The Bear Tooth - an unlikely ally

The hipster's hangout; home to all types of people and food philosophies, not to mention some insanely good brew. Mmmm...beer.


Anyway, best vegan items on the menu, to date, are:


Spicy Bear burrito, vegan style; get it without the sour-cream-cucumber-dill sauce. I like this one best, because, as its name implies, it has a bit of a kick to it. Refried black beans, brown rice, blackened tofu, a fetching mixture of spicy and bell pepper ribbons, spinach... It's a beautiful thing. Served with salsa salad or beans and rice. I like to pair this with their Pipeline Stout, or, when they have it on Revolving Tap, their Thai Coconut Stout.

Mushu Wrap...it's already vegan. Served up on your choice of tortilla, it has tofu, a blend of mushrooms, carrot shreds, cabbage, tofu, cashews, and a Thai peanut sauce. Served with chips or salsa salad.

Turnagain Burrito - served dairy free, you actually have to pay more to add three-cheese blend and sour cream or crema de arbol to this one. Has blackened tofu, black bean salsa, pepitas, sauteed peppers and onions, and salsa fresca. Served with salsa salad or beans and rice. Pairs best with amber beer.

Black Bear Burrito - an "almost natural vegan" item on the menu, if one leaves off the crema de arbol and cheese blend. Has refried black beans, rice, lettuce, salsa fresca, and guacamole. Just a little side note on the guac - it's house made, fresh each day, dairy free (and no mayo in it). As I recall, it's pretty good, but then, that was consumed by mistake, and I paid dearly for that. My partner says it's pretty good, but not as good as the stuff I make. Figures the thing I make that she likes best, is the one thing I can't have... :-P Served with salsa salad or beans and rice. Best with darker or amber beers.

BLACKENED TOFU TACOS! No dairy, and their blackened tofu seasoning really shines through, in these. Blackened tofu, refried black beans, lettuce, salsa fresca, and tomato-jalapeno salsa on soft corn tortillas. I love these with some Chugach Session Ale or their house Hefeweizen. If you're an IPA fan, then check out their Fairweather IPA. If you're a taco fan of any variety, this is where it's at, hands-down. 

The Blackened AK Cod Tacos can be made vegan with the simple substitution of tofu for the fish. Blackened tofu, habanero-kiwi-mango salsa, and cabbage on flour tortillas. The habanero-kiwi-mango salsa pairs incredibly well with the tofu. Served with salsa salad or beans and rice. Best with amber or light beers. 

Thai Chicken Wrap can also be made vegan, with the substitution of tofu for chicken. Has cabbage, noodles, cucumbers and cashews tossed in Thai peanut sauce, served on your choice of tortilla with a side of their Thai peanut sauce. Served with chips and fresh salsa bar. Pairs best with lighter, malted beers.


And that's just the Theatrepub side! I should mention that, every single time we've been there, D and I have been pleasantly surprised by their enthusiasm to meet our dietary restrictions/needs. If you want to try and veganize something, they are more than happy to try, with you! There have been practically zero incidents where we got sarcasm, lip or nastiness from any staff, regarding what we did and did not eat. These guys and gals don't bat an eyelash, just accept that you don't eat animal products, and move forward, from there. Good times!

I should also mention that they have a revolving non-alcoholic brew and beverage selection, as well as serving Kaladi Brothers Coffee. Among their N.A. selection, are their hand-crafted draft sodas. Check it out!

Until next week. :)

Middle Way Cafe - food review, and a 'favorite', revisited

Hit up Middle Way (MWC or Mid-Way) next to REI on Northern Lights, this past weekend. It had been a while, and they usually have some awesome vegan food. Actually, they tend to have a little something for every possible dietary need or restriction, making it a good place to go to brunch/lunch, with just about anybody. Just don't expect mimosas. That's Snow City territory. Anyway...

They've been branching out, trying new things in culinary experimentation/gastronomy, particularly in the vegan, gluten-free, and/or vegan AND gluten-free realms. Some raving successes:

• Their Unicorn Bowls, in any permutation. Usually includes steamed greens, some kind of steamed whole grain, edamame or beans, a balsamic or Liquid Bragg's reduction of some kind, fresh veggies and some fruit. No two are really the same, from week to week, and it's nice change of pace. Very much a whole-foods, plant-based approach, with very little oil, if any.
• The Mushroom Poke dish. Again, a melange of greens (kale is a favorite), grains, garlic, served up with a variety of mushrooms - some of which are specialty or could be classed as 'wild' - in a slow-simmered sauce with caramelized onions and fresh veggies - carrots, beet matchsticks...you name it.
• The Avo Melt, with Daiya mozza shreds. I can't have avocado - allergic; a tragedy, I know - but my partner tells me it's one of the better sandwiches of its type, that she's had. Being that she's an avocado fanatic, I will take her word on that. 

