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Eat this: Vermicelli rice bowl at Mariposa Coffee Bar
I’ve been eating a lot of plant-based food lately. At first, I was actively seeking it out as part of a commitment to go vegan in January. I chronicled my discoveries in this column, and was pleasantly surprised to find complex, flavorful dishes like mole negro at Copal, Detroit-style pizza and wings at Bookie’s, an Indian feast at Namaste Indian Bistro and a killer sweet potato and avocado sandwich on homemade bread at The Grove Cafe and Bakery.
But once my eyes were open, I realized that vegetarian and vegan meals are everywhere these days. Restaurants like Pretty Good Advice, Mariposa Coffee Bar and Honey B Market are offering entirely meat-free menus, and more and more restaurants are paying attention to their vegan options. Now you can find black bean smash burgers, chimichangas packed with sauteed veggies, epic salads loaded with organic produce and hand-wrapped crystal dumplings stuffed with oyster mushrooms and tofu.
This week, I compiled some of my favorite findings into a list of 13 Santa Cruz County restaurants that, I think, are setting a new standard of plant-based dining in our community.
One of my favorite dishes on this list is the vermicelli rice bowl ($12) at Mariposa Coffee Bar in downtown Santa Cruz. Owners Tram Vu and Chelsea Cabrera showcase the authentic coffee traditions of both Vietnam and Cuba at their downtown coffeehouse, and offer a small but mighty menu of Vietnamese and Cuban street food – all vegetarian. The rice bowl is the lunch of my dreams: cool rice noodles topped with fistfuls of fresh herbs and greens, an umami-packed peanut sauce, Vu’s homemade chili sauce, and crispy shallots and sesame seeds for crunch. Vu’s homemade nem nuong meat substitute (additional $4) – she developed the recipe herself and says it’s a secret – closely mimics the taste and texture of Vietnamese sausage. At first glance it looks big enough to share, but I’ve never made it out of the café without finishing the whole bowl.
1010 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz; mariposacoffeebar.com.
Best of the Week Ahead
Below, find a curated list of the best food and drink events in Santa Cruz County for the coming week. At the top, I share my picks of unmissable local happenings.
News of the week
ICYMI – here are the food news stories from Lookout that you might have missed, plus important news from beyond our borders picked by yours truly.
- Eaters Digest: Zucchina Roman-style pizza at Rustico Italian Street Food (Lookout)
- Here are the concerns with artificial food dyes as California weighs a ban in schools (NPR)
- Ron Mansfield, a California grape-growing legend, has died (San Francisco Chronicle)