Welcome to season 2 of Nicole Eats and Travels! In this video, I visit Virginia’s MEDI, which is a hot spot for fresh, Mediterranean food. Watch as I jump behind the scenes to see how they make their popular spicy tofu and so much more!
This season, I am journeying through the DMV where I’ll be spotlighting some of my favorite food finds and great places to have a little fun.
For more information about MEDI, visit http://www.eatmedi.com.
Each year, Vegetarians of Central Florida hosts VegFest, which has become one the biggest and best vegetarian festivals in the country! Going into its 10th year, VegFest offers something fun for everyone. There are great speakers, hands-on food demonstrations, an animal haven, live music, and they even have a “veggie kids zone.” This year’s event will be held on Saturday, October 24, at Orlando Festival Park from 10 am to 6 pm.
The rainy Saturday that I found myself walking into Teak Neighborhood Grill was quite unexpected. Minutes before I pulled into the restaurant’s parking lot, I was only a few miles away sitting in the parking lot of a medium-sized shopping center. I was there for Mediterranean food, but after about 10 minutes of searching, it finally dawned on me that maybe the restaurant forgot to inform Foursquare that they were, in fact, no longer at that location — or probably any location. Usually never out of ideas, I was stumped on what I should eat. I had no desire to drive very far, which for a foodie like me is a problem because my part of town doesn’t offer many great choices outside of the regular chain restaurants. But thankfully, Foursquare didn’t fail me again when it directed me to Teak Neighborhood Grill. It wasn’t the healthiest of food outings, but it sure served up some great vegetarian bar food.
I was recently invited to try a few vegetarian items at Orlando’s newest Marlow’s Tavern location in Waterford Lakes. I’m not usually one for chain restaurants, but Marlow’s chef driven menu makes it a spot for some top notch eats. During my visit, I sampled the amazing asparagus fries and the house-made black bean veggie burger. Both are great options for vegetarians who want a cool place to grab drinks and chill with friends. For more details about my visit to Marlow’s Tavern, be sure to read my recent blog post.
My recent visit to the newly opened Marlow’s Tavern Waterford Lakes had all the makings of a “disappointing restaurant visit.” There was the fact that it is part of a chain AND that it reminded me very much of a sports bar. If it weren’t for the invitation to try a few of the items on the menu gratis and meet a few local food bloggers, I’m not sure I would have ever found my way inside of Marlow’s. But thankfully, the media and blogger tasting event gave me an opportunity to see how _____________ (I’ll let you fill in the blank) I was being. I left Marlow’s with a tummy full of really great vegetarian-friendly food and a reminder of the whole “judging a book by its cover” thing.
For the past 5 months, I have unknowingly been driving right by what would become a place that I would come to rave about to my friends and family. So you don’t make the same mistake as I did, allow me to introduce you to Mamak Asian Street Food. If you live in Central Florida, it is quite easy to 1. miss it on your drive down the always-busy Colonial Drive and 2. not think much of it as its street appearance is quite unassuming. Being the adventure eater that I am, after the 1,000th time of passing by wondering what on earth was going on inside, I did a bit of research, liked what I saw, and decided to call up a friend to try the place out with me. One bite in, and I knew that Mamak would be a place that I would come to again and again.
The moment that I received an email alerting me to Infusion Tea’s new seasonal menu, I knew that I had to go and try it, and ASAP. So, this past weekend I headed to what has become one of my favorite vegetarian/vegan eateries and ordered 2 items that I had yet to try: one from the new seasonal menu and one of the menu mainstays that I just never seemed to order.
From the first moment that I tried pad thai, I loved it. In the early days, my pad thai dish would always come topped with chicken. These days, I still love pad thai, just sans the meat. So, after hearing about how awesome Winter Park’s Thai Place was, I was really excited to try their pad thai… with tofu just for me!
Since kicking my meat habit, I’ve only visited The Cheesecake Factory maybe once or twice. On both occasions, I recall ordering a fish dish. On my most recent visit, with a few gift cards in hand, I decided to go completely vegetarian, and I lived to tell about it!