Sprinkles and Ice Cream

My husband and I don't really celebrate Valentine's Day but we do celebrate pink frosting and pink sprinkles, so when Shawn brought home these pretty treats from Watercourse Bakery on Sunday, I didn't protest.

Apologies for the lighting. Just pretend it's "romantic."

Far more important than Valentine's Day this month was the reopening of Sweet Action, which was closed for the month of January. We stopped by last weekend and enjoyed some vegan cinnamon roll ice cream, which features swirls of Watercourse's cinnamon roll filling as well as pieces of cinnamon roll. These fools don't mess around.

Denver is Delicious

And to honor this fact, I've made a list of my five favorite dishes from restaurants in this fair city. Denver really is full of delicious vegan food, so narrowing it down to five proved to be a rather difficult task. Here they are in no particular order:

1. Biscuits and gravy topped with tofu scramble, Watercourse
This is hands down the best biscuits and gravy I've ever had the pleasure of shoving into my gob. The biscuits are savory and fluffy and the gravy is thick and seasoned just right. You can order the b&g with or without the tofu scramble on top, but not getting it would just be...stupid.
There are delicious biscuits hiding under there somewhere, I promise.

2. Salt and pepper golden tofu, L'Asie Fusion Bistro
Crispy, spicy salt and pepper tofu served on a bed of sauteed peppers and onions with a ginger sesame dipping sauce. A delicious appetizer or a delightful late night snack (well, L'Asie closes at 10 so it's more like pre-late night, but the point is my husband and I sometimes just get an order of this to go as a snack because it is so. damn. good.)
Little zesty nuggets of heaven

3. The Dona Lee, Watercourse
Crispy seitan, avocado, tomatoes, and vegan ranch dressing wrapped in a warm pita. Yeah buddy, just ponder that for a little while. And then, you know, wipe the drool off your chin.

4. Seitan buffalo wings, City, O' City
You can also find these wings at Watercourse, which is City O's sister restaurant, but I associate them more with City O' since it's a bar and this is bar food. I've had various vegan incarnations of buffalo wings from a couple of different restaurants around the country, and these are by far the best. Likewise, the creamy, herbed ranch dressing they are served with (the same dressing found in the aforementioned Dona Lee) is the best I've had anywhere. City O' City also has teriyaki wings which are coated in a faintly sweet, gingery teriyaki sauce. While not quite as good as the buffalo wings, the teriyaki wings definitely stand on their own and are a milder alternative. Like their spicy counterpart, the teriyaki wings are served with ranch dressing, which is kind of ridiculous and doesn't really work as a flavor profile, but the ranch is so good I usually dip the wings in it anyway. And then I feel I so very American.
Spicy seitan buffalo wings and cool, creamy ranch dressing: 2gether 4ever

5. BBQ Chicken Pizza, The Rebellion
I've gushed about this delicious pizza twice already on this blog, so I'll spare you more of the same. And the truth is that virtually any pizza from Rebellion would be worthy of a slot on this list because the combination of that fluffy, organic crust and perfectly-melted FYH can do no wrong. (But seriously, the bbq chicken is the best. Go get some right now.)