Turning Tricks Into Brunch, SLC's Newest Brunch Spot

"Bacon" Cheese Breakfast Sandwich

Hands Down The Winner!

     It's called the Metro and Cafe 540 now, but the building has a special place in my heart. When I landed in this salty city, the old owners were the first one to give me a job slinging drinks. It's where I met a lot of awesome people and started to acclimate to the city.Then they closed while I was snowboarding (and studying) in the Andes. When they first opened as a bar (Metro), I had to sneak in and see what happened to the place. The new owners kept the charm of the old place, which way way back was a house of ill repute (a plaque outside explains the buildings' past). I was more excited to see the long dormant building vibrant again. As the bar portion, the Metro has been hosting the monthly vegan drinks, including some amazing specialty cocktails and a potluck. No pictures, but I think I had this crazy alcoholic rootbeer float thing that was surprisingly delicious. Not to mention, the vegan white Russians were always on hand! To top things off, they donate a portion of the proceeds to Ching Farm Sanctuary. So when they announced a food menu, my ears perked up.

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Vanilla French Toast

Just Like Mom Used To Make!

     After returning from the desolate desert of West Wendover, the special one and I decided to sample their menu. It was only their first week with the brunch menu, so there was some bumps in the road, but the food didn't disappoint. Along with food, they have  intriguing brunch cocktails, but drinks were the farthest thing from my mind. Unto the food, the clear winner was the cheesy bacon sandwich. I'm not sure what they do to the tofu, but the special one and I were fighting over the piece sandwiched between two savory biscuits and slathered in cheese. If I had my wish, I would double or triple the "bacon" on that sandwich and then it would be outstanding. The vanilla french toast was up next. The special one said it tasted just like her grandma's world famous french toast, so I doubt you need any more validation. If you never heard of it, I guess you just ain't in the know. Either way, I won't hold it against you, but it was delicious.

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Biscuits and Country Gravy 

County Gravy!

Vertical Diner got me on the biscuits and gravy kick. Up until then, I've never had them. Vertical sets a high bar with one of, if not the best, vegan gravy I've had. These were pretty good with the country gravy, but I still give the crown to vertical. My only compliant on the menu was that the menu said has browns, but they were really cut up french fries. I'm kinda serious about hash browns, so that was a disappointment, especially since we ordered so much food. Tried as I may and I couldn't finished the third plate of the french browns even with the help of sriracha. Rumor has it there was a vegan omelette but wasn't on the menu. If they iron out the hash brown and get that omelette on the menu (they would be the first to have a vegan omelette in the city!) , Cafe 540 will be a perennial brunch spot. I'll have to investigate their dinner menu. 

Vegan Menu

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Pumpkin For My Punkin!!!

Pumpkin French Toast And Pumpkin Tofu Scramble

   With O.J. & French Pressed Cafe Ibis Kona Coffee 

  

     It's sad. I realized that complete with work, commuting and sleep that I'm left with only 4 hours left in the day. So I've been slacking on the posting, especially for the vegan month of food. I only made two posts in October. Oh wells. However, I haven't stopped cooking! Instead, I just have a backlog of posts to get through. Not to mention the plethora of cookbooks and the donut pan that I bought. Most of my best cooking comes on weekends when my only enemy is how long I can sleep in. When the special one had a late night, I decided to sneak out to the store and surprise her with breakfast. She's not called the special one for nothing, so I decided to demonstrate my affection through cooking. How do I love thee, let me cut and caramelize an onion for me...or something like that.

Pumpkin Tofu Scramble

Nothing Says Fall Like Pumpkin

     Although, I failed at the vegan month of food. I have been following the posts and have a mounting list of recipes to try. This was one from AstroNOMZ was one of them that I finally got to. I was expecting a stronger pumpkin flavor, but in all honesty, I didn't have all the spices so I'll still give it another try. It's the first time, I added greens to the scramble so I was nervous, but it was a hit with the special one! The greens I added were arugula and parsley that I had leftover from my CSA with Bell Organic. Did I mention that this has ginger in it? Yup, everything is better with ginger.

Pumpkin French Toast aka Freedom Toast!

Freedom Toast > Freedom Fries, Just Saying!

     I've gushed like a Bieber fan enough about Isa's Vegan Brunch already so I won't subject you to my admiration. Hands down the best cookbook that I own. Sorry, I couldn't resist. I haven't checked in a while but I believe that I'm just a few recipes from cooking everything in it, though most I have documented. This recipe is no exception. it's kinda like the Banana Rabanada, but with pumpkin instead of bananas. I didn't get pictures, but I used the seeded baguette from Crumb Brothers, an organic bakery in Logan (and maybe the best name for a bakery period!). I think next time I'll add a bit of sweeter so to make the flavors pop a little more.I paired everything with French Pressed Kona organic coffee from Logan's Caffe Ibis and Apple Sage Sausage from Field Roast because you can't cook everything.

