Monday, July 2, 2018

The Red Herring - Fusion Dinners

For a college town, we have a sad lack of completely veg restaurants, but we have one mainstay that has been here for decades. It changes a bit every year or so, trying new things with different students getting involved. Some years they are only open for lunch and only during the normal school year. This year, The Red Herring is open for dinner once a week, even during the summer, for fusion dinners. They use as much local produce as possible and highlight different cuisines each week. We've only been a couple times this year because Josie had gymnastics during the dinner hours until her gymnastics schedule switched for the summer. Josie would go every week if she could.
Indian fusion night at The Red Herring; vegetable biryani,  tofu paneer saag, massor dal, and salad.
Four of us made it to the Indian fusion night and I was surprised how much Dema enjoyed it. He is not the biggest Indian food fan, like the rest of the family, but I think he appreciated the subtle Indian flavors of fusion night.
For fusion night, they just have one platter (usually with a gluten-free option too)  for everyone, but you can choose the extra sides or appetizers.
Desserts at The Red Herring are always a treat!
Josie has swim team practice in the evenings on fusion night so we usually go directly to the Red Herring. This means she is tired and starving so we order everything we can. This night was Americana and she got the roasted cauliflower buffalo dip. It totally held her over until the main course.
We don't use cauliflower enough at home. I need to remedy that. It is such a nutritious and versatile vegetable! This is one of the benefits of eating out at The Red Herring, I get some great ideas of things to make at home! The burger was my favorite and I'm not a huge veggie burger fan these days...too often it is the only option at restaurants so I avoid them now. I'm so glad I didn't miss out on this eggplant black bean burger, it was the best burger I've eaten in a long time! I love veggie burgers with actual veggies and with good spices. I totally understand some people want a vegan burger that mimics meat...no judgement, but that isn't what I like.
Yes, she ate everything!
Josie always gets dessert at The Red Herring. It goes back to when she was younger and The Red Herring was one of the only places in town to serve vegan desserts. Now we have too many options, but she still loves the slightly healthier inventive desserts at The Red Herring. This evening it was the dried coconut bacon chocolate cake. She shared a bit with me and it was quite good, but not overly sweet and it was a great end to a wonderful dinner packed with local produce!