Foodie Monday: Eating in Portland: Food Fight! Grocery, Portobello Trattoria, & Vida Vegan Con’s New Product Exhibition, Meals, and Swag

Oh Portland! I’ve been obsessed with collard greens lately. Today was going to be the day that I declared my love for collard greens for “Foodie Monday.” As I went back through my pictures, I realized I couldn’t write a general post about the Vida Vegan Conference, working out in Portland, and not write anything about the food!

It always surprises me that the vegan restaurant options for the Bay Area are so few and far between. Sure, there are a plethora of asian restaurants that are 100% vegan, but that gets old quickly. Portland, however, had vegan restaurants, food trucks, and even a vegan grocery store in a vegan mini mall! Imagine having so many vegan choices and not knowing where to start? That was a first for me!

FOOD FIGHT! GROCERY:

First order of business when I arrived was to walk across the river to the vegan mini mall. The mall consists of four stores: Sweetpea Bakery, Heribivore Clothing Co., Food Fight! Grocery, and, Scapegoat Tattoo. While I did go into Sweetpea and Herbivore, I was really only there to check out Food Fight! grocery.

Luckily, I had a small refrigerator in my hotel room at The Paramount, so I had the luxury of being able to bring back anything I wanted to try at Food Fight! I bought all kinds of chocolate caramel candies, truffles, and bars. Earth Balance had a new product called P.B. Popps that I could resist adding to my basket. I also got Daiya’s new cream cheese and Tofurky’s Pepperoni slices. As I walked past the produce section, I couldn’t stop myself from buying a bunch of kale too!

The P.B. Popps were so good. Daiya’s cream cheese was a little too sweet; but I don’t eat a lot of processed foods anymore, so it may have been perfect for others. Everyone knows I love Tofurky. Their Pepperoni slices we addicting! I loved Food Fight! If I lived in Portland, I’d work out at Skogg Gym and shop at Food Fight! grocery. For now, I’ll have to settle for Skogg DVDs and Food Fight’s online store.

JUST ONE RESTAURANT:

In my searches for vegan restaurants in Portland, it seemed like everyone couldn’t stop raving about Portobello Trattoria all over the Internet. It was worth the visit and long wait. My friend and I shared the mushroom ravioli, the infamous beet burger, and the chocolate bomb for dessert. Go! You won’t be disappointed.

VIDA VEGAN FOOD & SWAG:

The new product spotlight was so cool! Tofurky debuted their pot pies, quiches, and new sausage flavors (tried them already and need to write about it). Earth Balance showed off their white cheddar puffs, PB Pops (found them at Food Fight!), and aged white cheddar popcorn. Vegan Cuts gave away full bags of products. Peanut Butter & Co. served endless amounts of tasty peanut butter flavors (white chocolate PB anyone?). Coconut Bliss got me addicted and drooling over their Ginger Caramel Cookie Coconut Milk Ice Cream and So Delicious, the main sponsor, gave out a never ending supply of coconut milks, ice cream, and ice cream bars. We were served healthy does of probiotic drinks from Kevita, WayFare Foods products (love them!), GO Veggie! Cheeses, and many more! I loved it!

The meals started with “A Very Veggie Grill” Reception the first night followed by two days chock full of breakfasts, lunches, and a So Delicious Ice Cream Sundae Bar! I’m not a huge fan of restaurant food because it is usually high in calories and carbs. I did, however, appreciate all the amazing companies that donated food. It was so nice to not only be surrounded by vegans but to be able to try so many vegan foods. For the most part though, all that eating just made me want to workout even more! Who would’ve thunk I would’ve said that a year ago?

Then, there was the swag bag . . . You thought I was done talking about food didn’t you? The purple (!!) bag was stuffed with vegan goodness! The bag included items like Amaranth from Bob’s Red Mill, Teese products, Allison’s Gourmet’s chocolate covered toffee, a whole jar of Peanut Butter & Co.’s Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter (sinfully good), kale chips, cookies, candies, soy curls, banana bread oatmeal, a kombucha starter kit, a Go Max Go Thumbs Up! vegan “Butterfinger,” coupons galore, and my favorite: a ceramic vegan keychain by Jeanette Zeis’s Vegan Dish. There too many items to mention here.

I am so glad I went to Vida Vegan Con! The three organizers did a fantastic job! You will definitely find me at the next Vida Vegan Conference. In the meantime, I jonesing for my next conference . . . Somewhere . . . anywhere! 😀

Isa Chandra Moskowitz, Terry Hope Romero, and me!

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