Vegan Brunch

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Doing The Horizontal with Vertical Diner

Buffalo Tigers

One Of The Best Vegan Buffalo Wings In The Country.

    I have a love/hate relationship with Vertical Diner. They have so much unrealized potential that they could be great like Chicago Diner or Spiral Dinner, but they fall short. It's not that they aren't good, but they could be great. The things they do well are the hand cut freedom fries, the tender and buffalo tigers (and the ranch),  biscuits and the best vegan gravy, sausage patties and awesome jerk and chicken flavored seitan.      

     For a real treat, try the American Diner, which is a plate of freedom fries (or hash browns as if you would choose them) topped with two deep fried tender tigers (like chicken fingers) smothered in an amazing gravy. Just don't eat anything before or after, I can only imagine how many calories this has. Things started to pick up when one of the chefs started to get creative with specials such as stuffed french toast, but he was fired, just as we started to get on the right track. Oh wells.

Jerk Chicken Sub

Tip: Sub The Sour Cream For Ranch AND Add Fries!

      Unfortunately, they're still stuck in the 90's with the nutritional yeast cheese for things like cheese fries and quesadillas. And the tofu scramble is one of the weakest, I've ever eaten. Oh, and instead of a homemade veggie burger they use Sunshine and Boca burgers. Yawn.

Jamaican Me Dream

Basically D.I.Y. Burritos: Jerk Seitan, Rice & Beans, Peppers & Onions

     Vertical Diner is the sister restaurant of Sage's Cafe (and part of Ian Brandt's vegan empire). It's a lower cost alternative with generally speedier service, but the menu is fairly identical to Sage's and hasn't changed much since opening in 2006. If you're headed to brunch on the weekend, Sage's food is much fresher since Vertical's sits in the line until your order, which if you get to there mid day or evening the food could be there for hours. I've had many old food experiences there. Regardless, it used to be my favorite restaurant in town, until Isa's Vegan Brunch came my way and showed me how good breakfast could be. Waffles. Tofu Benedicts. Omelets. Frittatas. Banana Rabanada. Tempeh Sausage Pastry Puffs. Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes. Crepes. Quiche. Seriously, brunch could be awesome. Still, it's cool to sleep in and order the Avalanche, two giant pancakes, tofu scramble, sausage patty and hash browns. It would take me until dinner to make all that. Oh, and skip dessert and head to Cakewalk instead, that's where the real desserts in this town are.

Shoo Fly Cake

Not Too Sweet, But No Sage's Tiramisu

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Check Out These Older Posts:

Happy Brett Day! Help Brett Raise Money For WoodStock Animal Sanctuary In His First Marathon Run!

Read It HERE





Cooking With Bell Organic: 

 Baked Tofu Smothered in Peanut Sauce with Steamed Vegetables Along with Spicy Peanut Rice and Citrus Collards with Raisins Redux 

Read It HERE

 Rocking The Shamrock Shake:

  Read It And Recipe HERE














 

Cooking With Compassion Over Killing:

Pine Nut And Basil Seared Gardein "Chicken" Over A Bed Of Brown Basmati Rice And Gingered Kale

Read It HERE 

The Best Tacos Ever!!!

Courico Tacos With Grilled Pineapple Salsa

      I tend to be critical of the recipes that I make, but these are the best tacos I've ever had. It might be the best thing I've ever made. Lately, I've had some misses, which I'll post, so I turned to the trusted Vegan Brunch. A courico is a Portuguese version of a chorizo sausage. These tacos burst with sour, sweet and smokey flavors. Wow, just wow. My taste buds were very happy. Top them with Daiya Pepperjack cheese (Cakewalk is the only place in Salt Lake to get it) and it's even more impressive. Best of all, the marjoram that the recipe calls for comes from my Early Spring Share CSA Draper Utah's Bell Organic. While Salt Lake is lacking when it comes to vegan Mexican food, unless you count beans and rice, this meal would beat anything at Red Iguana, just saying.

 Butler Soy Curls

     The recipe calls for seitan or Soy Curls, which are all the rage these days. I ordered the Soy Curls from Pangea a while ago, along with white chocolate chips for white chocolate chip ice cream, but didn't know what I was going to do with them. Right out of the package, they don't taste like anything, just really bland, but they really soak up all the flavors. They also claim to use the whole bean, which is awesome. Although, they are GMO free and say no chemical pesticides were used, I wish they were organic. I also wish they were available to purchase locally instead of mail order so I could use them in more recipes. (I'm looking at you Cakewalk Baking Company and Grocery).

