Sunday, February 5, 2012

My Vegan Date

I had a Saturdate with a super hot man and we went on a Vegan Adventure! Besides our regular Friday or Saturday night dates, Mike and I each take a turn, once a month, planning a Saturdate. The rules are that it has to be cheap and when possible include something on our list of places to see or things to do.
Mike buying our DART tickets.
A real Texan, driving a car, not a horse.
We live just north of the fabulous Dallas metroplex. We are in love with and obsessed with New York City. We watch movies about it and shriek when we see a place we've been to. We love the food, the diversity, the lights and the energy. While we try to get to New York when we can, Dallas is our own mini-NewYork with skyscrapers, the DART rail (our own version of the subway) and the eclectic people and restaurants of a buzzing downtown. 

So cool that something is
underground in Dallas.
For those who've never visited Dallas, we don't ride horses, wear cowboy hats and chew sprigs of wheat. I visited Scotland a few years ago and the kind people I stayed with had apparently watched the soap opera Dallas one too many times. When I told them we didn't even own horses, much less ride them into town to go to the General store it was if I told them Santa Clause didn't exist.  But I digress...
Us on the DART rail.
So Saturday morning we got ready and headed over to the North Carrollton DART rail station. We purchased our train tickets and boarded the (extra clean) DART rail headed for downtown Dallas. It was about a 45 minute ride but it totally reminded me of New York (minus the pushing and shoving of the routine boarding/unloading at each stop). 

Hey! It's me at City Place station.
THE tallest escalator ever (and kinda artsy too)
We took the green line towards Buckner and got off at the West End stop, waiting only a few minutes before boarding the blue line towards CityPlace. This DART rail rides above ground most of the time but you can't imagine my delight as we neared the City Place stop that we began our decent into the belly of Dallas. It was JUST LIKE NY!! We exited at City Place to a completely modern and oddly quiet platform. As we rounded a corner, we came face to face with the largest escalator I've ever seen. We rode two sets of escalators to the top (nearly six stories). We exited and not 20 yards in front of us was the McKinney Avenue Trolley stop. 

A real, live trolley with conductor - FREE!
The McKinney Avenue Trolley is a restored, vintage trolley that runs a course around Uptown Dallas passing landmarks such as the Magnolia Theater, Hotel ZaZa, Stoneleigh Hotel, The Meyerson Symphony Center, the Nasher Sculpture Center and the Dallas World Aquarium. 

Our MAT ride. We made the photo black
and white so it would be a vintage picture.
We boarded the quaint, and wonderfully heated, Trolley and rode through Uptown. It was so delightful! We got off at Routh street and headed NW toward Howell street where we found our little vegan gem, The Dream Cafe. I don't want to mislead you. The Dream Cafe is not completely vegan but there are some little treasures on the menu. 

Oops, was so hungry, forgot to
take a picture before eating.
The wind had been blowing cold air on us during our little walk to the cafe so when we walked in and were met with warm air and the smell of delicious baked goods, I was in heaven.

I ordered a Tofu Scramble with spinach and mushrooms, vegan sausage and a side of fruit. Mike ordered the same but with eggs and cheese. When the food arrived, I was excited and then slightly saddened. They had put the most delicious and delicate looking popover on the plate with strawberry butter. Now, I must say, I believe in this vegan lifestyle but I won't lie and say I don't miss real butter and buttery flakey breads.  I must confess, I knew it was made with butter but I tried one bite of the popover - that's it! And immediately I felt bad.  But normally I would have eaten the whole thing and thought nothing of it. So in the end I may have had a flakey falter but in the grand scheme I have come a long way. 
A bonus picture. Mike is an artist and, although I'm his wife,
I think he has such an artsy eye! I'll post more of his artwork later. 

The tofu scramble was pretty good. I don't like my tofu in cubes so next time I think I might "scramble" it a little more.

With our bellies full and my toes defrosted, we finished our Trolley ride and made our way back north on the DART rail. If you are ever in Dallas, make sure you ride the McKinney Avenue Trolley. It was my favorite part of the day.

2 comments:

  1. Y'all should check out the V-Spot, it's a vegan cafe on Henderson avenue! I've been wanting to go and write a review of the place, but most of my friends are unapologetic carnivores.

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    1. Hey Eateranonymous! Thanks for the tip. I am anxious to try it.

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