Dad & I finally got to Akron’s one and only vegan restaurant, VegiTerranean, conceived and owned by Chryssie Hynde. In a NYC rant that pissed off many locals, Hynde told an interviewer that she felt she had to open a restaurant where she could dine while she was visiting her home town, since Akron was such a backwater that the locals were rubes who didn’t even know what “vegan” meant. (I read the comments that were posted in response to the article on ohio.com and damned if the moronic commenters didn’t prove her right. Sigh.)

Anyway. As an antidote to the meat and egg fest that is Easter, we decided to try it out for lunch today.

The restaurant was upscale, sleek and industrial and the menu was appealing. We started with a black bean hummus over arugula and sundried tomatoes with crispy flatbread. To die for. Dad had a “steak” panini with mixed green salad and I had whole wheat penne with wild mushrooms, asparagus and cashew cream sauce. Both were very tasty, though I would’ve spiced up the cashew cream with some garlic and hot pepper flakes. We split an apricot/pistachio dessert–very good and I’m glad we split one dessert instead of trying two of them. All in all, it was a great lunch, and it is a great place for delicious vegan fare. I just wish the dinner menu didn’t rely as heavily on “fake” meat items; most of the entrees relied on chicken and beef wannabe food. Maybe as the restaurant comes into its own, it will replace some of those items with other vegan main dishes…I know there are lots of great foods that don’t require fake chicken nuggets and steaks. Still, I’ll be looking forward to a return trip soon!

Oh–as a northeast Ohio tease, the staff at the restaurant were preparing the outdoor patio seating. Soon. Warm weather can’t be too far away…

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