The Chicago Diner, Chicago, IL

Yes, finally, the time has come. I know I'm certainly not the first vegan blogger to write about the Radical Reuben at the Chicago Diner. It seems as though every vegan who visits the windy city (at least, every vegan who also happens to write online), is careful to make a stop at this famed restaurant, serving delicious vegetarian and vegan cuisine since the 1980s, and almost all of them seem to know to try the Reuben.

Finally, I can get over my jealousy. (Of course, now I'm just jealous of those who live in Chicago and can visit the Diner on a regular basis). This sandwich is certainly special. It's been called the best vegan reuben in existence and even though VegNews published their recipe, replication is not easy, as Upton's seitan, the brand they purportedly use, is not available in stores.

After an evening in Hyde Park, and on our way north to Milwaukee, I had to insist we make a stop. After a 30 minute wait (not bad for what I believe was a Saturday afternoon), we got a booth and I was able to sample not only the famed Radical Reuben, but it's counterpart, specially available for the spring/summer only, the California Reuben.




The California Reuben is similar to the Radical Reuben except that the seitan is marinated and prepared to resemble 'turkey' rather than corned beef or pastrami (being from California, I had to laugh), and instead of kraut the sandwich is topped with a crunchy slaw. I was also somewhat confused when the sandwiches arrived, as with the Radical Reuben the dressing for the sandwich was on the side, whereas with the California Reuben, I suppose it's mixed into the slaw. This led to me demolishing my half of the Radical Reuben without even adding the sauce. What can I say, I was hungry and it was still incredible.



The Chicago Diner has also wisely adopted the popular Daiya cheese on their sandwiches. I am a fan of Daiya in general, but I do feel it has a slightly sweet flavor that now I notice it, can be a little distracting. Not being a big fan of fake cheeses in general, I don't claim to be an expert, but in my limited experience, I do feel Daiya is the best and approve of this choice.

I'll just get the obvious over with and reassure you that yes, the Chicago Diner Radical Reuben is just as mind-blowing as everyone says. I think I was literally speechless after my first couple bites. It is very meat-like, which means that vegans with an aversion to the texture and appearance of meat may be put off by it. But those of us with some nostalgia for this messy, hearty deli sandwich, it hits the spot. (And I am in no way a vegan that 'misses' meat or cheese--not at bit).

That said, the sandwich is very juicy, so the bread got a bit soggy. But over all, the proportions were good, the flavors were perfect, the sandwich was very filling and satisfying...and you even got a nice range of choices on sides.

In case you were wondering, the California Reuben was different -- the seitan didn't just have a different color, but tasted different, too, though it was hard to pinpoint in what way exactly--slightly more 'chickeny' perhaps. It was just as juicy and delectable as the Radical, and the slaw instead of kraut was a nice variation. If you can only choose one, I leave it up to you. You can't really go wrong with either.

All in all, it seems redundant to try to rate it. I understand why this is the best, and I certainly urge another in the area to try it out. Followed by a Temptation soy ice cream shake, no matter how full you are.

The Chicago Diner
The Radical Reuben - Seitan, onions, peppers, sauerkraut, vegan Thousand Island, cheese on marble rye. (May need to specify vegan cheese).
The California Reuben (available Spring-Summer 2010) - Roasted agave mesquite "turkey" seitan with vegan coleslaw and cheese on marble rye.
Both 10 bucks.

Served with one side.

And a pickle!

Adventures in Milwaukee

To celebrate finishing graduate school, I prolonged my journey back to the West Coast with some stops in Illinois and Wisconsin, to visit friends and family. Milwaukee was a pleasant town with a surprising number of intriguing vegan options, including at least three vegan reubens. However, we found that--perhaps in order to deal with the brunch crush familiar to many Stumptowners--various places modified or limited their menus on Saturday afternoon, making the delicious sandwich seem at first unattainable. With my good friend and native A. as back-up, we made a few rounds before finally achieving success in the evening.

