Tuesday, April 1, 2014

On a cool, dreary day in October, I met up with Brandan (bass) and Sean (drums) of Pity Sex at Wild Ginger to talk vegan food in Ann Arbor, MI and eating on the road.

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Okay so, Ann Arbor, MI, we were talking a little bit about last night. Not much of a vegan thing there?

B: It’s vegan friendly in a midwestern sense but it’s a lot of middle eastern food. There’s Dearborn, it’s a huge Middle Eastern area where a lot of Arabic people live, I guess?

S: For Middle Eastern food, I’d say best in the country. Really awesome.

Really?

S: So, the University of Michigan is huge and it dominates the town. It’s a real hippy, liberal town so there’s a couple of vegan things but it’s mostly, like Brandan said, Middle Eastern food that’s awesome. The best falafel around, my favorite lentil soup. And then there’s a lot of Asian people that go to the school, and there’s a lot of Japanese places, there’s also a lot of Indian food. So there’s a lot of ethnic vegan food, but not like “capital V” vegan food. But for what it is, it’s good. And that’s better than getting a $5 plate of rice and beans.

So what’s your favorite, regardless of cuisine, vegan spot?

B: Earthen Jar, for me. It’s an Indian buffet that’s like $6 a pound, and you just go in there and load up with things that you don’t know the names of. Rice and zucchini mush.

S: “The yellow one.”

[laughs]

S: I like the yellows, the milds—I don’t do the reds and hots.

The vindaloos and such…

B: But yeah, that’s the best place. I also used to work at a vegan restaurant that just opened up. It used to be a food cart but it opened up into a restaurant. And I worked there for a little while.

What’s that place called?

B: The Lunch Room. And it’s like a 40 second walk from our house.

Is that American-style vegan food?

B: It’s all over the place. So they have Mexican stuff and sandwiches and soups, and they do a dinner special every night. But yeah, they got a lot of ideas from food carts in Portland because they went on a big trip out there to do research. But it’s changing a lot, there’s a lot of variety.

The server brings our food to the table. I pretty much exclusively order the “Jade Mushrooms” at Wild Ginger. It’s battered and fried shiitake mushrooms in a sweet/spicy sauce, over kale, with sesame seeds sprinkled on top. It rules.

I love mushrooms so much.

S: I used to be way into fake meat stuff because we didn’t really have that in Michigan. You can’t just go to fucking Foodswings and all that stuff. And now it’s like, I just feel sick after eating a pound of wheat gluten or whatever. I’m trying to do less of that.

Yeah, it makes you feel bad. I was talking to Britty, she’s really not into the fake meat stuff…

B: Yeah, she does more tofu. She does a lot of curry stuff…

S: We went to Red Bamboo yesterday and I got a club and I thought it wasn’t going to be much fake meat and stuff, but it was just like a brick of tofu and I was like “I don’t want to eat this…”

S: I just want fresh vegetables. That’s why I like Middle Eastern and ethnic food.

That’s the thing I don’t quite get. Fake meat is a transitional thing for some people, but there are so many other interesting things to eat, you know? I think, especially for people that are kind of transitioning to being vegan, you wonder, “Why am I eating the thing that looks like the thing that I’m not eating?”

S: Especially since I’ve been vegetarian for like 10 years.

That being said, it’s a fun novelty.

B: You go some places and—we went to this place that had the vegan big mac, that was their thing—

There’s a place like that around here, Tiny’s Giant Sandwich Shop that does a vegan Big Mac… Actually, I don’t even think there’s any tofu in there, just vegetables… [ed note: I stand corrected, it’s a soy-based patty, with soy bacon, and some other stuff. And it’s pretty great if I remember correctly.]

S: That sounds really good.

So, best vegan food is the ethnic stuff in Ann Arbor?

S: Yeah I really like this Middle Eastern place called Jerusalem Garden. I always get the falafel plate which is three falafel and their hummus. I think everything is the best. They have the best falafel and hummus, and then you get lentil soup and a spinach pie. it’s a ton of food and it’s $8 or $9.

I haven’t toured that much, but when we’ve played shows out of state recently, I feel like, the only thing on the highway is McDonald’s. After a show what is the least-common-denominator food that you will allow yourself to eat that is palatable and vegan?

B: If we’re out this way, we’ll go to… what’s the gas station?

S: Sheetz.

B: But in the middle of the country, if we’re going to a bigger city that will have a Whole Foods, we’ll just go to Whole Foods. Because they’re getting so popular that basically every big city we play has a Whole Foods.

That’s pretty good.

B: We’ll go to the fruit bar, the hot bar or something like that. So yeah, it’s pretty safe to do that. Every once in a while we’ll get Taco Bell, if we’re just totally exhausted and we don’t want to go to bed on an empty stomach. Also, we always bring stuff like PB&J sandwiches. That’s a big savior.

S: Also, just a normal grocery store, to get fresh vegetables.

What is the best vegan spot in the country that you’ve been to? I haven’t been to many places around the country, but I’ve heard a lot of good things about the Chicago Diner.



S: Yeah, Chicago Diner. For your fake meat/vegan-food-trying-to-be-regular-food, Chicago Diner is probably the best. Consistently, I am always stoked on my meal there. There’s this place that we went to in Portland—Brandan probably knows better than I do—called Portobello, which is like vegan fine dining.

B: They always have this gourmet pizza list. The first time we went there we had pizza with roasted Douglas Fir tips.

