Inn Season Cafe

I have been so spoiled in the way of food lately!  Truly!  Tuesday I had Cacao Tree, yesterday I had Inn Season and today I had Inn Season.  My stomach better not get too used to this!

Inn Season is similar to Cacao Tree in that it is very health-minded but it does not boast a strictly raw, or even vegan, menu.  It is a vegetarian restaurant where one can find things like cheese, eggs, ice cream and honey (to some vegans) on the menu.

Boy, oh, boy is it wonderful though.  The menu has its stand bys but it also features a different specials menu every day--every day, mind you!--with seasonally inspired ingredients.  The flavor magic and creativity that goes on behind Inn Season's kitchen doors never ceases to amaze me.

Unlike Cacao Tree, where I always get the same thing despite its other tempting offers, I ALWAYS get something different at Inn Season.  I've had a gluten free spinach and butternut squash quiche with cashew gravy, mushroom and asparagus ragout, leek and white bean cakes with garlic-saffron aioli alongside spicy pear compote, mushroom bisque (I like...okay, love...mushrooms) and their Mediterranean Grain Salad.  The last is what I had yesterday.

Let me describe it:

A bed of mixed Mesclun greens with THE freshest sunflower sprouts and an organic brown rice mixture with very thinly chopped celery (*crunch*), pistachios (*crunch*crunch*), sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, avocado and fresh basil in a garlic-lemon vinaigrette.

Um?

Yum.

Obviously, I ate it all.

My friend, Gracie, joined me for lunch, and ordered their famous "Inn Season Salad."  I've ordered it in the past too and it's another excellent choice but I know it's something I can order anytime.  I even thought, Maybe tomorrow (today, as I sit typing this) I'll get the Inn Season Salad.  But nope.  Again I ordered a special, selected from an entirely different specials list than yesterday.

Tonight I ordered the Curried Bean Cakes with Spicy Pineapple Chutney and Sprouts.  It was so unbelievably, ridiculously, outta this world good.  The cakes were like fat, savory, Indian-inspired pancakes sent down from heaven.  They were über moist and flavorful like whoa.  Packed full of chickpeas and kidney beans, leeks, maybe shredded carrots and who knows what else, and doused in chunky spicy-pineapple-y chutney with pops of cardamom seeds, the dish worked together flawlessly.  The simple addition of fresh sunflower sprouts was even perfect, as it helped balance out the richness of the overall entree.

In addition to the cakes (because I didn't already have enough food), I also ordered a side of steamed kale.  I tend to do this when I order heavier entrees (this was actually considered an appetizer!) from Inn Season because, like the sprouts, it lightens up the meal, not to mention, makes for an excellent sauce sopper-upper.  Furthermore, it loads me up with some happy, healthy calcium!

Trevor, who joined me for dinner tonight, ordered the Big Baprowski.  Like me, he licked his plated clean AND ordered a hot fudge brownie for dessert.  He polished that off as well.  While I did not indulge in any post-dinner brownie demolishing, I did order a scoop of Coconut Bliss Chocolate Hazelnut Fudge ice "cream" because a). it's one of my few weaknesses that I really cannot resist and b). Trevor is so much fun to go out and eat with that ordering dessert really just becomes a "must," regardless of one's fullness level.

I think tomorrow I'll be back to my old ways of making my own breakfast, lunch and dinner, but fully enjoying the two days of AMAZING eats I had this week with even more amazing friends <3

**Side Note:  When I was at Whole Foods the first time today (yes, I was in there twice...not an unusual day...), I noticed they now are labeling EVERYTHING that is non GMO.  Awesome!  I was so excited to see this progressiveness.  I hope it brings greater awareness to people and teach those who might not even know about GMO foods to be aware of them and encourage them to inform themselves.  Yahoo!

I swear these labels went up overnight because I was in the store yesterday and they did not exist.

 For more info: http://www.nongmoproject.org/