Melisser "the Urban Housewife" E.'s Profile

I am one picky bitch when it comes to my hair, but BLAIR can rock it like no other! Seriously, after years & years in the beauty industry I know what I like & will not settle for anything less. Blair & I have worked together for years to create my perfect haircut + color & it is nothing less than fierce flawless!

Want daily compliments on your hair? GO TO BLAIR! Seriously, even when I'm looking tore up, my hair looks hot & people ask about it. I'm actually tired of people shouting "I LIKE YOUR HAIR" at me. Real talk.

I drive from San Francisco to Danville for her hair magic, so she MUST be good. Do yourself a favor, call & book an appointment with Blair NOW.

After hearing the buzz, my husband & I headed to ubuntu for our 10 year anniversary. The restaurant is beautiful & welcoming, a lovely place to spend a special night. They knew it was our anniversary & immediately came to the table with complimentary champagne!

We started with the Chickpea Fries with herbs & Romesco sauce, a recommendation from friends, & we weren't disappointed. Also as a starter, we had the fried Padrons with maldon salt. They were soft & slightly sweet with a zip of lime & while the first few were great, I found them a bit too oily for my liking after a bit.

Next, we shared the Grilled Peach & French Bean Panzanella. Not only was the plating lovely, but the dish was as well.

For our entrees, we started with a Strawberry Margherita pizza. We asked for this vegan, as it stated "vegan cheese available by request". When we found out the cheese was Follow Your Heart, we opted for no cheese, as we couldn't see a processed soy cheese adding to the flavors of the dishes here. In the end, it was more like a flatbread with a bit of cooked strawberry jam & basil on top, a very tasty flatbread nonetheless. Next time I think well skip the pizzas or hope that the chefs discover the wonders of cashew cheese!

Our other entree was the Anson Mills Grits finished with Corn Pudding & a Friarelli Pepper relish with more fried Padrons. We loved the creamy corn flecked grits & I found myself scraping for every last bite! The relish was sweet & wonderful with the grits & the peppers worked well with this dish, although I'd have enough at this point.

Finally, were ready for dessert! Typically the restaurant only has one vegan dessert, from what I can tell, which is a float of some sort, but we spied "vegan carrot cupcakes" on the tasting menu & asked if we could order them along with a float. Luckily, they obliged! The cupcakes were adorable, bite sized, & topped in a swirl of cream cheese frosting, pistachios & a mini sweetened carrot. They were moist & spiced, though a bit heavy on the ginger for Ryan's liking, & a nice little treat. The frosting seemed to contain vegan cream cheese of some sort, possibly Follow Your Heart.

The Raspberry Sorbet Float was our final selection & was downright delicious! This refreshing treat started with a base of rosewater soda & contained a scoop of raspberry sorbet, pieces of fresh watermelon & raspberries, tiny tapioca balls, & was garnished in mint. The flavors all melded well together & we marveled about how lovely it down to the very last sip!

Overall, ubuntu is a nice place to dine if you find yourself in Napa. I'd like to see some vegan entrees on the menu, as every entree had cheese on it & the removal of it seemed to leave some of the dishes low on the flavor scale. That being said, their green practices are to be commended & their food is fresh & won't leave you feeling heavy & overly full. We would certainly dine at ubuntu again & it was a lovely place to spend a milestone in our lives.

More details, including photos, at The Urban Housewife: http://theurbanhousewi...

Nutshell is a beautiful escape from the sandwiches, salads, wraps vegan fare everyone else seems to have. Beautifully produced, creatively prepared dishes with tons of flavor & visual appeal = AWESOME.
I dined with a table of 4 & we shared a plethora of dishes. I highly enjoyed the Chard & Kale with Cherry Gastrique, the Bamboo fries were fun & tasty, & the Jamaican BBQ platter is a delicious dish I could eat regularly! Our bill was well under $100, which is excellent for the amount of dishes we ordered & the well prepared foods.

Sadly, the service is lacking here. There was a lot of wait time & a waiter got canned while we were there, slowing things down even more. Our waitress was awesome though & was very pleasant & informative. She even comped a bit of our food for the wait, which was unnecessary, but lovely!

Next time I'm in Portland, MORE NUTSHELL, PLEASE!
Check out my PDX round up at: http://theurbanhousewi...

I was surprised to see I hadn't yet reviewed Cha Ya because it is my JIMMY JAM. When vegans come to visit San Francisco, it is one of the few places I recommend they try!

There seems to be two camps regarding Cha Ya, the Lovers (veg*ans not having to worry about fish broth) & the Unimpressed (people who do not care about fish broth). I AM A LOVER!

I recommend not going here just for sushi, you can get that lots of places. I think the Japanese dishes are where it's at, I especially like the Sukiyaki, Kitsune Soba, Sunomono salad, & Gyoza. I love being able to eat the food I ate in Japan, without the pesky animal cruelty! If you must get sushi, be thrilled by the eggless tempura, yum!

Why 4 stars? The service is NOT GOOD. Many times there's one (amazing) woman, working her ass off to get to all the tables. I cut them lots of slack because I love the food, but go here knowing it will NOT be a quick dinner. Go here to lounge, to chat, to ENJOY! KANPAI!

