Virtuous vegan pizzas hit the mark
Main Street eatery packs in the patrons, including meat eaters
“I feel like I’m in an episode of Girls,” my husband said, surveying the landscape of energetically chattering women at Virtuous Pie. Soon enough, more testosterone walked through the door. And that’s saying something. At least one study showed 79 per cent of vegans (at least in the U.S.) are women.
Virtuous Pie is a vegan joint and that’s a hard act to pull, considering there’s nothing better than cheese to sex up a pie. Judging by the dinnertime crowd sitting shoulder-to-shoulder at communal tables, the lineup snaking to the order counter and a busy takeout counter, chef Jim Vesal has hit the mark.
“We know there’s a lot of negative connotations when it comes to vegan food,” he says. “We set out to create pizzas to attract carnivores as well and it’s centred around textures and flavours. The (nut and soy-based) cheeses play a supporting role. We’d like to change the way people eat by creating really good food that they’ll discover on their own.”
He guesses about half of his customers are meat eaters. I know my husband was initially unexcited, but his post-dinner comment? “I’d come back!”
Vesal is quite aware that vegan pizzas ($10 to $13) are a hard sell to meat-eaters, so he adds the umami that cheese often contributes to a good pizza — mostly with vibrant, deep flavours and housemade, fresh-tasting vegan “cheeses.” A good crust goes without saying. (Vesal was previously a chef at Earls restaurants and at Cocktails and Canapes catering company.)
Meat eaters feel a “meaty” connection with some of the dishes with wily handles like Stranger Wings, with spicy buffalo cauliflower, blue “cheese” and crispy fried shallots; or Fennel and Sausage, with a roasted veg sausage, fennel, cashew mozzarella, garlic confit and San Marzano tomato sauce. Butter Chickpea Curry Mile sets you up in a butter chicken headspace — mint raita, roasted cashews, mango chutney and pea shoots zoots it up.
The crusts are bubbled with blackened bits and have a satisfying chew. Being “virtuous,” you might think it’s gluten-free; but no, no. They do offer it upon asking, but the wheat flour has 13 per cent gluten content, the reason for that satisfying chew. I know of at least one gluten-free regular whose tormenting itch for good pizza was finally scratched at VP.
The Kim Jack pizza takes an Asian tack with hoisin crema, cashew mozzarella, kimchi, gochujang-braised jackfruit, roasted broccolini and scallions. Whoa! This would require some high-wire balancing. Turns out we both liked it. The jackfruit had a pulled-pork texture and Vesal kept the kimchi and gochujang in check.
I ordered the Superfunghi, hoping for moistly coddled mushrooms nestled in something rich; the last mushrooms on a pizza I had were dried and unappetizing but these were kept moist and alive with cashew mozzarella and truffle almond ricotta. Herbed potatoes joined the toppings. However, it bordered on bland and, at the very least, needed seasoning, please.
There’s always a couple of salads, either as a side dish or entree ($4 and $10) and in this cooler season they have substance. The Butternut Squash and Kale salad has squash, parsnip, kale, brussels sprouts, dried cranberries, roasted pumpkin seeds, with miso tahini orange vinaigrette. The other offering worth investigating is their ice cream. It’s vegan, of course, and available by the scoop, or if you’re really taken with it you can buy a pint.
“Our ice cream surprises people the most,” says Vesal. “We make a base of cashew and coconut milk and then we add decadent, but not crazy, flavours.” Those would be flavours like salted caramel and pecan; mint and dark chocolate, pumpkin pie and pecan, coffee and doughnuts, and so on.
There’s 33 Acres and Four Winds brews and a small selection of wines and locally made kombucha to wash down the pies.
If you’d rather avoid the noisy bustling scene, there’s the delivery option (to within a five-mile radius). All told, Virtuous Pie is emblematic of what’s happening in Chinatown, attracting hipsters from the neighbourhood and beyond. And speaking of neighbourhood, the restaurant is all in, working with local charities.
Next stop? A Virtuous Pie in Portland.