After the stair climb race, we used a cool-down walk to head over to Petunia's Pies and Pastries for January's vegan restaurant, while we were already downtown. It's actually not only all vegan, but also gluten-free. I had never heard of Petunia's until we got a gift card for there for our wedding, so we finally got around to using that. And fortunately we had a few dollars left on the gift card, so we'll have to come back.
Website
Genre: Bakery items and pastries, cafe and comfort food entrees
Price: $2.25 (many drinks)/$2.75 (cookies) to $9.50 (some entrees). Most treats $3.75 and most entrees $7 - $8.
Setting: Cutesy, vintagey bakery. Lots of pink and white, and the employees wear vintage-style smocks.
What we tried:
We started with a shared dessert, while our entrees were being prepared. Abe asked what their most popular item was, and they said the salted caramel cookie bar. I can see why this is popular, it's definitely rich and delicious! I'm not always a fan of salted caramel - the salted can be too strong, but not in this case. I'm also not always a fan of sharing a dessert, but this was sufficiently decadent to not mind too much that I only got half.
And then for actual lunch Abe had the Porky's veggie BBQ bowl and I got the Belgian waffle. The bowl was ok (though not my favorite kind of dish, personally), and also a little spicy. Even Abe found it spicy, so it really was. Waffles were great, as just about any waffles are, but really great in that I didn't notice any gluten-free tells. If anything, they seemed slightly like whole-wheat based waffles might be, but still nice and fluffy.
Overall impression: I'm pretty astonished at these items being vegan and gluten-free! Had I not known, I never would have guessed. They also did a nice job with presentation, fitting in with the overall vibe of the place. The entrees (well, his, and they clearly held off on mine to serve them together) took a little while, but I think they were worth it. I found it slightly odd that they served three fourths of a waffle, surely that's not the actual shape of the waffle iron? But I didn't even finish the three sections as it was, so oh well.
Absolutely not a question that we'll be going back! I especially want to try more of the baked goods.
Would I take my parents?*: Definitely! And in-laws, particularly Abe's dad and his girlfriend, as she's gluten-free. For being vegan, the entrees don't seem overly weird, as they sometimes can. I could see my parents enjoying lunch here, plus anyone would love the desserts.
*Scale: Heck no. No. Probably not. Maybe. Eh, yeah. Yes. Definitely.
Salt and Straw's vegan ice cream is made with those salted caramel bars! It's sooo good! I like Petunias. Haven't eaten a meal there, just treats. I'll have to check it out!
ReplyDeleteOooo, that bar in ice cream sounds good, I'll have to check that out.
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