Sometimes my skin looks like hell & by "sometimes" I mean most of the time, but hey, who asked?! Anyway, this is where Jocelyn comes in to my life & saves the day.
Jocelyn is a friendly & knowledgeable esthetician & facialist who uses cruelty free & vegan products (who needs bugs or sheep fat in their skincare?!). Her gentle, but effective treatments are just what my sensitive skin needs & I leave feeling relaxed & soothed, despite having extractions!
Her prices are in line with the current market, plus she runs specials & has a client card that gives the 11th facial free! I just wish my pocketbook was in line with the current market, so I could go to her more often!

Do you like beer? Do you like tacos? Do you like Jackfruit? Ha, gotcha! You don't know what jackfruit is, do you?! YOU LOSE.
Okay look, Pure Luck is the home of delicious jackfruit tacos, burritos, & BBQ sandwiches. Jackfruit looks like pork, it pretty much tastes like pork, but it contains 100% less pig murder than pork. YOU WIN (as do the adorable piglets)!

Besides the jackfruit, they have fried pickle chips, salads, awesome plantain tacos, sweet potato fries, & an awesome beer selection! When you're done, you can go across the street to be disappointed by Scoops running out of vegan ice cream. Yes, you read that right.

The husbandguy & I loved the jackfruit tacos so much, once we got home, I had to try my hand at making them. Guess what? It worked. Until you get your ass to Pure Luck, you can make your own: http://theurbanhousewi...

Move over Pinkberry, THE VEGANS ARE COMING & they want frozen yogurt!! Tangy & delicious soy frozen yogurt is something that should not be denied to anyone & thankfully, Fraiche has the goods.

Creamy, dreamy plain soy frozen yogurt, topped with your toppings of choice from fruit to nuts to shaved Callebaut dark chocolate will pop in to your mind at the oddest times & you'll find yourself tempted to cruise down the 101 in need of a fix. That's right, a fix. I am a Fraiche addict & completely unashamed to admit it.

Did I mention it's a guilt-free treat as well? Yeah, go there.. now.

Pure Food & Wine is a raw foodist's dream!
We decided to go all out & had the 5 course tasting menu, which is chef's choice & each member of the table is given different menu items, as to maximize your dining experience. We shared everything & tried so many dishes, it's hard to review them all, but many were noteworthy!
The Spicy Thai Lettuce Wraps with Tamarind Chile sauce are a fresh & flavorful starter. The Biriyani topped with Coconut Curried vegetables & the Chanterelle Mushroom and Kalamata Olive Ravioli were both beautiful second course selections.
The White Corn Tamale with Cacao Mole sauce, mushrooms, salsa verde, & avocado is AWESOME! We had a hard time sharing this dish & I would definitely order this in the future.
The desserts at Pure Food & Wine are outstanding! Vanilla Pink Peppercorn ice cream was paired with Chocolate Molten Lava cake, Mint ice cream was layered with a center of Raw Cookie Dough to form a cake slice, then drizzled in chocolate. My favorite was the Classic Sundae; vanilla & chocolate ice cream with cherry framboise, chocolate sauce, bananas, and candied almonds!
All in all, I love this format for raw food, it's fresh, creative, memorable, & not drowning in new age gimmick.
Find out more details on my blog: http://theurbanhousewi...

I am a picky, picky woman. I love food, but there's some things I require when dining out. Two major points are; I like ordering food I can't easily make at home & I like CREATIVE food!
Candle 79 is a beautiful restaurant that has all the things I look for in a dining experience! In fact, I enjoy it so much, I've dined here twice in a week.

First of all, the Seitan Chimichurri is amazing & must be tasted to be believed!
Dishes I tried were the Cornmeal Crusted Eggplant, Black Pepper & Balsamic Seitan, a Dijon Lentil Stew with Collared Greens topped with Kabocha Pumpkin wrapped in thinly sliced Yukon Gold Potatoes & shredded apples with a Pomegranate sauce (Special Entree), & the Pumpkin Seed & Sage Crusted Tempeh - seriously, ALL FABULOUS!

Sadly, I found the desserts here to be lacking, but not so much I'd give this place 4 stars. The ice creams are nice, but nothing to marvel over & the apple pie I had wasn't my taste at all. I would skip the dessert & revel in the fabulousness of your meal!

For a FULL review on each dish, check out my blog post: http://theurbanhousewi...

Much to my surprise, Vegetarian / Vegan options in the Monterey / Carmel area are few & far between. I expected to be knee deep in hippie hangouts & crunchy granola, but I was WRONG-O.

Enter Central Avenue Bakery in Pacific Grove, now here's a vegetarian & vegan hippie joint I can get behind! They have a large selection of baked goods, breakfast items, lunch fare & even vegan cheeses. They make their own bread, things are organic, musicians hang out & play the fiddle, everything is mismatched, & everyone is friendly and happy!

The food isn't amazing & the service is VERY laid back, but the atmosphere was charming, the wi-fi is free, & a piece of cake was on the house when the pastry chef found out it was our anniversary.

The cinnamon swirl french toast was VERY good & made on their own bread. Get that! Seriously. I could have passed on the muffin I had & I am kicking myself for skipping the cinnamon rolls. Also, one of our dishes came with little strawberries grown in the owner's garden! Very cute!

Go here & support this adorable hippie haven! NOW.