With a vegan reuben not really described on the menu (denoted only by a * next to their traditional reuben advertising it could be made vegan for a $1 extra), but lauded by many on Yelp, Comet Cafe seemed to me to be the first choice. Though the menu wasn't very specific, it gave me good reason to believe that the reuben was made with Field Roast, which, while I'd tried this combination before in Seattle, made it more interesting to me than the typical tempeh reuben common about town. Unfortunately, at brunch-o-clock, Comet was our first fail. After waiting half an hour for a table, we were told that they don't serve the Reuben before 3 pm on weekends.

We had just been wandering around Riverwest, a sort of up-and-coming hipster neighborhood, and had stopped in at the Riverwest Co-op to investigate and drool over the number of tasty sounding vegan options on their small cafe and deli menu. After deciding to move on from Comet, we returned there, since we recalled a tempeh TRUEBEN listed under lunch. However, what we didn't recall with such clarity was that this place, too, only served breakfast until much later in the afternoon. With an extremely small kitchen, the cooks were firm on this. Foiled again, we settled for vegan biscuits and gravy and a take on bi-bim-bop, incorporating tofu, that was actually quite satisfying.

Somewhat disappointed but not entirely deterred, we resolved that we could get a tempeh vegan reuben at Beans and Barley, a frequently recommended, veg-friendly spot also part of a market, which was already under consideration for dinner that evening. After a local brewery tour (hey, this is a Portland-based blog after all) and various shenanigans, we showed up at Beans and Barley that evening, a little toasted. Again, there was a lengthy wait---which gave me time to scrutinize the menu. One reason Comet had been first on my list for a reuben despite the numerous folks who pointed me towards Beans and Barley was that the menu at Comet made clear that veganization was straightforward and easy. Clearly vegan-friendly, I anticipated no hurdles with this place, but asked the hostess anyway, since the tempeh reuben listed on the menu clearly included real Swiss cheese. Without batting an eye, and extremely cordial, she assured me that veganizing it would be easy -- just substitute the rye bread for white.

What?!

That stopped me in my tracks. Dear readers, you probably know that rye bread is typically vegan. You probably also share my feeling that a reuben is not a reuben if it is not on rye bread. In fact to reprise the definition of a vegan reuben, my standards only include: a vegan protein, sauerkraut, rye bread and a vegan sauce of some sort. I've even been known to accept mustard when vegan Russian or Thousand Islands is not available. But white bread? This could not stand.

Fortunately, A. is very patient and flexible (in case you are wondering, my usual dining companion, B., was busy driving all of our stuff back across the country), and we high-tailed it back to Comet again, full of anticipation.

The place was still crowded, but we avoided a wait and snagged seats at the perfectly comfortable but admittedly dim bar, where we continued to get inebriated and ordered the vegan reuben as well as the vegan gyro.

Man, that is a lot of Field Roast and I have to respect it. The bread was a light caraway rye and probably grilled coated in margarine, as it was quite crunchy and salty. Though B. was not present, he would have appreciated the presence of a pickle spear. The heap of fries was very generous. I found the sauerkraut to be a little sparse, but perhaps that was in contrast to the huge slabs of Field Roast. Despite the excessive grease and salt (or perhaps because?), it was pretty tasty. Admittedly, given the lack of light and the speed at which I wolfed it down, I didn’t notice too much about the sauce (or whether or not there was vegan cheese, which I doubt). A. however, recalls the sauce being “really good” (he also agreed there was possibly too much Field Roast, though it paired well with the rye). All in all, I was quite satisfied, and not to mention pleased that our Milwaukee vegan reuben quest had ultimately been successful. The gyro wasn't bad either, also generously proportioned, though with not quite as high a ratio of the chewy seitan to other ingredients.



Thanks to A. for the phone shot, as my camera was not coming through.

Comet Cafe
1947 N. Farwell, Milwaukee
Veganized reuben (Field Roast with kraut and Reuben sauce on a light caraway rye, fries included). $9.50.

