Places to eat

Akram's Middle Eastern Restaurant (191 Baldwin St, e. of Augusta, 416-979-3116)  As you may have heard on our Toronto Vegetarian Podcast, we are very pleased to announce Akrams re-opening after 3 years! They serve  a huge range of take-home hummus, $3 falafels & other sandwiches. "Vegan" items are marked as such on their menu.  Feinan writes: "Many of their Levantine sweet treats are vegan (their baklava, sadly, is not). The owners are also super nice, the food is super cheap, the place is open until late everyday, and just generally a great place to eat in Toronto! "

Poutini’s House of Poutine (1112 Queen St W, w. of Dovercourt, 647-342-3732) is a cafe serving poutine offering homemade vegetarian gravy, gluten free/vegan gravy and Daiya vegan cheese! Their cheese curd states on the label that it contains "microbial enzymes and/or rennet". Thankfully all their containers are 100% biodegradable and compostable. Open past midnight Thursday - Saturday for your late-night cravings!

CJ Lunchbox (409 Richmond Street W at Spadina, 416-913-9264)
Joan wrote to us "I have not been there myself but I saw a recent web post stating that CJ Lunch Box had several vegan options."  We asked the twitterverse  for reviews and @langela writes "I eat at CJ's Lunchbox regularly! I'd say they have 3 (or 4) kinds of veg sushi, 3 salads, soup. Tasty, cheap, cheerful." and @ammie_ tweets "yes it is - the service is AMAZING... food is ALWAYS fresh, cheap, healthy & quick for lunch- BEST veggie gyoza!" and @Our_Green_Home wrote "CJ Lunch Box is right across the street from our offices - yes it is Directory worthy. Good eats, reasonable prices!" CJ Lunchbox is a small sushi cafe with very limited seating, specializing in take-out meals.

Discount Update

Noah's Natural Foods  has launched their own loyalty program, because of this most locations will no longer be honouring the Vegetarian Discount Card as of  July 1st 2010. We are happy to report that the Bloor and Spadina location will be honouring the card for 5% off.

New at Farmers' Markets & Baking Classes

LPK’s Culinary Groove (718 Queen St E, at Broadview, 416-461-6440) is going to the market!  Pick up some yummy vegan and/or gluten-free goodies at Withrow Park (9am-1pm) and The Brick Works (8am-1pm) farmers' markets on Saturdays. In other news: in addition to their two most popular classes "Introduction to Raw Desserts"and "Introduction to Gluten-free Baking", LPK's is now offering their brand new "Vegan Baking Basics" class. Sign-up on their website. LPK's is a bakery with organic cakes, pastries and chocolates. Vegan, dairy-free and gluten-free desserts.

Summer Vacation Ideas

Active Veggie Tours (613-779-5794) is a  new travel consultant company specializing in active veggie group tours worldwide. The description: "Active Veggie Tours are fully escorted first class tours leaving from all major gateways worldwide to exciting destinations around the world. These veggie vacations are run by experienced tour operators. All tours feature an active component such as walking, hiking, yoga or swimming as part of the day’s itinerary along with vegetarian meals."

New Catering

Mesey Ethopian Vegetarian Catering  (meseyk@yahoo.ca, 416-335-5067)
They are an all vegetarian Ethiopian catering service. Mesey writes: "I am providing 12 different kinds of vegetarian dishes. Please contact me at least 5 days in advance."

Tales of Caution

"Fellow Veg" wrote to us words of warning about Cafe Diplomatico. "While this restaurant isn't listed as veg-friendly in the directory (for good reason!), I wanted to send out a cautionary warning to other vegetarians who may be pulled by friends to eat there. I was dining at the Diplomatico two weeks ago and ordered a small veggie pizza with tomatoes and hot peppers.  When it arrived at the table, the pizza was covered in pepperoni! I told the server that I was a vegetarian and had ordered the meat-free pizza for that reason.  She took it back and said she would have another one made up for me.... I got three quarters through a very sloppy pizza before noticing a half crescent of pepperoni tucked underneath some cheese.  It was obvious that the kitchen had simply picked (most of!) the meat off and then topped the dish with tomatoes before sending the same pizza back! The unapologetic server rolled her eyes and took the plate away saying only that I wouldn't have to pay.  I took my outrage to have a conversation with the Manager and ended up going home with a free dessert but the fact that it even happened is completely unacceptable.  I will not be back!"