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Night 25: Vegetable Garden
If a visit to Joe's is just too much for your delicate
sensibilities, I strongly suggest you stop farther down
Rockville Pike at Vegetable Garden, where I headed the
next night. This is the yin to Joe's yang — an
organic vegetarian Chinese restaurant where neither
a feather nor a snippet of fur has ever settled to the
kitchen floor. So legitimate is the mission of Vegetable
Garden and so far-ranging is its reputation, that I
was able to find numerous sites on the veggie-net singing
its praises. Not only does Vegetarian Times name
it "one of the 31 top vegetarian restaurants in
the country," (The number 31 is impressive, I think.
It puts the lie to the "Top 25" template that
every other magazine slaps over a "Best of"
survey.) Veggie Garden has also earned the imprimatur
of PETA Eats, an online resource the organization provides
for hungry compassionate gourmands. In addition, Vegetable
Garden participates in COK (Compassion Over Killing,
a non-profit animal advocacy group based in Washington),
which means that it is a friendly haven for that same
constituency. In fact, 10 percent of every Thursday's
receipts at VG go to COK. I had no idea about any of
this the previous times I'd eaten there. I just went
because the food was great.
The Vegetable Garden's chefs do their own brand of
alchemy, turning only the plants of the earth into just
about every protein analogue possible. There are plenty
of vegetable dishes. Their moo shu vegetables are my
absolute favorite: a healthy heap of thinly sliced and
lightly sautéed green and red cabbage, snow peas,
wood ear mushrooms, and carrots — and hoisin sauce with
just a whisper of sweetness. The pancakes might be a
tad rubbery, but I never mind. Most Asian places serve
a dark and morbid mix of overcooked cabbage and God
knows what else as moo shu veggies. Vegetable Garden's
version is fresh with color and crunch; these ingredients
have recently been growing in a field.
But the really impressive creations are the ones that
come in quotes: Orange "Beef" and Kung Pao
"Chicken," for instance. They certainly look
good enough. Personally, I am never convinced by the
soy versions of anything, but vegans can feel at home
here and everyone, regardless of lifestyle or philosophy,
can find a wide variety of fresh, healthful and yummy
cuisine. Although I have always found whole-wheat, carob,
non-sugared desserts a little too Gulag Archipelago
for my taste, Vegetable Garden offers a number of vegan
desserts, like pumpkin pie and pecan Tofutti, that seem
to please the crowd. Back to restaurant list
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