Important news!

For one, I am back in Portland, albeit only for a few weeks. In the process of re-immersing myself in the vegan food culture (that is, acquainting myself with all these new food cart options), I have good news in that I have discovered a new vegan reuben to review, one which sounds quite unique and exciting. Just when I thought I'd exhausted the possibilities here in Stumptown! Look for that in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, you should know that the Radical Reuben at the Chicago Diner will soon be featured on TLC in an episode of Best Food Ever, a new food series narrated by John Goodman. The Radical Reuben has been praised up and down by various vegetarian and vegan outlets--about time the general public got a closer look, too. Don't miss it on Monday, May 24th--check your local listings for the air time.

Til later!

Corned Seitan Reuben

I modified this recipe:

1/2 cup pinto beans, mashed well
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp rice vinegar (didn't have any apple cider vinegar)
1 cup water combined with 2 teaspoons miso to create broth
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp liquid smoke
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp caraway seeds
1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp molasses (optional)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1 1/4 cups vital wheat gluten

Mix the wet ingredients and dry ingredients in separate bowls, then add the wet to the dry, mixing well with your hands.

I used my pressure cooker to cook the seitan. The cooker I purchased in India has a metal insert, essentially two small stacking pans that fit inside the cooker, used to cook dal and rice at the same time. I thought the steel cylinder would be a good stand-in for the foil wrapping called for in the original recipe.



I kneaded the seitan dough then shaped it into a rough ball and plopped it into the cooking container (the lower of the two sections). I added a bay leaf to the steaming water. Instead of steaming for 50 minutes as the original recipe calls for, I pressure cooked it for about 45 minutes.



The unusual, um, texture you see there is the fact that my home-cooked, fork-mashed beans were not quite as well mashed as they could have been.

After cooking the seitan had expanded some, but not a ton, but was nice and firm so I pulled it out and let it sit.

We made the standard dressing of 2 parts vegan mayo, 1 part ketchup (or if like us, you don't use ketchup often enough to have it in the house, use tomato sauce), 1 part mustard, 1 part capers or minced pickle and 1 part minced onion.

B. baked this rye bread from a recipe I found online -- we just happened to have all the ingredients. Pretty good for a first attempt at baking bread (though he's become an expert bagel-baker).



After letting the seitan sit for about 20 minutes, we toasted the bread (the loaves were small, per the recipe, so a sandwich was about the size of a half sandwich), warmed up the kraut on the stove, and assembled!



Over all, I thought the recipe was pretty solid, though not too much different from other steamed seitan recipes I've tried. I like that I now have a method of cooking seitan that doesn't involve using tin foil, and look forward to experimenting to see if I can get a denser, firmer 'meat' by cooking longer. B. thought the cloves were a bit strong, so I might leave those out in the future. I've made steamed seitan before, and can't believe this is the first time I've offered a recipe. It's no Chicago Diner, but not bad, and incredibly easy. We recommend the bread, too!

TRUEBEN: Tempeh Reuben on Rye at The Green Sage (Asheville, NC)

Sorry for the bad photo--the Green Sage had a nice atmosphere but was admittedly a bit dimly lit.

Here, however, is a beautiful photo that I found on Flickr.

Though ultimately the tempeh reuben at Green Sage was nothing revelatory, after various veganization fails, I was grateful to finally sit down to this hearty and comforting, though familiar, vegan reuben.

Though the Green Sage is clearly very vegan friendly (as well as environmentally friendly, like most places in Asheville, with composting and bike delivery), you do need to request the reuben vegan. (I'm labeling it a trueben nonetheless because the vegan option is clearly indicated on the menu and easy to order). There are four side options, all vegan: regular fries, sweet potato fries, soup (they have a vegan vegetable lentil) and salad. We went for the salad, which you can tell from the picture, was pretty generous.

