VegiTerranean (Akron restaurant)

I'm not a vegetarian, nor am I a vegan, but I do try to make and eat healthy dishes, including my fair share of veggie and soy-based burgers. So when I read about Chrissie Hynde's new restaurant, VegiTerranean, I wanted to go. And I knew my mom, who just lost more than 60 pounds on Weight Watchers, would be the perfect accomplice.

For those who don't know, Chrissie Hynde was the lead singer of The Pretenders, but before she hit it big, she was living in Akron, Ohio (where I grew up). And from what I read, she decided to open VegiTerranean so she'd have a place to eat back home that would support her lifestyle. (An animal rights activist, she once was arrested for protesting a department store's use of leather.)

So along came the idea for VegiTerranean, which caters to vegetarians and vegans by not serving any meat, eggs or dairy products. It opened last fall in the bottom floor of a brand-new condo complex across the street from one of Akron's most beloved Italian restaurants. Competing with a hometown favorite (VegiTerranean's slogal is, "Vegetarian Fare.....Italian Flare") takes guts, especially when your menu is peppered by foreign words like Rawmesan and Gardein Steak. To be honest, I'd say Chrissie Hynde's fame is part of what fueled the restaurant's popularity among both veggie- and meat-eaters.

Though I was already clued into the restaurant's success from local reviews, the point was hammered home when my mom and I got to the restaurant. It was a quarter till 5, we were one of a handful of people in the restaurant, and yet we were told, apologetically, that they were completely booked for the night. Luckily, we were invited to eat at the bar.

And eat we did. We started with an appetizer of whole grilled artichokes and shaved Rawmesan served with a lemon herb dipping sauce and roasted red pepper sauce. The next course? One of the daily specials, all of which featured arugula (a peppery salad green). The one we ordered was a warm mushroom salad atop a bed of arugula and toasted pistachios. Our waitress also brought us still-warm, homemade bread served with a bean-and-tomato spread spiced just right. For the main course, my mom ordered fresh linguine with a portabella and wild mushroom ragu. I ordered another of the specials, a hollowed eggplant stuffed with quinoa, corn and Rawmesean, with sun-dried tomatoes.

In short...this meal was so good that my mom said she might've gone over her Points limit - and added that she didn't care.

Maui

As I said in my post about Mohican, Brett and I took our honeymoon (and got married!) last summer. For the honeymoon, we spent five days in San Francisco and a week in Maui. This probably goes without mentioning, but it was a fabulous trip. Before we'd even left, we were already figuring out when we could go back. Anyway, because I knew of two other people who were planning their honeymoons in Maui, I jotted down some notes about our favorite restaurants and activities when we got home. Since then, I've been asked for these tips a few times, and I thought I'd post them here for anyone who's Maui-bound:

Trilogy – a GREAT tour company. We booked a snorkeling trip to Molokini with them, and the trip was from 8 a.m.- 2 p.m. They took us to two spots for snorkeling, fed us breakfast, lunch and snacks, and then since we were on a sailboat, gave us a taste of sailing. The people, food and experience was fantastic.

Manana Garage – this is in Kahului, and we read about it in Frommer’s. It’s a little hard to find, but it’s a really nice restaurant that doesn’t attract all the tourists. We had jalapeno cornbread and really good fish (they have red meat and chicken too). Worth the drive!!

Kimo’s – very romantic. If you decide to go, call ahead and ask for a seat with a view. We ate here our first night and got a table on the second story overlooking live music on the first floor and beyond that, the ocean. The food was probably the best we had on the island too.

Mama’s Fish House – this is really expensive (everything in Maui is, but this is particularly expensive). We liked the food at Kimo’s a little better, but for a honeymoon, Mama’s is an experience. It’s right on the beach in Paia, and there are no walls or windows on the outside of the restaurant, so you’re just breathing in ocean air. Plus, if you like fish, you’ll love their menu. It changes daily, and they tell you who caught the fish you’re eating and where it was caught. If you go here, definitely make reservations in advance.

Flatbread – this is a little pizza place in Paia (a little hippie town that’s a fun place to go to walk around and shop for a couple hours). We ordered a large pizza to split, half a BBQ pork and half santa fe chicken. They brought it out, and it looked great, but the chef was unhappy with how crunchy the crust was, so she made a whole other pizza. So basically for $16, we had food for quite a few meals.

