The magic at the rear of the vegan consolation meals at V-Grits
I had a pit beef barbecue sandwich the other day that was so very good it built my head spin. And here’s the kicker: This sandwich was vegan, made from greens, devoid of a trace of meat.
How can this be? This sandwich, so mouth watering that I can nonetheless flavor it in my mind’s palate a few of times later on, came from V-Grits, not just a person of my favored vegan dining places, but one of my favorite restaurants… time period.
What do I like so substantially about V-Grits? We have to get started with the food items, of program. Chef/operator Kristina J. Addington can make it transpire with a commitment to building vegan ease and comfort food stuff – and craft beer, much too – entirely from scratch. Addington builds superb fare that could go for beef, pork, chicken, ham and a lot more, totally from vegetables, with out any hugely-processed or additive-loaded ingredients.
Supporting this toothsome vegan fare is a eco-friendly, spare-the-Earth-and-all-that-is-in-it philosophy, a single that V-Grits expresses on its website: “V-Grits vegan restaurant and Chimera Brewing have powerful values — social justice, racial equality, accessibility to healthful food stuff for all, animal legal rights, sustainability. Join us for vegan comfort and ease food and brewing with rewards.”
What’s “brewing with gains,” you question? It is a commitment of Chimera Brewing Co., the in-dwelling brewery that Addington and her husband, Jeff Hennis, ordered from former in-house brewery tenant Phony Idol just above two months ago. Each sale of Chimera’s 10 beers returns a part of its proceeds to a Louisville nonprofit supporting racial equality, meals justice, animal rights, foster care and other deserving leads to for social change.
V-Grits was close to for years as a food truck, food services and products line, but it landed as a comprehensive-assistance, brick-and-mortar cafe and brewery in Oct 2018, getting about a house where by The Highlands meets Germantown. The developing was the moment a dry cleaner, that had very long housed The Monkey Wrench.
“We are fully commited to generating every ingredient from scratch, which includes all of our vegan meats and cheeses,” the web page pledges. “Let us verify that you can nevertheless appreciate flavorful ease and comfort meals without the need of animal items. Please use us as a source for your possess food stuff journey. We will patiently response and aid with any predicament you may perhaps encounter, from wondering wherever your protein will occur from, to attending spouse and children barbecues.”
The “vegan Southern consolation food” menu is in depth, with additional than three dozen goods subdivided into salads, treats, mac and cheese, skillet fries, sandwiches and such, entrees and a bunch of sides. Pricing would make meat appear high-priced, even though, with entrees and some of the sandwiches topping out at $13.
The menu is not coy about contacting vegan protein meat, both. They never put rates around meat or cheese, and they never appear up with funky names like “chik’n” or “beefy.” It is what it is, and what it is is excellent.
We snacked on a established of 3 fried mac bites ($8). A few crisp, thickly-breaded and flawlessly-fried spheres the size of ping-pong balls have been crammed with a abundant, creamy part of mac and spicy vegan cheese manufactured from cashews.
A vegan beans & greens bowl ($12) would have been a total accomplishment even with no the grilled vegan rooster on the facet. Smoky, tender pinto beans ended up combined with a mixture of extended and gradual cooked kale, collard and turnip greens atop a mound of well ready white rice. Chunk-measurement cubes of vegan rooster were being dense and chewy, maybe not a great match for chicken meat but flavorful in its possess appropriate. Addington mentioned it’s a blend of wheat-gluten seitan with silken tofu seasoned with poultry spices and veggie broth.
A huge chef salad (a $2 enhance with a sandwich) was extremely great, geared up with attentive care. The romaine was torn into big, green and crisp pieces, dressed with a rainbow of halved grape tomatoes that were being pink, yellow, orange and purple, as effectively as thick cucumber slices, skin on, and lengthy strips of purple onion. Bits of vegan ham, turkey, coconut bacon and crisp croutons topped it off. A tub of creamy vegan ranch dressing created it complete.
And then there was that pit beef BBQ sandwich ($12). I’m nonetheless marveling over its deliciousness. Created on an exceptional burger bun manufactured with brioche, it featured a layer of thin-reduce meat, juicy and thoroughly charred with burned bits to contrast with bites of toothsome deliciousness, dripping with a tangy, scorching-sweet barbecue sauce and completed with crisp, fast-pickled onions and layer of creamy slaw, Memphis fashion.
It was awesome, and I couldn’t figure out how they did it, so I questioned Addington by using Facebook Messenger. “It is seitan,” she explained, “wheat gluten with cremini mushrooms processed down to a paste, and plenty of spices. Just after baking and cooling it, we cut it on a traditional deli meat slicer to get it as slim as achievable. Then it is seared to purchase on our flattop grill with our housemade horseradish BBQ sauce.”
So there you have it. I would go again for far more of that sandwich in a Memphis moment.
A generous all-veggie food that tasted a large amount like meat came to $38.10, in addition an $8 suggestion.
V-Grits
1025 Barret Ave.
742-1714
vgrits.com
