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Good Food
Good FoodRastafarian Vegan Rocks, Sicilian Soul Satisfies
By Zachary D. Lyons
Aug 01, 2002 -- This being the "Lake Union" issue, I was psyched to tell the world about a little place I found called "Hooters". But my boss nixed that. Apparently the name has nothing to do with the lake's waterfowl. Frustrated, I abandoned the neighborhood altogether. If I wasn't going to be allowed to write about mediocre Buffalo Wings and skimpy t-shirts tightly wrapped around artificially enhanced body parts, then I might just as well write about absurdly good Sicilian food and vegan sandwiches served by conscientious people elsewhere.
Ayinde Howell, owner of Hillside Quickies on Brooklyn. Zachary D. Lyons photo. |
At Hillside Quickie's Vegan Sandwich Shop, the question, "Where's the beef?" is best answered, "Who cares, 'cause this stuff rocks!" Ayinde Howell serves up some of the best sandwiches in town at the corner of NE 41st and Brooklyn, and all of them are vegan and organic.
The menu is not sprouts and curried potatoes, but it is designed with the restricted-diet diner in mind. Soy and grain based vegetable proteins are available, and he even accounts for wheat sensitivities, such as with the Millet Burrito. He jokingly calls it "vegan fast food" because of the assorted vegan burgers and non-meat meat sandwiches on the menu.
Howell draws his recipes from the repertoire of his father, who raised him in a Rastafarian household, even though he came from Alabama. The Crazy Jamaican and Mama Africa burgers, Jamaican Spice Tempeh sub, and the Jamaican TLT all draw from this. But a little New York is thrown in, too, with the Tofustrami and the NY Deli Tofu subs, and Howell shows he's not an uptight vegan with The Tofu Thingee sandwich.
Howell and his dad make their own Seitan--frustrated with commercial Seitan they tried. The result is a Seitan Steak Sandwich that made this meat-eating Philly boy cheer. Okay, it's nothing like a Cheese Steak, but it is really, really good. I thought it odd that he put potato salad on it, but who was I to question the chef? And good thing I didn't. It worked remarkable well. We had a club version of the Jamaican TLT which also rocked. And the fries--spuds lightly fried, and dusted generously with a spicy red mixture--were awesome. Even the side of Mac & Yease (his made up word for nutritional yeast) was great--made with whole wheat pasta, no less! There are plenty of terrific vegan sweets in the front case for dessert, too.
Hillside Quickie's, 4106 Brooklyn Ave NE, 632-3037, Open Monday - Saturday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m., NO CARDS, $.
Mark Loudermilk, Zane McGee-Loudermilk and Susie McGee dig into tasty food served by Mary Livengood at La Medusa. Zachary D. Lyons photo. |
If eating at Columbia City's La Medusa transports your taste buds to Sicily, a short conversation with co-owner and chef Sherri Serino will have you packing up the house to move there. Such is the passion she brings with her to this South End jewel.
Italian food seems as American as, well, pizza anymore. Not La Medusa's. Serino's obsession with her grandmother's Sicily, and her love of her Nona Maria Agnes Lucania's cooking, have resulted in a menu which pays brilliant homage to the island's food. In fact, Serino, and partner Lisa Becklund, try to get back to Sicily once a year, where they eat their way around Nona's hometown of Palermo.
They buy much of their fresh ingredients from the Columbia City Farmers Market each Wednesday, and they use organically grown ingredients as much as possible. They work with seafood suppliers who are conscientious of how their seafood is harvested. They plan their menus seasonally to match local availability of ingredients, while working to mirror the seasons in Sicily as well.
We started with a grilled sardine, which is not always on the menu, as they are not always available. We just lucked out. If they offer them when you, order them without hesitation. Nothing like what comes out of a sardine can, a grilled fresh sardine is incredible, and they sided ours with a wonderfully complimentary sauce, a nice arugula salad, and some lightly pickled sweet red onions.
The menu is broken into in five sections, including three terrific Sicilian (not like goopy American) pizzas, and several wonderful pasta dishes. There is also a fresh fish del giorno, grilled whole, and other entrees. We tried the Pizza Prosciutto. It featured thin but nicely chewy pizza dough with very light coatings of marinara and mozzarella, then topped with fresh arugula and delicious Prosciutto di Parma. I will return for this pie soon. Two of us could have easily been satisfied with this pizza and the sardine, but we knew you wanted to hear about the pasta, too, so several slices were saved for a nice lunch the next day.
It was very difficult to choose which pasta to try. They all looked so good. We went for the Pasta con Bottarga--spaghetti tossed with tuna roe, garlic, tomato and parsley, and topped with bread crumbs. The tuna roe was dry-cured, which brought out the intensity of their flavor. We had no leftovers with this dish. Fortunately, a friend at the next table let me try the Gamberoni Di Serino--penne, wild white gulf prawns, lots of garlic, pepper flakes and escarole. The tiny penne noodles simply partied in the powerful spicy, garlicky sauce which celebrated the lovely shrimp.
Every dessert is made in house, including a nice Cannoli, the smooth but powerful Chocolate-Espresso Torte, and several refreshing sorbets and gelatos. The Strawberry-Rhubarb Sorbetto will knock your socks off.
La Medusa, 4857 Rainier Ave S, 723-2192, Open Tuesday - Thursday, 5-9 p.m., Friday & Saturday, 5-10 p.m., NO CHECKS, $$-$$$.
Reader Comments
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| donna floyd | Oct 08, 2002 | atlanta,ga | csr |
| I would really like to experience your food. The article is great and i wish you would open a resturant like that here for all the true Rastafarians. I have just recently coxnverted to rastafarianism and i love it. Thank you | |||
