Di Lucca - Bogota, Colombia

Variety
Quality

When I first ate at Di Lucca , I felt it was easily the best Italian food I'd ever eaten. Along with San Giorgio Trattoria and La Comedia Divinia, Di Lucca is part of a trio of superb Italian fare. There is a wide variety of choices for vegetarians starting with the appetizers, a few soups, pizzas, risotto and of course - pastas.

Di Lucca's stuffed pastas are easily the biggest draw. My favorite is the Ricotta Spinach Capelletti in a 3-cheese sauce. If you are lucky enough to spot the feta ravioli - which isn't a regular - order it right away. Other great options include Pappardelle al Telefono, Spinach Gnocchi and Spinach/Ricotta Cannelloni. It is worth noting that Di Lucca lets one order combinations pastas. Pictured above is a half-n-half of Canelloni and Capelletti pastas.

Among the desserts, the only standout is the malbec ice-cream. The rest of the desserts are more or less standard fare - Tiramisu, gelato, creme-brulee and flan. Pictured here is the Caramel Flan - which didn't make a huge impression on me.

Good vegetarian food? Yup .. it's possible

The point of this blog is that one can avoid meat and still eat a fulfilling meal home or away. I feel it is in everyone's best interest to avoid eating meat more often than not. Beyond that, while I'm fully aware of the environmental and ethical benefits/arguments behind being vegetarian, I'm not interested in touting them in this blog. Fact is, vegetarian food can be enjoyed for what it is - good food just like any other! Burdening it with ethical baggage takes attention away from that simple fact and is likely to rile and turn away potential neophytes.

This blog will therefore be about the giddy joys of eating, first and foremost - however it comes my way: at home or away from home; dine-in or take-out; at a friends place or at the beach - if I taste it and feel strongly about it, I plan to write about it.

Having traveled a lot the last few years, the majority of the entries will be about restaurants. Finding vegetarian food away from home has been an adventure and I've been in the thick of it for three years now during numerous trips to Chile, Colombia and the US. It's been a thoroughly rewarding experience.

Since I'll be foisting my personal views about food on this blog, I feel its a perfect excuse to indulge myself further and explain my likes and dislikes when it comes to the subject.

Born and raised in India, I lean towards bold flavors, well cooked food and generally prefer things on the spicier side. I don't consider a salad a meal in itself. I only eat a salad if it comes as a side .. gratis. If a waiter says 'salad' when you say 'vegetarian', good luck with that restaurant - I've been to a few. While I enjoy fine food, I'm no gourmand. I love good food and I love it even more when it comes cheap and sans pretensions.

I am a dessert nut - and having recently diagnosed diabetic parents hasn't slowed me down one bit. I plan to carry on till something gives. That said, I refuse to eat or endorse any chocolate that has less than 53% cocoa content. I prefer it when sugar comes my way as a supporting act for a chocolate or fruit flavor.

I don't drink except for the occasional glass of wine when I feel like it and usually when I don't pay for it. I don't know anything about wine pairings so I will stay away from that aspect.

If I've helped you or someone you know find and enjoy a meat-free meal, I'll consider this a worthy effort. Buen provecho!

Pandebono - Cartagena, Colombia

Variety
Quality

I was told Pandebono is an institution in Cartagena. Ernesto took me here for breakfast back in Dec 2008 during our 1-day trip to Cartagena. It apparently used to be an enormously popular run-down hole-in-the-wall outlet. It was recently upgraded to its swanky-looking current self.

The term "pandebono" is pretty common and refers to a type of cheese bread pictured here .. along with buñuelos. It's quite delicious when fresh if the idea of stretchy cheesy fibers in soft baked bread sounds appealing. I found the buñuelos - a variant of pandebono - to be a bit too salty for my taste but they were still worth trying. There are several other stuffed breads - mostly cheese and meats. It was a bit hard to find a veggie stuffed bread. If you are lucky, you can get pandeyuca - stuffed with starchy yucca. Due to the volume of guests at any hour, the staff is too busy to help a non-native spanish speaker vegetarian like myself.

Pandebono is also serves big yummy milk-shakes and fruit juices. The Jugo de Nispero in Leche made Pandebono a daily breakfast stop for me before heading out for the day. Other drinks include Mandarina, Jugo de Zapote en leche and Jugo de Borojo.

La Frutera - Barranquilla, Colombia

Veg Options
Taste

La Frutera near the Catedral de la Inmaculata Concepción is in short, just a regular fruit stall near a famous cathedral in Barranquilla. It was my first stop after having landed in Barranquilla. Ernesto drove me down there for breakfast. Pretty much everything down there is vegetarian (mostly fruits and fruit juices), cheap and yummy as can be. It is the kinds of place that can be hard to find in a travel guide but is worshiped by the locals all the same.

Here was where I discovered that Nispero is the same as one of my favorite fruits - what we call 'Sapota' in India. It was a moment of ineffable joy. The sapota milkshake is the King of all milkshakes - period. The Nisperos in Colombia are much bigger than the Sapotas of India but taste identical.

