Potato Dosa, Yellow Mung Dal, Tamarind Potatoes and Coconut Chutney

Plantain Stuffed Wontons (Plan-Tons)

Sometimes it's fun to look through the pantry and fridge and see what needs to be used up. We had some plantains that were too ripe to be used for our dish and some wonton wrappers I was going to use for a new salad that I haven't gotten around to finalizing. I was really happy with how they turned out, nice and crispy and sweet but not too sweet. Dusted with powdered sugar and cinnamon with a drizzle of honey.

Quinoa Cakes with Fresh Corn Salsa, Cilantro Lime Chile Sauce and Micro Greens

Stoked!

Honey Ginger Tofu, Curried Apricot Cous Cous, Mango Sauce and Micro Arugala

Somedays you need to make a bridge to get to work

This past Sunday was the first day of brunch at Ipanema Cafe, I thought we would have a good turn out but I didn't think we would be as busy as we were. By noon we had a packed house with a full bar and people waiting to be seated. Other than not prepping enough sweet potato hash browns and having to make some adjustments on the fly, Dan and I survived our first of many Sundays to come.
Thanks to everyone that came out and I look forward to seeing all of you next. Here are some of the dishes we were slinging.

The Tempeh Benedict

The Ipanada
Tofu scramble, vegan chorizo and romesco sauce in a whole wheat crust
Vegan French Toast with Warm Apple CompoteVegan Strawberry Blintz

Brunch

Starting brunch every Sunday at Ipanema starting tomorrow morning. Pictures coming soon. Good stuff coming.

Vegan Creme Brulees Round 2

My man Mebus from Blossom Cafe up in New York shared with me his method for making his Creme Brulees. I gave it a shot and they turned out amazing, between the staff and a few customers the entire batch was demolished in a couple hours. I'm pretty sure these will be a staple on the dessert board. If you're in New York definitely check out Blossom.

New Dish On the Menu

Since I changed the plating a bit and a lack of pork, I decided not to call it Mofongo as to not offend any Dominican or Puerto Ricans. Crispy Fried Green Plantains with Sofrito Simmered Tempeh and Sauteed Sweet Potatoes and Zucchini with Caribbean Spices.

How I love going to the Asian market every week

It's times like these that i really have to question why I'm vegan.

Mofongo

I made a vegan version of Mofongo today. I fried green plantains and mashed them with a good bit of garlic then used a soup cup to shape them. I accompanied it with tempeh simmered in sofrito and sweet potatoes sauteed with carribean spices. The dish went together nicely except for the plantains being extremely dry. I played around with the plating a bit and ended up slicing the mofongo into discs and frying them, the crispyness was a nice contrast to the softness of the tempeh. I'm going to try again tomorrow and hopefully add some pictures.

On a side note: Of all the spices to spill all over the place, turmeric is by far the worst. Trust me on this.

First off.

My name is Chris and I'm the chef at a little restaurant in Richmond,VA called Ipanema Cafe. I was going to start a blog about my food and all food related things, but decided to just use this to write about random things (including food) like I used to years ago before blogs were around.
For example this morning I woke up to the sound of some asshole on a megaphone screaming at marathon runners to "run" for over an hour. I'm pretty sure they had the hang of it by then, thanks buddy.
Pretty much I just need a place to write down random thoughts every now and then. This should do.