Comfort Zone – this was a little sandwich shop that’s on the highway just north of Lahaina. We stopped here for lunch one day and had some sandwiches and split an order of garlic fries. The food is really fresh and healthy (except the fries), and there’s a huge selection…sandwiches, salads, big plates. It’s good.

Broke da Mouth cookies – we read about this place in Frommer’s. It’s a small bakery in Kahului, and as soon as we walked in and told the owner we’d never been there before, she gave us samples of every single cookie they sell. We left with five bags of cookies, and believe me, it is well worth the trip. They are crunchy, and come in standard flavors, like chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin, and they also come in more “island-y” flavors like almond macadamia nut.

David Paul’s Lahaina Grill – This was much more elegant than the other restaurants we went to. When you’re inside, it doesn’t really feel like you’re in Maui, more like you’re in some fancy restaurant in a big city. But the food was quite good. We each had a macadamia-crusted pork chop, which was heavenly. It was one of the few times I didn’t eat fish on the vacation. Overall, we liked Kimo’s and Mama’s Fish House better in terms of a fancy, expensive meal, just because their atmospheres were much more relaxed. Their menu is online, so you could always read the menu before you go to see if someplace that you’d want to check out.

Loudonville, Ohio

Although my husband is quick to remind me that it's only been five months since our honeymoon, he knows I've been itching for a little getaway. So as my Christmas gift, he booked a two-day trip to Loudonville, Ohio - the home of Mohican State Park and Landoll's Mohican Castle - for Jan. 17-18.

As I mentioned, he's a whiz at finding bargains, and he found a half-price deal for a room at the castle (see photo at right). However, the reason the castle offered such low rates is because it's off-season. Which means most tourist spots are closed and most activities are off-limits (though if there's enough natural snow, you can cross-country ski on trails through the woods at Malabar Farms).

But hey...that's no reason to let a good vacation go to waste, especially when you're staying in a deluxe room with heated bathroom floors and a fireplace operated by a light switch. So on Thursday, after a failed attempt at exploring and dinner at the Mohican State Park Resort (where we had the entire restaurant to ourselves), we swung by Gribble's IGA for snacks and two bottles of Lonz's blackberry wine (which in case you find yourself in a similar situation, does NOT require a wine opener, just a twist of the wrist).

Our Mohican adventure continued Friday morning, when we got side-by-side massages, which were done by two people (we assumed they were husband and wife) who were contracted by the hotel. It was my second massage and Brett's first. We both loved it. If you've never had a massage, it is WELL worth the money. [Side note: for you fellow Clevelanders, try the Brown Aveda Institute, a cosmetology school that offers upper body massages for just $17 and full-body massages for $34.]

Other than walking down to the castle's restaurant for lunch and dinner, Brett and I spent the rest of Friday sipping wine and watching season one of the TV show, Friday Night Lights, a totally addicting show that you'll love even if you aren't into football. We took our time coming home Saturday and couldn't resist popping into Grandpa's Cheesebarn, which is located just off of Interstate 71 in Ashland. Luckily, we went hungry. There are three rows of cheeses, dips, spreads and other goodies, many of which are available for you to sample. We bought a loaf of sweet iced cherry bread and a couple homemade chocolate chip cookies, which were almost raw in the center and crunchy around the edge. In other words, perfect.

If you decide to venture to Mohican in the off season, here's my advice:

Do:

• Bring along a handful of movies or, like we did, a season of a TV show (Brett usually just gets them from the library), or throw a few games in the car. This is your chance to do nothing and have a damn good time doing it.
• Stock up on snacks and drinks. Yes, they have a grocery store and gas station. No, it isn't close to the castle or the resort. You'll end up spending more on gas driving to buy it than you would on the drink.
• Strike up a conversation. Brett and I found out about Gribble's from our bartender at the State Park Resort and got directions back to the castle from our waitress. Everyone we met went out of their way to help us out.

Don't:

• Expect to be entertained. You won't be. If you're not the type of person who appreciates the country, this isn't the place for you.
• Forget to bring Dramamine or Tylenol. All of the twists and turns of those back roads will leave you feeling a little queasy if you get motion sickness easily.