Their address is: 2201 Silver SE, on the corner of Silver and Yale, South of UNM/Central. Also, the website for Annapurna is: http://www.999dine.com/nm/annapurna/.

I will write about a few more later, but there is sunshine out today, so bye for now!

A New Mexican Vegan Getaway

Need to relax? For Valentine's Day I took my husband away for the weekend. I wanted to treat him since he usually is the one who treats me. And I wanted to go somewhere warmer, since I prefer NOT to freeze and to be able to enjoy the outdoors as well. I heard of a nice spa in, yes really, Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. The weather was fabulous, hitting a high of mid-sixties in mid-February. Now if you aren't familiar with T or C, or haven't been there for a while, it is like an old-west ghost town meets artist community. It's a tiny town, which was originally aptly named Hot Springs, as you will find several natural hot mineral springs there.

You will also find the newly renovated Sierra Grande Lodge. The building is adobe and the decore is classic New Mexican. It is very small, somewhere around 20 rooms. The staff of the hotel are friendly and fabulous. The best part is the complementary use of the hot spring baths and the spa. My husband and I had a couple's massage by the legendary Alice and Ramone. Here's a link to another review of the Sierra Grande Lodge, praising Alice and Ramone. And what about the products used at this spa? Well the spa uses Madlyn Rose products, fabulous products made locally in New Mexico. I researched the veganinity (new word - I like it) by emailing the company - here are my email and their reply:

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Hello,

I read on a spa's website that your products are vegan, meaning they include no animal derived ingredients. Is that correct? If only some are vegan, which ones?

A list of common animal ingredients can be found at: http://www.caringconsumer.com/resources_ingredients_list.asp

Thank you!

Albuquerque Vegan

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Dear Albuquerque Vegan,

We are very aware of the "hidden" animal products which may be found in cosmetics. We have ONE product with dry honey and milk in it. It is the Almond & Oatmeal Scrub, and when it is gone, it will no longer be offered.

Everything else, all face care, hand & body lotions, hair care and other scrubs are Vegan- 100% animal product free. We are pretty sure you are referring to Aliviar Spa's website. They DO NOT carry the above mentioned scrub.

Thank you for your inquiry,
Yvonne @ Madlyn Rose

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So go ahead, vegan, and indulge on that facial!

And what, pray tell, is there for a vegan to eat in ranch country, New Mexico? Well, we found a vegetarian restaurant called the White Coyote Cafe. It was fabulous, and it was easy to find vegan options on the menu, although they had no vegan desserts when I went. They don't have their own link, but here's a link to a description. Normally they are only open for lunch, but we happened to meander down to T or C on one of their monthly Gallery Hopping weekends, and so the restaurant stayed open for dinner that night. After dinner we strolled through some galleries and enjoyed a great break from our normal lives.

On our way back home we stopped and did some wildlife viewing at Bosque del Apache, a wildlife refuge right off of I-25. We did some light trail walking and saw two does, some bobcat tracks, and a huge variety of birds, cranes, and geese. It was a perfect, peaceful, relaxing way to end our little excursion.