This weekend, it was their stuffed portobellos, with a side of  grilled radicchio salad. 

First, the side salad: it was positively everything I could have wanted out of a bitter greens salad of its type. The leaves were just wilted, still slightly warm, with enough of a crunch left in them to be satisfying. It was melded with ribbons of roasted red pepper and sauteed yellow onion, topped off with some alfalfa sprouts, and brought together by a balsamic reduction vinaigrette, that had a hint of citrus. Excellent. 

The portobellos: First off, the caps were...ah...small. More like middle-to-large cremini mushrooms, in terms of size. There were two, so it's not as though numbers made up for the lack. But, they were well-braised in the basil/balsamic/tomato sauce. The filling was more bits of mushroom cap, aforementioned sauce, and some garlic. 

They were topped off with some sprigs of fresh basil, and mandoline-thin slices of parmesan, which was not anywhere in the description - and MWC is pretty sensitive about their ingredients listing, so I was very surprised. Got about one-third of the way through one of the caps, and found...bits of meat, in the sauce. Again, it was nowhere on the ingredients list, and Middle Way is very conscientious about making sure its ingredients are fully listed...well, every other time, except this one, apparently. 

Overall, I was not impressed with the main dish, with or without the advent of finding meat and cheese, in it. The sauce was good, but it lacked depth and complexity of flavor, and the overall experience, given finding animal ingredients, was not positive. 

However, Middle Way Cafe is one of the few places in town that will positively bend over backwards if you're wanting to veganize something, so, six one, half-dozen, the other? Time will tell. They're still a mainstay of my social dining places list, since almost anyone can find something that agrees with them, there.

In other MWC news, their breakfast items are amazing. Such as their vegan whole grain short stack, and their Colours tofu stack. I do wish they'd bring back their 'classic' breakfast burrito, but, patience. 

So, there are vegans in Alaska.

Hi! Taylor, here. After a little over six years as a vegan, and a life-long Alaskan, I've decided I've garnered enough experience, in both, to comment effectively on how one of these aspects of life may affect the other. 

I'm going to try posting once or twice a week, about my experiences finding certain products, the odd recipe, dining out, and dealing with people that have moved to Alaska "for the experience" (which usually means hunting, fishing, and 'subsistence'). Being as I'm fairly new at this, I am more than happy to take suggestions, answer questions, and try to be a resource for anyone traveling to Alaska, looking for vegan-friendly establishments, etc. 


A bit about myself: I'm a 30-something, born-and-raised Alaskan "gay girl", who is emphatically anti-Pebble (but I did work four years in the mineral exploration and mining industries, oddly enough). I hold a Bachelor's in Russian Studies, and once had ambitions of working for the U.S. Department of State as a Foreign Service Officer, before I developed (very strong) opinions of my own. I've maintained a committed relationship for seven years, and my partner and I have two goats (pets, of course), a cat (reformed feral), and a dog (rescue), that we love and dote on, spoiled things that they are. 

I have been involved with various lines of employment/service. These include, but are not limited to: blood collections (blood banking); food service/espresso; commercial truck driver; municipal harbor cleanup crew and patrol; janitorial staff; Public Assistance eligibility technician (think food stamps); remote site medic, and, most recently, telemetry technician (monitoring and interpreting cardiac rhythms and vital signs for as many as thirty patients) on an ICU here, in Anchorage. I have ambitions to become a trauma nurse, or a doctor of emergency medicine...not sure which, yet

I grew up in the great outdoors, and love kayaking, rock climbing, hiking, wildlife watching, and other such activities. I also have a goal to learn more about mountain biking, than just simple single-track, this year, and LOVE my bicycle commute to work and errands, every day. I try to drive as little as possible, all seasons, and finished my first successful winter of ice/snow biking, thanks to Nokian Hakka bike studs!

Enough about me - I'm interested in knowing more about what any vegans would like to know about life in Alaska. More than happy to address any and all of those topics, here, in addition to whatever subjects I might stumble upon, in my spare time. Please, feel free to ask questions, comment, and suggest topics. I look forward to meeting you, whoever "you" are, out there, in the ether of the Internet.