Sorry, Vegan Cheese Doesn't Taste Like Cheese - Veggie Grill in Saratoga, CA

Vegan Cheese is bad

Winnie!!!

Once upon a time, this young man was a vegetarian. That's right. From fifth through 8th grade, I thought that vegetarianism was really cool! But starting in freshman year, I decided that I wanted some more protein in the form of meat so I reverted to the good old omnivore lifestyle. I've never considered going vegan though - in fact, being vegetarian was a pretty big hassle in and of itself! But the point is, I've eaten quite a bit of vegetarian foods in the past. And a lot of substitutes, including the all famous Tofurkey which can taste a bit like actual turkey! In my past experiences with substitutes, if it's good and I forget that I'm eating a substitute, then I won't notice a difference. Well Veggie Grill has earned my respect for creating a few Vegan dishes that I ate without noticing the fact that they were Vegan. So a gold star to the salad with bacon substitute and the Koreatown tacos, but a frowny face (like the one your physics teacher puts by a question when you make a mistake) to the nachos.

Live Your Lyfe: Lyfe Kitchen - Cupertino,CA

Note the abundance of avocadoes

Trendy healthy restaurants are everywhere in the Bay Area. Whole Foods, Sprouts - name the healthy restaurant/market, we've got it. Some of these are great, but some aren't. Luckily, LYFE isn't one of the latter. It's located in the new Main Street plaza near Vallco in Cupertino, and this place is amazing at night. As we enter the holiday season, the plaza has got lights on almost every tree. Even the tall palms are lit up by amber lights snaking all the way to the top. But enough about the plaza, let's talk about LYFE.

Torchy's Tacos - Pure Bliss and Pain in Houston, TX

*Continuing my story from last post*
So I eventually made my way to Houston by Megabus (super cheap guys, it's worth it!) and ate at this fabulous restaurant that I'll talk about later. Anyway I toured Rice while I was there and found that it was amazing. The neighborhood Rice is in is right at the border of shiny high rise buildings and a quaint suburban area that really reminds me of Palo Alto and Los Altos. I got a new AirBnb that was actually closer to Rice than my other one, and boy am I glad for that. In the morning, I got to go for a run around the rice campus (~3.3 miles if anyone is curious) and that really helped me get a sense of the campus. Also, being able to walk to my information session from my AirBnb helped me acquaint myself with the campus and surrounding area before my tour. Back to the school though: rice is amazing.My tour guide was filled with energy and led my group through the surprisingly big campus located right in Houston. For my friends from Carleton, the campus was easily two or three times the size of Carleton even when you put in the big grassy patch with the hill and tree.