Vegetarians' seitanic verses
The best in Chicago's meat-ternatives—no tofu allowed.
Erica Gannett
Believe it: It's not fleshy.
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After all is said and done this holiday season, the food served on tables revolves around one key ingredient: meat. If it’s not turkey at Thanksgiving, it’s the ham at Christmas, or the meatloaf at Festivus. But there are alternatives, namely in the form of seitan—a wheat gluten that possesses a chewy meat-like texture. In the spirit of giving and the new year, Decider lists a few of the places where you can worship seitan, a most excellent substitute for diehard meat-eaters, vegans for life, and everything in-between.
Handlebar’s "Savory Seitan Stuffed Tortellini"
To burn off extra holiday calories and spice up bland dietary routines, ride down to bicyclist hangout/pub Handlebar. The Wicker Park eatery, which recently celebrated its fifth anniversary, is known for its superior variety of vegetarian and vegan cuisine, and as a common meeting place post–Critical Mass. It serves a barbecue seitan sandwich ($8.75), and you can’t go wrong with sliced wheat-meat dipped in barbecue sauce, topped with shaved red onion, and served on sourdough bread. Less common is the savory seitan-stuffed tortellini ($12.75), in which pasta, made locally, is combined with a butternut squash puree, seitan, sautéed spinach, and toasted hazelnuts. It’s finished off with truffle oil and fried sage leaves.
Soul Vegetarian East’s "BBQ Twist" sandwich
Chicago’s South Side is rife with soul-food eateries; of course, it goes without saying that a dazzling array of meats is always on display. The idea of a vegetarian soul-food restaurant seems suspect, but Soul Vegetarian East (“Soul Veg”) shatters all expectations, food-wise. Do, however, go with time to spare, as service is reputed to be a little, uh, “casual.” (The waiters are volunteers because of its religious affiliation.) And definitely order the BBQ Twist ($6), a wheat-gluten barbecue pulled-pork sandwich cooked with peanut butter. Other seitan treats include BBQ Tidbits ($5.50)—seitan nuggets with barbecue dipping sauce—and the chicken-fried seitan steak ($6). Watch out for generous portion sizes, though leftovers are never a bad thing where barbecue is concerned.
Lake Side Café’s seitan gyros
Though this unassuming storefront’s hours are a bit peculiar (it doesn’t open until 5 p.m. on most days, and then it closes at 9 p.m.), get there while you can; its open-spaced ambience is quite inviting. Lake Side is renowned as an underrated eatery, and, like at Handlebar, seitan options are two-fold. First, there’s the omnipresent barbecue seitan sandwich ($9.75)—seitan cooked here is a little denser than most, giving the sandwich a more meat-ish taste. Second are the seitan gyros ($10.50), where the seitan slices bear an uncanny resemblance their meat counterparts. Along with the usual tzatsiki sauce and gyro trappings, the pita-served treat is also spiced with oregano and thyme, which adds a little eclectic flavoring. It’s priced reasonably, and completely worth every penny. Surprising how rarely that happens.
Handlebar’s "Savory Seitan Stuffed Tortellini"
To burn off extra holiday calories and spice up bland dietary routines, ride down to bicyclist hangout/pub Handlebar. The Wicker Park eatery, which recently celebrated its fifth anniversary, is known for its superior variety of vegetarian and vegan cuisine, and as a common meeting place post–Critical Mass. It serves a barbecue seitan sandwich ($8.75), and you can’t go wrong with sliced wheat-meat dipped in barbecue sauce, topped with shaved red onion, and served on sourdough bread. Less common is the savory seitan-stuffed tortellini ($12.75), in which pasta, made locally, is combined with a butternut squash puree, seitan, sautéed spinach, and toasted hazelnuts. It’s finished off with truffle oil and fried sage leaves.
Soul Vegetarian East’s "BBQ Twist" sandwich
Chicago’s South Side is rife with soul-food eateries; of course, it goes without saying that a dazzling array of meats is always on display. The idea of a vegetarian soul-food restaurant seems suspect, but Soul Vegetarian East (“Soul Veg”) shatters all expectations, food-wise. Do, however, go with time to spare, as service is reputed to be a little, uh, “casual.” (The waiters are volunteers because of its religious affiliation.) And definitely order the BBQ Twist ($6), a wheat-gluten barbecue pulled-pork sandwich cooked with peanut butter. Other seitan treats include BBQ Tidbits ($5.50)—seitan nuggets with barbecue dipping sauce—and the chicken-fried seitan steak ($6). Watch out for generous portion sizes, though leftovers are never a bad thing where barbecue is concerned.
Lake Side Café’s seitan gyros
Though this unassuming storefront’s hours are a bit peculiar (it doesn’t open until 5 p.m. on most days, and then it closes at 9 p.m.), get there while you can; its open-spaced ambience is quite inviting. Lake Side is renowned as an underrated eatery, and, like at Handlebar, seitan options are two-fold. First, there’s the omnipresent barbecue seitan sandwich ($9.75)—seitan cooked here is a little denser than most, giving the sandwich a more meat-ish taste. Second are the seitan gyros ($10.50), where the seitan slices bear an uncanny resemblance their meat counterparts. Along with the usual tzatsiki sauce and gyro trappings, the pita-served treat is also spiced with oregano and thyme, which adds a little eclectic flavoring. It’s priced reasonably, and completely worth every penny. Surprising how rarely that happens.
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