Burgerlandia

The cheery sign at VG's front door

Paris is experiencing an interesting culinary trend: Burgers. What's so special about burgers, you ask? Well, I'm talking about veggie burgers. They're EVERYWHERE! First, there was MOB, then East Side Burgers. And next month, HANK opens in the Marais. October 2013, however, belongs to VG.

I met Celine, VG's gorgeous, super-friendly owner, at Paris Vegan Day. She had just opened VG a few days earlier and expressed a bit of worry that no one would show up to eat her delicious food. "I'll come!" I said. I don't think my words offered much comfort, but today, I held true to my promise anyway.

VG's owner, Celine, and her husband Suri

If you arrive by bicycle, you can pedal along the La Fayette velo piste right to VG's front door. (Otherwise, Metro Poissonniere is two minutes away.) Outside, a few bistro tables and a sandwich board let you know you've come to the right place. Inside, it's a family affair: Celine, her husband, and her belle-mere share the culinary stage, slinging burgers, chatting with customers, and otherwise making vegetarianism friendly and accessible.

Vegan carrot cake!

The menu fuses traditional burgers with imaginative items inspired by Celine's Spanish heritage and her husband's Laotian background.

Diners choose from the a la carte menu or one of several daily formules. On this day, the menu options spanned a handful of continents: American burgers with Mexican condiments (guacamole); Southeast Asian Pad Thai; and even Spanish-style potatoes and roasted peppers. I went for the edible equivalent of the missionary position: A burger and fries. Not necessarily the sexiest choice, but then I've never been able to resist the words "frites maison."

The fries are thin and tasty, and served with a biodegradable bamboo fork. The burger was equally delicious, and slathered in a cumin-spiced guacamole. Warning to non-French folk who come expecting burgers of McMansion proportions: That's not what you'll get here. Instead, count on perfect, we're-not-getting-fat, but-we-are-getting-full size. My meal left me sated, so much so that I couldn't squeeze in even one bite of the very tempting vegan carrot cake. ((Vegan Carrot Cake!))

So excited to discover this green Tabasco sauce on a neighboring table. I recommend splashing it over everything you order (except the carrot cake).

Miam! My burger with guacamole and vegan cheese on a sesame-seed bun.

Celine plans to expand the VG menu over time to include more items with Spanish, Asian, and world-cuisine influences, and she'll soon begin offering artisan buns made by a local boulanger. Just yesterday, she launched a fancy new vegan burger, and to kick off the fun-in-a-bun, there'll be a guess-the-name-of-the-burger contest on their Facebook page in a few days.

Also: Hurray! VG is a late-breaking addition to my next book, Vegetarian Paris, published by Vegetarian Guides. (Advance copies for sale soon!)

Supermarket Surprise

My latest find at Carrefour, a treasure trove of edible mysteries.

I popped over to the giant Carrefour market after French class on Thursday with one thing on my shopping list: Earl Grey tea. On the right side of the tea aisle sit rows of boxes and canisters of my favorite beverage; the left side is dedicated to all things "bio," or as we anglophones like to call it, "organic stuff."

On the shelf just above the chocolate-covered rice cakes, my eyes were drawn to a low-fi brown box with the words "Galette de Soja" on it. I was intrigued. I reached for the Mediterranean flavor (plain-sounding "vegetable recipe" burgers were the other possibility), flipped the package over and scanned the ingredients list--soy, eggplant, millet, olives--and discovered they were vegan. In my basket they went.

Vegan-approved ingredients list.

The burgers don't need to be refrigerated, which  seems a little creepy to me. 

I made them for dinner that night, following the cooking directions and baking them in the oven for 8 minutes. (It was also suggested that I could fry them.) They were OK. Not fabulous, but pretty good. The texture was ... soft and occasionally chewy, rather than totally firm like a Boca or Gardenburger patty. Jeff thought they were the best thing since ... Tofurky, maybe. "I wonder if you can cook these in the microwave?" he asked, and I could see he was imagining all the different burger possibilities for lunch next week. (Microwaving was not one of the cooking methods printed on the box.)

My burger tasted pretty OK with a bit of salad and a side of  beans.

Would I give them another shot? Sure. Maybe sandwiched between two pieces of baguette, with a slice of tomato and some lettuce, too. And fries. Lots and lots of fries.