The 1st ever San Francisco Vegan [Beer] & Food Festival mustered through the entire day without too…read moremuch incident, serving up delectable treats and vegan goodies, but the term "festival" has me wanting something more to be desired.
I arrived right at opening at 11am. One of the first to arrive, as well as FTR (Sorry John B., you know I love ya!). Some tents were still setting up, and while trucks were already serving food and lines were short, you can tell they were still trying to finish finish prepping as it still took some time to get the first 2 dishes I ordered.
My first stop was No Worries Filipino food. Always heard great things about them and have been on "to-try" list for a long time. I think I've only had Filipino food about 3 times in my life since it is usually features un-veg friendly cuisine.
No Worries blew me away with their oversized sampler portion. Their Lumpia was perfectly crisp, yet still fresh. Their Adobo kept my watering and wanting more. Also featured was their Mungo, Apritada, and Pansit.
2nd stop: Southern Fried Vegan. Tried the Mac & Cheeze, with Fried Chicken and Collard Greens. The M&C was quite good. Nice and gooey with a good cheese flavor and texture. Their fried chicken seemed fried ahead of time sicne it had gotten tough and less of a fried texture.
3rd Stop: Life Foods. They were serving up veggie burgers and nachos! I tried the nachos and felt very underwhelmed. They used their veggie burger patties and sauteed it up with onions, peppers, and seasoning and tossed it on a bed of tortilla chips. It was hardly 'nachos' since there was no sauce, tomatoes, jalapenos, cream, etc. etc. It was very dry, very salty, but still lacked a wholesome flavor. It made for a good crunchy snack though.
4th stop: Lil Burma. Their tea leaf salad-pricey at $11 a plate, was luckily a large portion and very tasty. Fresh, crunchy, with the right amount of nuts. Unfortunately, Lil Burma quickly ran out of 3 out of 4 of their items within the first few hours.
5th Stop: Rhizocali Tempeh and their Buffalo Wings. I hardly eat tempeh-I'm not the biggest fan of the texture. But they have amazing quality tempeh here! Too bad the buffalo sauce was not spicy at all and didn't stick too well to the tempeh. I wish it was spicier! The cashew cream sauce was quite delicious though.
6th Stop: Republic of V. Selling vegan goodies, snacks, and treats! I bought some coconut bacon flakes and I can't wait to put it in baked potatoes, salads, and more!
Last stop before I slipped into a food coma: Timeless Coffee! These were probably my favorite right behind No Worries. I didn't think Moon Cake was something I would ever be able to eat again going vegan. These folks proved me wrong with their DELICIOUS rendition of it! Also, their grave digger chocolate mousse is to "Die" for, and their pumpkin roll was so tasty that I caught myself eating it for dinner later that night. Yum!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
About the event itself: I enjoy going to Soma Streat Park, but there's always a lot of oversights. They advertise as a "Beer & Food Festival," but there was hardly a beer selection! Where was the craft brews, the ciders, etc as advertised? There was the same ol Anchor, Lagunitas, and about 3 other choices. Many of which sold out by 3 pm. Poor poor advertising. BOO!
They also advertised live music. There was none. In fact, the only music they played was 90's hip hop/R&B for 5 STRAIGHT HOURS. It did not go well with the atmosphere, it made it boring, and the demographic was completely wrong for the kind of music. I think they didn't think about the music at all and just put on someone's old IPod Playlist. BOO.
The TV's. Ohhh this one made me very irritated. As I sat at my table to eat, the many tv's surrounding us were either showing sports or....Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. That's right folks. As you were at a Vegan Festival, eating tasty Vegan Food, the tv's were showing dead animal carcasses being butchered, cooked, and eaten right in front of you. It was very unsettling to say the least and I was very upset. I talked to one of the workers and they changed it for us. I know it was a small mistake, but really...they should have thought about it a little more. BOO.
I didn't make it to Hella Vegan Eats since the line was about an hour long. I think it was poor planning to put them next to Southern Fried Vegan-probably 2 of the most popular tents there that day.
All in all, still 4 stars because for the first time doing it, it was ok! Just very very poor marketing and planning from the guys from Streat Park. I also know there are so many more vegan food trucks out there and they were all missing. This is what happens when you put carnivores in charge of a vegan event. SMH.
Food: 4.5 stars
Vendors: 4 stars
Atmosphere: 2 stars
Beer: 1 star
Music: 0 stars
Still thankful to have a vegan event with no chance of cross contamination or yucky BBQ smell. Thanks John B. and Rachel C. for hanging out with us!