Valentine’s Day At Shojin

Jane and I aren't really into the whole Valentine's Day thing.  We've been together eleven years. It's a long enough period of time for us to have gotten to know what the other wants or expects on these kinds of holidays. For instance, I know that Jane loves it when I bring home flowers, but she can't stand the idea of the ridiculously inflated costs of flowers at this time of the year. Neither one of us believes that this is a legitimate gift-giving "holiday" - so there's no expectation that either of us is going to procure an amazing gift for the other. But there is some sense of needing to make this day a bit more out of the ordinary, we do after all, value and cherish our relationship.

Last year, for our first Vegan Valentine's Day, Jane made us a feast.  This year, Shojin (our favorite vegan restaurant in the Los Angeles area) was having a set course meal which sounded wonderful, so we made reservations.  By the time we got around to making our reservations, dinner was already sold out, so we took the last lunch seating.

Shojin - Salad

As usual, the food was superb.  The meal started with a "three color terrine" which was red pepper, kabocha squash, and edamame in an agar-agar suspension...  It was different from anything I've eaten before.  Jane and I both thought the red pepper the best of the three colors.   That was followed by a cauliflower carrot soup which I thought was excellent.  After that we were served a green salad with roasted tomatoes and balsamic vinaigrette.  The roasted tomatoes were a nice surprize.

Seitan Cutlet Cordon Bleu - Shojin

For our entree, we had a choice of seitan cutlet cordon bleu with ratatouille and colorful rice, or hamburg steak with mushroom sauce and colorful rice.  Shojin's seitan is spectacular, so we both ordered the cutlet.  It was very good, but we both prefer the barbeque seitan.

Dessert - Shojin

Finally, there was dessert.  It was a plate of three different desserts... a sesame ice cream, chocolate gateaux, and berry gelee.  My favorite here was the sesame ice cream.  Jane, of course, picked the chocolate as her favorite.

Whether you're an avid Valentine's Day fan, or think it's just another Hallmark holiday, we hope you had an enjoyable day.

Related Information:

1. Shojin
2. Last Vegan Food For 500 Miles
3. Shojin Restaurant
4. Pan-Fried Seitan
5. Seitan Scaloppini