A Morning Hike, Arriving in SLC, Raw Food, Sweets, & Pizza All In One NOMmalicious Day!

Kristin | On 15, Nov 2012

Blog posts are a few months out from where I am currently. Please check out Instagram @wtfveganfood, Facebook, and Twitter for day-to-day news.

Written October 2, 2012

Mom and I woke up bright and early in the unique and beautiful Craters of The Moon National Park, where we camped out last night. Since we were up early we decided to take a short half mile hike up to the top of Inferno Cone.

Early morning sun at the top of the Inferno Cone. “Inferno Cone Trail is a short but steep path up the cinder cone at the center of the scenic loop drive in Crater of the Moon National Monument. This 6,181-foot summit provides a panoramic view of the surrounding volcanic landscape. Inferno Cone Trail is just half a mile round trip with 160 feet of elevation gain. The killer overview of Craters of the Moon is well worth the effort.” – Hikespeak.com

Where’s Gerty? We’re only halfway up the side of Inferno Cone at this point. Phew! Below: mom spots a unique bird and some pics from the view at the top of the Inferno cone.

There’s an itty bitty me at the top of the Inferno Cone. Weeee! What an awesome way to start the day. Refreshing, light exercise, and prepped for our drive to Salt Lake City, Utah!

The drive to Salt Lake City (SLC) wasn’t bad at all. My mom drove most of the way, we stopped a few times for gas, and I finished out the last hour or so. We were pretty hungry once we got there and beelined it to Cafe Supernatural, per my friend Eric’s recommendation. Just as we were walking toward the restaurant I got a call from a local vegan celeb, Ian Brandt! He is the head chef and owner of not one, not two, but three of the vegan restaurants in SLC  and is also behind one of the premier natural food stores there. So cool! We had corresponded a while ago about my trip and so he called to follow up. We’re now scheduled to meet later in the week to talk about how he got started in the restaurant biz, and his ever popular vegan eateries. Woo!

And now it’s time for lunch, at what happens to be one of Mr. Brandt’s restaurants!

Cafe Supernatural – vegan & gluten-free
600 South 700 East, Building #P101
Salt Lake City, UT 84102

This restaurant shares space with a neighboring yoga studio. The overall vibe is calming with a lot of white space, simple, clean colors, and friendly staff. I love the creative foliage cutouts scattered on either side of the check-out counter.

We started with refreshing Elixers, AKA fresh fruit smoothies. The first elixer pictured below is the Intuition “third eye chakra” (banana, blueberry, black currants, almond milk, lavender, and agave). The pink elixer is called Love Bomb “sacrum chakra” (mango, coconut cream, strawberry, and banana). We LOVED these filling drinks. So refreshing and packed with flavor.

Ian suggested trying the Machu Picchu while I was on the phone with him. So I figured I’d give it a whirl. Here we’ve got quinoa with steamed veggies, and a roasted chili cashew cream sauce. GET. OUT. OF. TOWN. Hands down, one of the best raw dishes I’ve ever had. With an exquisitely delicate spicy hot undertone, this perfectly blended, rich, creamy sauce is absolutely outstanding. I’ve never had anything like it. Just lovely.

Mom had the vibrant, beautifully plated Supernatural Wrap which is a couple of collards rolled and stuffed with a housemade paté, avocado, and artisan sauerkraut. She LOVED it!

After our late lunch we decided to stop by City Cakes & Cafe so that I could do some writing (they have wifi!) and just to check out this mostly-vegan bakery.

City Cakes & Cafe – mostly vegan
282 East 9th South
Salt Lake City, UT 84111

Going in, I thought this bakery was 100% vegan but mom noticed that they sell cows milk and creamers. So there’s a little confusion about that. Maybe one of my lovely readers can clear it up. Does anyone know what the deal is?

Mom ordered a gluten-free blueberry scone, which was fantastic. And I had the vanilla soft serve ice cream with cookie dough chunks on top AND brilliantly in the bottom of the cup too! The ice cream was pretty good but the cookie dough was fantastic. I wish I asked what brand they use, or if they make their own.

After hanging out at City Cakes for a few hours mom and I headed to Sage’s Cafe to meet up with my friend Eric (do you remember Eric from the Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee posts? He lives in SLC now and is a woodworking apprentice at Art Kieres Furniture), and his friend Vanessa, for the all-you-can-pizza night. Woohoo!

Sage’s Cafe – all vegan
473 East 300 South
Salt Lake City, UT 84111

This restaurant is one of the longest running veg establishments in the country. I was only able to stop by this one evening but I’ve heard that their menu – outside of pizza – is absolutely fantastic, and relatively upscale. I’ll definitely be back here at some point!

The way this works is – the kitchen just keeps making pizza after pizza, the servers bring each pie out to the dining area and walk around the tables, offering everyone a slice (if you’ve opted for the all-you-can-eat option). Don’t be fooled by these conservative slices. You get full fast! ;)

The first pizza slice pictured above is the triple cheese, next is the veggie chicken enchilada (this one was my favorite), and below is the kalamata olive.

When all was said and done I had eaten a total of TEN slices of pizza. The other flavors included mushroom, carmelized onion, philly cheesesteak, sausage mushroom and onion, garlic and veggies, breakfast, and pesto. Everything was quite good.

After rolling ourlselves out of Sage’s we headed to Eric’s place to shower, decompress, and get some rest. I’m looking forward to exploring more of Salt Lake City tomorrow! It’s beautiful here!! :)