Though the website claims they are open late, and that the kitchen is open til close, I would call if coming for dinner. Our first attempt to go failed because I called ahead and the staff informed me the kitchen was closing shortly, well before 9 pm.

As for the sandwich, it includes tempeh, sauerkraut, russian dressing and a modest amount of avocado on a light caraway rye. B. thought the tempeh had a slightly mushroomy flavor. I definitely detected a lot of soy sauce in the marinade. Over all the sandwich was pretty well-balanced. The tempeh didn't overwhelm, but I might have liked a little more kraut.

Over all this is a solid sandwich, and if in Portland, we'd probably give it a 3.5. There are more exciting options in Asheville, to be sure, but I appreciated the easy veganization (including a clearly marked menu) and hearty portions at Green Sage. At the price (8 bucks) it seemed like a good deal, and avocado was subbed for cheese without any fuss. Also a nice local beer, Pisgah Pale, is to be had on tap. The Green Sage seems like a good spot for various dietary inclinations--the vegan breakfast menu looks great and they also offer omni as well as gluten free options. In the heart of downtown Asheville, it's a convenient spot for visitors, especially those of us who like to eat healthy, local and organic, to grab a bite.

The Green Sage
5 Broadway Street
Asheville, NC

March Reuben Roundup

Okay, and yes, I can't help reporting that Ruben Studdard has gone vegan.

In Chicago, a new brewery offers a Tempeh Reuben with cheese, but vegan russian dressing and bread--begging to be veganized. Though some may argue that Chicago doesn't really need another vegan reuben, I am willing to bet that the offering of Cafe Samana, in Tulsa, OK, is probably welcomed by local vegetarians and vegans. Meanwhile, The Urban Housewife chimes in on some L.A. reuben finds. And if you are ever driving from Providence to New York, check this place out. The Cornell Daily Sun reports on a tasty-sounding spicy tempeh reuben at the Giving Tree Cafe. Those in Ohio should seek out the Mustard Seed Cafe, according to this blogger. Upscale vegan dining in West Virginia's oldest town at the Stone Soup Bistro, tempeh TRUEBEN included.

Earlier I blogged about new Berkeley addition, Nature's Express. Check out this review.

And on to the recipes!

For a change of pace, and in honor of St. Patty's Day, here's a fresh kraut recipe, recommended for vegan reubens.



Here's another recipe I haven't posted yet--a seitan reuben.



Not that you need more instruction, but here's another vegan tempeh reuben, this one poached and fried. And here's another creative tempeh reuben recipe that bears mentioning. Though I often prize my IPA too much to cook with it, this seems like a tasty approach to a tempeh reuben marinade.

This one looks good, too.



After all that, I for one intend to test this recipe for corned beef seitan myself!

The Crunch and Munch at the Green Republic, Key West, FL

We entered this spare, hip, eco and veg-friendly sandwich, salad and smoothie shop in Key West because we'd heard it was one of the top three destinations on the island for vegan food. When I saw that the sandwich called the Crunch and Munch was essentially a reuben -- with vegan "corned beef," sauerkraut, cheese and mustard subjected to a panini press -- I knew I had to try it, despite the fact it was $5.95 with a $1.50 bump to make it vegan.



I have to admit, I was a little disappointed, and not so much about the price of this slender sandwich (you can make it a double-decker for a total of $8.95, before veganization), but the lack of imagination. The bread, a light caraway rye, was warm and crispy, but the insides were still a bit cold. B. agreed it would have been better cooked more. I was surprised that it contained such a small quantity of vegan meat and cheese, with a modest application of kraut and mustard. Over all, I would say it was a good sandwich, but not great, and there are probably better options on the menu, which was extensive and creative. Truthfully, we had a vegan Cuban (Fidelito) first, and perhaps the Crunch and Munch simply paled in comparison to that flavor combination.



Isn't a Cuban sandwich -- with ham, swiss cheese and pickle -- basically a Latin Reuben anyway?

Green Republic
521 Fleming
Key West, FL