Vegan Eats on Either Coast

I feel like I've been bopping all over the place since I got back from Uganda. The Monday before last I went down to New York for my Yaddo pal John Searles's book launch (more about Help for the Haunted soon), and had an exquisite tapas dinner at Sacred Chow with Steve beforehand. (We hadn't seen each other since London at the end of 2010, so it took me awhile to get used to seeing him with no dreads!)Smoky home fries, BBQ'd ginger seitan, Dijon marinated raw kale, grilled black olive seitan, root vegetable latkes, (those waffley things—they came with a delicious sour-creamish sauce), and sunflower lentil pâté with jicama. I could hardly pick a favorite.Turns out Steve is a vegetarian now. I used to think of him whenever anybody mentioned chicken quesadillas, so it feels good to see him eating healthier foods.Banana pound cake and a macaroon with blueberry compote. Not the sort of macaroon I was expecting, but it was still pretty tasty.Then last weekend I went to San Francisco for Aravinda and Nevin's wedding (more on that soon, too), and the day before I met up with Spencer for lunch at Herbivore on Valencia Street. His "meatballs" were really delicious, and my grilled corn-cake platter was a welcome change from the tofu scrambles I usually order for brunch (mostly at Trident).Black beans, salsa, guacamole, home fries, and grilled corn cakes with vegan sour cream.Minnie Minster promised a vegetarian Indian buffet after the wedding, and HOLY MOLY was it ever good. That's a masala dosa.On Monday I wandered around the Ferry Building before meeting up with a new friend to watch America's Cup, and found a juice bar and vegan doughnut stand right next to each other. I guess they kinda cancel each other out, but don't know that I've ever had a vegan doughnut before, so I couldn't resist. It was insanely delicious. (Blueberry frosting!)(Random sign that made me smile. Probably not vegan though...)