Our 6 Month Anniversary and 3 Month Vegan-versary Celebration Vegan Style

Becoming vegan is a culmination of our lifelong journey to better health and a better world for our future generations. Choosing to not use animal products has made us become more mindful of every aspect of our lives. We couldn't be more happy. Thank you for coming on this journey with us. 

This past Sunday marked our six month anniversary. It also marked the 3 month anniversary of our becoming vegans. Eating out as Vegans in Utah can be somewhat of a challenge at times. Utah is known for its meat lovers and ice cream lovers. Luckily, Mike's hairdresser Holly's is a vegetarian and gave him several recommendations when she learned that we had gone vegan. 

We decided to go to Spitz in Cottonwood Heights, one of her recommendations. It's a casual eatery with a bar, serving Mediterranean street food.  After doing some research, we found out that they had several locations; 3 in Utah, 2 in California, 1 in Minneapolis and 1 in Portland! We were also excited when we found out that every item on the menu can be "veganized". And, they were open on Sundays!! 

To start off our meal, I decided to order a special off their drink menu, a $3 mimosa. It seems like they were out of orange juice. The quick thinking server suggested he could substitute some mango juice instead my. I decided to go ahead and order it anyway. What the hell, they were both orange and had vitamin C. When he served the mimosa, all I could taste was the cheap champagne anyway. Haha. What else do you expect from a $3 mimosa! Mike ordered a dark lager, which was similar to Wasatch the Devastator Double Bock that he loves.

We decided to go with the vegan Spicy Doner (falafel, pepperoncinis, chili sauce, romaine lettuce, cabbage, onion, tomato, green pepper and cucumber), vegan garden bowl with tahini and dill quinoa (falafel, hummus, berlin slaw, olives, pepperoncinis, cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, carrots, green peppers, crispy garbanzo beans, sumac, parsley and a balsamic vinaigrette instead of tzatziki sauce) and a large order of sweet potato fries.

In retrospect, the Spicy Doner was very spicy. It is usually served with tzatziki sauce (not vegan), which would probably have mellowed out the level of spice. We should have asked for the chili sauce  to be served on the side. It was borderline too spicy. The wrap was similar to a lavish without the chew; it was very good but not entirely authentic. Then again, the chili sauce in a doner wrap isn't entirely Mediterranean either. In the end the Chili Doner was delicious and we would it again.

The vegan garden bowl with tahini and dill quinoa was huge and very satisfying. The crispy garbanzo beans were the highlight of the dish. The balsamic vinaigrette, suggested by the server as a substitute for the yogurt based tatziki sauce, tasted ok with the garden bowl but didn't add much to the already flavorful dish. It would have tasted fine without the dressing, as it was served with a thick and creamy hummus.

Finally, sweet potato fries. Need we say more? We decided to order the large size since we were sharing. We should have ordered a small because we ate every last bit. It was delicious. It didn't come with a dipping sauce but we found that good 'ole ketchup did just fine as a complement.

We were full. The restaurant experience was fun. The service was a bit shoddy, as they seemed to be understaffed. Our eating area was dirty when we sat down and it was never cleaned off through our entire meal. There was only one guy manning the cashier and serving the drinks and food. At one point, it almost seemed like he was cooking the food too! 

I felt for the guy as I have worked in the restaurant industry on and off for over 19 years. He did a pretty good job considering the circumstances. Taking everything into consideration, we would definitely come back again. Maybe we will get our food to go! Either way, everyone deserves an off day and there were many things on the menu we are excited to try!

No meal is complete without dessert, especially ice cream. Since becoming vegan, we eat ice cream nearly every day. Hey, it's vegan right? Haha. Probably not the best thing to do, but we are always on the search for healthy vegan ice cream. We found the best vegan ice cream we have tried in Utah. Actually, it's sorbet. It's made by Bon Bon Gelato. After reading about it on Yelp, we decided to seek out this Bon Bon Gelato. They have several locations including the one we visited at the Jordan Commons in Sandy, UT located in Megaplex Theaters. 

Actually, we had several servings of sorbet that day. We walked through the entire Megaplex and couldn't find Bon Bons. So, we decided to order a strawberry sorbet from Cold Stone Creamery at the end of Megaplex. On our way out of the Megaplex with our large sorbet in hand, we walked right into Bon Bon Gelato. 

The guy at the counter told us they use only fresh ingredients and gave us a sample of their lemon sorbert. So full of flavor and creamy! Tasted just like ice cream. We went ahead and ordered the small lemon and raspberry sorbet. What a deliciously sweet end to a beautiful day. We left full and happy.