[Thursday April 26th 2012 blog]
Vegan day 117: SWOON Sweets & Savories
Being more of a night person, it’s not the easiest thing to meet people for an early lunch however I finally made it down to the outskirts of Park Slope to meet up with a longtime friend, chef and major fan of all things healthy. Taso of Swoon: Sweets & Savories began a cup cake business a few years back- mini cupcakes– quite the hit! Taso also has an array of home cooked foods including soups, grains, vegetarian meatballs, sushi and all kinds of incredibly delicious treats. He caters to the health conscious, organic, gluten-free, vegan and sugar free fans. People are most intrigued by his organic ring dings and twinkies. Taso uses mostly organic ingredients and takes time to shop for healthy and non-GMO items. What’s vegan?… Are you thinking what I am? No need too- he always tells me so I really don’t even have to ask: some soups, grains, sushi and snacks like his vegan peanut butter cookies. His vegetarian meatballs were my favorite until I went vegan. His vegan sushi with peanuts is incredible if only he could make more to meet the demand– mine especially! He makes vegan mini-cupcakes whenever requested. He says he has a vegan TWINKIE— I’m not gonna lie.. I’m scared to go back to my Twinkie days.. but maybe I’ll try a bite!
I arrived at SWOON CAFE which holds space in a fitness center on President Street (TRIUMPH). Before we could even decide what to try, I had already jumped into a coconut water and a delicious hemp protein smoothie made with almond milk. This “milk issue” is probably a big pet peeve for vegans who want to eat and drink on the run. Can’t more stores offer different milks? It’s not as if half the world is not lactose intolerant anyway… ya know? Soy milk is becoming more popular but you know you have found a more health conscious place when there is almond milk available. Thanks Taso for having that! Other options would be oat, hemp, hazelnut and rice milks! 
If you put sweets in front of me- I will eat them first and I did.. but only one. These literally melt in your mouth. Even my pup Sasha was fighting me for them later in the evening (see my short video below!)
I decided on “California Dreaming”– a sandwich on whole wheat bread which included baked tofu, hummus, sprouts, tomato and Taso’s special secret miso tahini dressing. This item was named after a menu entree from his Mom and Dad back in the 60’s when they would sell vegetarian food (in California) to the hippies- even one of the Beach Boys was a fan. California dreaming.. hmmm.. I guess that’s a popular phrase for all those Cali fans!
Everything was amazing– and then I got the privilege of checking out the local food coop in Park Slope- you have to work a few hours there each month to belong. I am interested! The Park Slope Food Coop has a lot of fresh vegetables, fruits and herbs and an amazing selection of all things healthy. It was a bit crowded for me but I would like to join anyway!
Disclaimer: The information given here is for educational purposes only. You should not use this to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease without consulting with a qualified health care provider.