The Joy when finding new food

Shortly after my mildly successful trip to Alabama and Tennessee, I found myself going up to Grand Rapids Michigan for a trade show in mid May of 2010.  Again, I had reasonably low expectations of this trip, but at least I was travelling somewhat by myself and could at least break away and go out exploring.  There had to be something out there.  I was fortunate to find that the trade show itself had vegetarian wraps for lunch, so once I dissected the cheese out of them, they were somewhat edible.

The next few evenings were spent using my new found modified potato and salad approach, but when my coworkers were going to a "chop house" for big steaks (I always had a weakness for the king of all steaks, the "bone-in ribeye", at least it was my king), I said enough was enough, and went on a quest.  I should note, it was still hockey playoffs, so I was looking now for a place to watch hockey, and a menu that had something other than salad.

I was referred by a nice bar maid, to a new place called Stella's Lounge. This was probably the single best day in my new vegan life.  This was a whiskey bar, that specialized in vegan dishes. Note that there was no tv to be found, but at this point I forgot about hockey.  I started with faux chicken wings (called "Blessed Black Wings"), and then a Tempeh Bacon and Eggplant sandwich called "You Suffer".  I had to love the Metal and Punk food names on top of it.  This was the most food enjoyment I had had at this point, and I was texting my wife all evening with my delight.

The only bad news was I found this on Wednesday, and Thursday we were heading East to Troy, so I did what anyone would do, I made a stop on the way out of town, and purchased my next 3 meals to go.

I love you Stella, can you please come to Cincinnati??????