I’m so thankful to Phoenix Magazine. The writers/editors have this amazing way of keeping their finger on the pulse of what’s going on in all of the greater Phoenix area. Recently they had an article about the best neighborhoods in Phoenix. While our little neck of the woods didn’t make the list (that’s ok because it is perfect to me), the highly-sought-after Ahwatukee area did. I like Ahwatukee. I have nothing against Ahwatukee. But now I’m jealous of the charismatic, south-eastern part of Phoenix. Why? Because it is home to what is quickly becoming my new favorite restaurant, Pomegranate Cafe.

Ah Pomegranate Cafe, how I love thee. This is a restaurant fastened after my own heart. It is entirely vegetarian and any dish can be served vegan. When you live an inspired vegan life, you get quite used to going to traditional restaurants with friends and family and ordering some wimpy little concoction of hacked-together side dishes. So it is like walking into a dream when you can go to a restaurant and order anything on the menu! It feels so liberating. So inviting. So powerful.

On my first trip to Pomegranate Cafe, I used my super vegan power to order the tomato & basil pesto sandwich. It was delicious. Typically I’m leery of pesto … it’s made with mayonnaise and that’s just plain gross. Pomegranate Cafe assured me their fantastic pesto was not of the sort – no dairy, no cow suffering needed for my sandwich. The sandwich is made with ancient grain bread, basil pesto, tomato, avocado & greens. It comes with a fresh, yummy side salad and some chips.

I must say I was not disappointed in the slightest over my lunch selection but I couldn’t stop looking over my plate to my friend Adria’s. She ordered the raw collard wrap which looked like a giant burrito wrapped in leaves. Basically they take two large collard leaves and stuff them with carrot, avocado, tomato, and homemade almond cheese. It was a braver choice than mine. I’ve had almond cheese before – in one of New York City’s finest vegan restaurants – and I didn’t like it. But after sneaking a bite from Adria, I will definitely order the raw collard wrap on my next trip.

Lunch is such a fun time of the day when you get to meet with good friends and share good conversation. I’m grateful for the inspirational women in my life. But on this particular day I found myself feeling about equally as much gratitude for Pomegranate’s blueberry-peach cheese cake. It was THE MOST delectable cheesecake I’ve ever had. In fact I would happily go back there just for desert. And this was just one of many, many vegan deserts!

While my friends and I were lunching, a local farmer came in to drop off her produce. Eh? I say. You can actually meet the person who grows the food we eat at the restaurant? What a throwback! These days with all the food scares and strange foods trucked in from all parts of the planet, I take comfort in knowing that there are places committed to not only providing fabulous food but supporting the local economy around them.

Now who wouldn’t love a restaurant that makes you feel so good inside and out; one that leaves you feeling like you have vegan super powers! Check it out. You won’t be disappointed.

Pomegranate Cafe
4025 East Chandler Boulevard, Phoenix, AZ
Phone: (480) 706-7472
www.pomegranatecafe.com

Tuesday – Friday: 7 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Saturday – Sunday: 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Serving: Breakfast & Lunch

I heard about Pizza Fusion on Facebook but was a bit reluctant to drive out to this obscure location in East Mesa (ok, I’m a lazy sucker for convenience) until I convinced my good friend Tuula to make the trek with me. It didn’t take much convincing since Tuula is like minded about food choices. I was pleasantly surprised that the journey wasn’t really as long as I thought and that the restaurant is fairly conveniently located off the new 202 freeway.

Enough about getting there. Let’s talk about the food. When it comes to restaurants clever vegans can always come up with something to order but there are good vegan dishes and there are horrible vegan dishes. For instance ordering vegan at Outback is terrible. All I can muster is a side of steamed veggies and a baked potato with ketchup. It will suffice in a famine but it’s not what I call a good vegan dish. Pizza Fusion on the other hand, delighted my taste buds and filled my belly.

We ordered the Farmer’s Market vegan pizza with a medley of roasted artichoke hearts, red onion, roasted zucchini and roasted portobello with tomato sauce with vegan cheese. Can you believe it? Yes, you read that right. They have vegan cheese! Better yet, you can order any one of their pizzas with vegan cheese. I know! It’s time to stand up and do a little dance. Something as simple as vegan cheese at a pizza joint makes me as happy as an insect fluttering around a warm light bulb.

When the vegan pizza came to our table, it looked amazing! It was rectangular shaped with fragrant veggies piled on top. The cheese was melted perfectly and I could barely wait to shove it in my mouth, which I promptly did. This tasty morsel of vegan pizza did more than quench my pizza pang, it far exceeded my expectations. It was flavorful, crisp, sweet, fresh … I could go on. Tuula and I are opportunists. And we took this opportunity to eat 3/4 of the entire pizza! That’s more than normal but it was so delicious, I could not bare to leave it for tomorrow’s leftovers. I’ve been so excited to tell you about the pizza that I forgot to mention our starter Fusion Salad which was great too but, you know, salad is salad. I was there for the pizza.

What I didn’t expect was a monster brownie for dessert. You see we got to talking with the manager Sandy and she told us that we absolutely had to try this vegan, gluten-free brownie. My first reaction to dessert is typically no. I assume that the desserts are a melange of dairy products or eggs, the typical. But not so at Pizza Fusion. Tuula and I went for it. We dove right into this warm, exquisite brownie. When I make vegan brownies they always seem a bit crumbly and strange. This vegan, gluten-free brownie was absolutely perfect. Every bite was deliciously sweet and as it slid off the fork, it seems to melt in my mouth. The dollop of vegan whip cream on top, dare I say, was the icing on the brownie.

After this gluttonous spectacle, I felt filled with love for Pizza Fusion. They starved off my pizza pangs that had built up over the years. They dazzled me with an unbelievable brownie. But there was more. As I started to look around, I began to see that the owner, Jennifer, truly believes in what she does. She cares about people eating healthy and saving the planet … one pizza at a time. From the 100% post-consumer recycled paper products to the low flow toilet in the bathroom and the sign in the mirror that says “this person is changing the world,” you can tell that Jennifer wants her customers to feel that their food choices are making a difference. And they are.

Pizza Fusion is more than just great food. It’s a place of inspiration in a listless and frankly boring restaurant market. It’s a place where you can talk to the owner and the manager and feel like they care about the same things you do. It’s something different, something genuine, and something with damn good food!

P.S. Jennifer did not pay me to write this review. I just loved Pizza Fusion that much. You can follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/PizzaFusionAZ.