Grilled Pineapple Salsa

      I live in an apartment so I'm grill less. I've been looking into purchasing an indoor grill, but it's a daunting task. If you can recommend one, I would be stoked! Instead, I just put these in my skillet and brushed with oil and did some pan searing until caramelized on the outside. Not as cool as grill marks, but it did the trick. If you make these definitely make the salsa. I would like to try this with peaches, so I'm anxious for the first organic crop to arrive. Patience, tiger.

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Vegan Brunch: A Love Affair

Banana Rabanada (Brazilian French Toast)

     I love the idea of brunch. Laying in bed with someone special, and saying, "Opps. We missed breakfast. How about we combine breakfast and lunch together?" And thus brunch was born. I can't think of a better guide to understanding and mastering the two meals in one than Isa's Vegan Brunch: Homestyle Recipes Worth Waking Up For. It's simply one of the easiest and tastiest cookbooks out there. Everything in this post was made from her cookbook. Since I love French Toast, I decided to head south to Brazil to tackle the Bananna Rabanada. That's Brazilian French Toast for you gringos out there. I also paired it with tofu scramble and roasted garlic potatoes, but since I don't like the taste of maple syrup on my scramble, I used two plates. Don't worry, I have a dishwasher.

Banana Rabanada

 

     As long as I've been vegan, I've been making the French Toast from The New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook. I've made it for so long I've memorized the recipe and it's about the only recipe I don't measure for. It's my specialty. Well, it was. This recipe might take the crown. Not to mention it's so easy with blended soymilk and bananas. The hardest part of this recipe is letting a baguette go stale to use in the recipe. But fret not Isa gives a suggestion if you've just come from the bakery. A trick for this recipe is something my mom taught me for making banana bread. Let the bananas get brown/black on the outside before you use them. If your friends come over and they give you the eyes because your bananas look disgusting, chances are they are ready. Thanks for the tip, mom! The recipe really comes together with the mix of cocoa powder and cinnamon that is sprinkled on top.  (Try to use fair trade certified, the farmers will thank you.) 

Tofu Scramble

 

     Remember those tofu scramble packets Fanatistic Foods used to sell? I used to think that was the only way to make it. Luckily, I got wiser. I've tried lots of tofu scramble recipes and even prepared versions from restaurants, but this is hands down the best tofu scramble I've had. Again, it's simple. Basically, tofu, spices and the magical pixie dust aka nutritional yeast. Isa really killed it with this recipe. She also includes tons of variations that I swear I'll try one day.

Roasted Garlic Potatoes

 

     What brunch would be complete without potatoes? Ever since I made this recipe, you can look in my fridge and I always have some on hand. I've taken them to work and eaten them as a snack. Delicious. Not to mention pretty cheap. I usually find organic potatoes for about a dollar per pound. Sometimes, puts russets on sale for about 50 cents a pound, which sucks because this recipe is stellar with Yukon Gold potatoes. I like to soak the potatoes, then scrub them. Let them dry a bit and then coat them up. Then, I let them dry a bit. I think this helps make them not stick to the pan (even though the picture shows me using parchment paper). I've even let them sit in the refrigerator overnight and then roasted them. This time though, I left them in the oven too long and they dried out. Don't do that. Again, Isa has numerous variations for this from fresh herb, lemon pepper to curry. In fact, the garlic is one of her variations. Now get to eating...

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Mele Kalikimaka

Coconut Pancakes with Pineapple Sauce

     In the winter months, a homemade breakfast is a rarity. I'm always checking the forecast, anxiously waiting the next storm and heading to the hill. I used the lull in storms to stay home and make a breakfast that didn't come out of a box. When it comes to breakfast, I generally reach for one of my all time favorite cookbooks, Isa's Vegan Brunch. The recipes are so easy, don't require lots of ingredients and nearly everything I've made has come out amazing. But this comes from her first cookbook Vegan with Vengeance. It's a recipe I've been meaning to try for a while.
     I read cookbooks like people read magazines. I always have pages marked and web browser tabs open.  In the end, I have more recipes to try than days in the week, but I tend to forget what I want to make. I tried a new tactic to combat my forgetfulness: writing the recipes on a dry erase board that hangs on my fridge.

     I wasn't successful. It took a month or two for me to get around to it but I'm glad I did because they were delicious. The batter was simple and just required folding in some shredded coconut to a traditional pancake recipe.

     The star of this recipe was the pineapple sauce. Basically, a can of pineapple in juice with some tapioca starch added and then heated up. Viola! Instant yummyness. I want to try making this sauce with other fruits (cherries! peaches!). But don't tell maple syrup.

 

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