WaterCourse Foods

Do you ever feel like your traveling centers around seeking out the best vegan food each city has to offer? I've even started planning vacations just to sample some of the country's finest (i.e. Portland, Seattle, San Francisco.... and hopefully soon NYC, Chicago, LA other faves?). Even though the purpose of my recent trip to Colorado was skiing and spending time with friends, I couldn't pass up experiencing one of Denver's finest vegetarian (and everything can be made vegan!) eating establishments: WaterCourse Foods. Located in a hip area just east of downtown, this restaurant is a breath of fresh air in ranch country where "wild game" such as elk and buffalo are on most menus. Doesn't it just look inviting?

On our way from the airport to the "high country" (aka mountains) , we decided to stop and fill our bellies, hoping that the elevation change wouldn't affect our tolerance for lots of food (unlike alcohol). We started off with the seitan buffalo wings. Whew, these were spicy! Thank goodness for vegan ranch. I confirmed that they made their own seitan in house, which made me happy. For dinner, I had the tempeh scallopini, John had the reuben, and our other vegetarian companion :-) had the blackened tofu. The scallopini was just what I had imagined, creamy gravy, crispy tempeh, just plain good down-home style cookin'. I felt healthier gobbling up the greens on the side, perfect for sopping up the mushroom gravy. John proclaimed his was the best of the three, a reuben made with portobello mushrooms, special sauce, and saurkraut. We liked it so much we got one to go on the way out of Denver. The blackened tofu came with a delicious coconut cream sauce... perfect on it's own (I promise the tofu is buried somewhere under there!). Our waiter told us this was a customer favorite and it was easy to see why.



And then there was dessert. Oh my goodness they had a dessert tray. I remember the days of picking from the dessert tray of my (then) favorite restaurants, where now I tell them not to even bother bringing it. This felt so nice because all of their desserts are vegan! Which one would you choose from this amazing looking tray? I couldn't just pick one either, so I got the Boston cream pie and a vegan hoho with strawberry frosting to go. (other options included a carrot cake, tiramisu, chocolate cake, and others) The Boston cream pie was a bit sweet for my tastes (though it must not have been for John's because it was gone the next day!), but I loved the hoho. I seriously need to make some strawberry frosting. Very yum.

No food photos from the ski trip itself (come to think of it, no skiing photos either! but you all know what snow looks like...), but we enjoyed chili and a green salad in our condo one night followed by an evening out where the chef made me a green curry with asparagus, broccolini, and plenty of lemongrass.

On our way towards the airport, we made a stop for brunch at WaterCourse to meet up with a friend (+husband and really cute son) living in Denver. As I had been warned, it was packed on this sunny Sunday, with a wait time of about an hour! (really glad it's popular though :-) So we decided to ditch the restaurant atmosphere and enjoy the gorgeous day by getting take-out and heading over to City Park! I loved how they gave us our food in biodegradable containers in a bag made from corn. John got a tofu scramble with basil pesto and some sweet potato "fries" on the side. Our only complaint was not enough scramble and too many "fries" (which desperately needed salt). I got the banana bread french toast with fruit, which I loved, drenched with plenty of maple syrup. I am going to have to try this idea out at home. Hmmmm, the wheels are turning....

To wash everything down, I had the sunrise smoothie (OJ, strawberries, bananas, blueberries, peaches), but I think someone else liked it even more than I did!! Sluuuuuuurrrrrppppp!

So the next time you're visiting the Mile High City, be sure to stop by WaterCourse Foods for a fantastic vegan meal. P.S. they serve breakfast all day!!