Whoa, that’s crazy.

B: It was so awesome. I just went a little while ago and had this vegetable lasagna that was amazing. They do this really great beet tartare appetizer. It’s great. It’s fine dining, but it’s not radically expensive. It’s very respectable.

I think that’s probably where vegan food is headed to. Especially because I think more people are becoming, if not aware, more receptive to the idea of that kind of lifestyle.

S: Totally. I would say, per capita, the best vegan food is in Grand Rapids. It’s not a big city—it’s kind of young and kind of liberal—but not entirely. But there are a bunch of farms around and everything, and the people love vegan food. There’s this one guy who has like 8 restaurants, and if you go to any of the spots, it’s a bunch of older upper middle class people eating vegan food without thinking about it.

That’s really cool.

S: It seems like people just want to be healthy. Being vegan in Ann Arbor and working in coffee shops, the amount of people every year who are getting soy milk has gone up dramatically.

B: People scoff at you if you don’t have almond milk. It’s like, two years ago you were drinking heavy cream, or whatever. [laughs]

What’s your favorite nut milk or alternative milk? Because, cashew milk…

S: Cashew milk is where it’s at! That’s like only in New York. But cashew milk for ice cream is great, and for lattes it’s the best, because it foams really well.

B: I mean, Almond milk is better for you and a lot of coffee shops use it because, “Oh, I don’t want to use soy,” but the thing is I really like the taste of soy lattes, more than the taste of almond milk lattes. But now I drink straight espresso so it doesn’t really matter.

[laughs]

How was your espresso at Oslo?

B: It was good… subtle notes of Home Depot. [laughs] It had a galvanized rubber smell. Not in a bad way, I just tasted it and was like “I feel like I’m in a Home Depot.”

You should check out Blue Bottle.

B: Yeah, Blue Bottle’s sweet, there’s one in San Francisco.

I love their New Orleans-style chicory coffee.

B: When we’re on tour, if we’re in a big city, we’ll do a nice coffee shop or two. And then, if there’s a nice vegan place we’ll go there. Otherwise, if you’re on the highway all day, everyone’s getting Starbucks.

I mean, they have increasingly more options too. It’s just so silly, when we’re driving on the highway back to New York, there’s literally only McDonald’s. There’s no Wawa, that’s only in like Delaware and New Jersey.

S: Or rest stops. I feel like Brennan will get chips and shit like that.

B: I’m a fry guy at heart.

[laughs]

S: You can just get bags of nuts or almonds. And a surprising number of gas stations have Clif Bars. Which is like… you’re not gonna feel good. “I ate 3 Clif Bars today…”

[laughs]

That’ll do, i guess…

For me, I’m looking around, and it’s the only thing I want… but I don’t even like them that much…

S: Naked juice is everywhere, but it’s owned by Coca Cola or something.

I mean I guess it’s better than the alternative…

S: Like Tropicana…

The focus shifts to the Jade Mushroom dish I’ve been picking at.

S: There’s a vegetarian restaurant in Ann Arbor that dates back to hippy Ann Arbor times, like the 60s and a lot of the food is kind of bland, and not in touch, but they have a General Tso’s Cauliflower that’s a lot like this and it’s fried and breaded and it’s way better than any General Tso’s Tofu.

Oh man, I love cauliflower. It’s funny, I’ve been seeing a lot of places, especially in NY, sandwich shops and stuff, that the vegan sandwich they do is fried cauliflower. And I think that’s fucking awesome because I love cauliflower so much. It’s just more interesting than fake meat, to do something interesting with a vegetable like that, fry it up.

B: That’s probably one of the best things I’ve eat eaten, is the fried General Tso’s Cauliflower.

Do you like to cook?

B: Not really…

Is it more of a survival skill?

B: Yeah. If I’m going to cook, it’s going to be more like canned pasta sauce and noodles, or peanut butter and jelly. That’s my thing. Sean cooks a lot. Brennan cooks a lot.

S: Brennan cooks a lot but it’s not good…

[laughs]

S: It’s, like, slop…

B: He’s the king of slop. Just throw it all on a piece of bread, call it a pizza or throw it all in a bowl and call it soup.

What do you like to cook, Sean?

S: I kind of cook everything. Easiest thing I do, because I work all the time, and I don’t weigh enough so I’m trying to eat a lot right now is to take a can of chickpeas, an avocado, and spinach and stuff like that and make a burrito bowl sort of thing. A lot of times I’ll cook chickpeas and broccoli with tomato sauce and whole wheat linguine. When I have time I’ll go for recipes and do whatever. I used to cook at a vegan restaurant in Ann Arbor, and I’ve been cooking for myself for a long time. So yeah, I’ll just look up something interesting. I’m really into doing cashew cream sauces, and stuff like that instead of just using Daiya cheese. I made a pumpkin alfredo that had the pumpkin for thickness, and cashews that you soak, and blend.

That sounds great. You’re going to have to send me that recipe, it sounds awesome.

S: Yeah it’s really cool.

I’m not vegan, but I try to eat a lot of vegetarian and vegan food, and I just love making good stuff, and taking advantage of nuts and ingredients like that to make interesting, rich things.

S: Totally. Super fat, but in the best way possible. You feel full and cooking for yourself is much cheaper, if you’re willing to do it, and reuse your leftovers. Definitely the most sustainable way to get by when you’re a twenty-something and don’t have a real job.

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