In addition to various milkshakes (Mango, Zapote, Guava, etc.), they also sell little snacks like cheese and spinach empanadas and matrimonios - a little sandwich or rather a 'marriage' between two different things like cheese and yucca, cheese and guava jelly, etc. It can be found all over Colombia and is quite delicious. If one is lucky, s/he may find a street vendor close to the fruit shop that sells amazing coconut based desserts. They are seriously sweet - so limit the amount you eat. Pictured above is Dulce de Coco con Arequipe.

La Piazzeta - Barraquilla, Colombia

Veg Options
Taste

La Piazzeta came recommended as the best Italian in Barranquilla. Like most italian restaurants, La Piazzeta had a good number of vegetarian options in the appetizers, soups and pasta sections. We got there pretty late, but the place was still jam packed. Ernesto knew the owner Michel (that's a guy) pretty well and we managed to get a table without too much of a wait.

The bruschetta was positively the best I had had anywhere. The basil, tomatoes, olives and warm melting cheese on the crispy ciabatta roll tasted nothing like any bruschetta I had eaten anywhere else. I was going to make a meal out of it but Ernesto convinced me that better was yet to come.

Coming from India, I was a bit of a novelty wherever I went and it was no different here. Michel was quite eager to prepare something 'spicy' to my taste. The vegetable gnocchi pasta _was_ good (not really spicy but I could feel the peppery finish) and ranked among the better gnocchi preparations I've eaten. I also got a chance to taste Ernesto's staple over there - the Pizza Rey David. The 'Rey David' is a house specialty sauce and goes into pizzas and pastas. While it is also a tomato based sauce, it had an uncommon flavor and richness to it.

La Vitrola - Cartagena, Colombia

Veg Options
Taste

La Vitrola is rated as the top restaurant in Cartagena - and is internationally renowned. I was waiting to eat here after reading a slavishly positive review of the restaurant on NYTimes. As mentioned in the article, we had to make a reservation prior to getting there and we managed to get an early reservation at 7pm - the more popular late evening slots were already taken.

While the restaurant was impressive, there really wasn't anything for a vegetarian here. In spite of Ernesto's best efforts to explain to the waiter my "condition", all that the chefs could manage was one very average risotta/paella dish. We came away about $50 poorer per head which (including the wine bottle) is ridiculously expensive. As a vegetarian, I'd stay away from this place. There are much better options like Oh! La la and Torre Luna within the walled confines of the ciudad vieja.

Crepes & Waffles - Cartagena/Bogota, Colombia

Veg Options
Taste

Crepes & Waffles is quite easily among the best and most popular 'fast food' chain restaurants in Colombia - more so if you consider the variety of vegetarian options you get there. However, to call it fast food would be unfair - this is classy food. Legend has is that it was created by a couple of master's students in Cali as their senior design project. It apparently had very humble beginnings but is now a major franchise.

Ironically, the first time I came across Crepes and Waffles was in Santiago, Chile - serving decent pitas and crepes with meat-free fillings. Ernesto informed me that the Chilenos stole the idea of Crepes & Waffles from the Colombian one. Frankly, the one in Chile looks like a Franchise - it's a carbon copy of the one in Colombia. However, in terms of the food itself, the one in Colombia really kicks butt. There is no comparison. Still, if you happen to be in Chile, the C&W over there is a pretty good option to consider.

Back to C&W Colombia. It is not hard to find restaurants with one or two stand-out vegetarian dishes. However, Crepes & Waffles is outstanding in terms of the wide choice one gets as a vegetarian. More importantly, it is consistently delicious - every single dish. What makes Crepes & Waffles click is no secret - a) Seriously creative menu that changes and evolves with time, b) Surprisingly and consistently tasty food with fresh local ingredients, c) Healthy preparation and portion sizes across the board, d) Quick and efficient Service and e) Very affordable!

One can begin with any of the several fruit juices and milkshakes on their menu - I typically have a mango or guanabana milkshake. Recently, I tasted their chai and it was quite good. This can be followed by any of four savory soups - tomato, portobello (pictured), lentil or spinach soup. It's hard to recommend one over the other but the lentil soup has Indian-style seasoning and I tend to be partial to that.

You are now faced with the daunting challenge of choosing from more than FIFTEEN different vegetarian crepes. I'd highly recommend the Rimini (A tomato/goat cheese based light crepe), the Poblano (mexican style with avocados - pictured above) and El Gandhi (tofu cooked with Indian style seasonings). There are several others that are equally good if you have the luxury of making multiple trips to C&W. In spite of more than 15-20 visits to this restaurant, I've never had an opportunity to try their Pitas. Obviously, this is a paradise for vegetarians.

If you manage to save space for dessert, there is once again a staggering variety of dessert crepes and waffles. The nutella crepe/waffle is a perennial favorite. One should also try as many of the delightful crepes/waffles with fresh fruit toppings.