Less than 48 hours in Atlanta

I arrived in Atlanta, via NYC, on Friday afternoon only to discover that the Sunshine Burger delivery I was expecting for the Atlanta Veg Fest did not arrive. What to do? Go shopping!

I found 42 boxes of burgers at Sevananda Natural Foods Market (my new favorite store on earth), eight more at Publix (plus dry ice), and coolers at Target. Problem solved! (Being a brand rep is sexy, huh?)  

After all of the running around, I was hungry and a little cranky. Okay, a lot cranky. I’m not familiar with Atlanta, and didn’t even know what neighborhood I was in, so I just opened up Google Maps on my iPhone and typed in “vegan.” First hit: Soul Vegetarian No. 2.

I ordered a hot dinner to go

and enjoyed country fried steak, mac n’ cheese, collard greens, corn bread and salad with a tall glass of wine in my hotel room. All was right in the world (and I had plenty left over for breakfast the next morning!).

The next day my crew and I had a fantastic time at the veg fest.

And I got to meet a Twitter/Facebook friend for the first time, Seth, who is one of the organizers of the festival.

I also got to meet long-time blog reader Saniel, a life-long vegan and your basic super-star.

Things I discovered and loved at the festival:

• Pure Abundance Vegan Cheese (so good!)
• Candler Park Market Deli (chicken-less salad sandwich on whole grain bread!)
• Dulce Vegan (orange cardamom cupcake!)
• Crazy Rumors (lip balm!)
• Georgia Animal Rights and Protection (activism!)
• Vegan Identifier:

How It Works

Interested restaurants with vegan options enter into an agreement with Vegan Identifier and get one of three rating depending on the number of options they offer. The restaurants also agree to train their staff on the Vegan Identifier program so diners looking to eat vegan can easily be pointed towards what they are looking for. In return the restaurants will be featured on the Vegan Identifier website and be given a window sticker for the storefront. They can also use the logo on menus and other promotional material making eating out on a plant based diet easier than ever.

After the festival, my Vegan for Her co-author – and dear, dear friend – Ginny Messina and I went out for dinner. We fought with my iPhone navigator but finally found our way to Drink Art

Tired and hungry, we were ready to eat all the vegan Thai cuisine. And we practically did.

No words. Okay, two words that no food writer should ever write: yummy and delicious. Oh, a third: perfect.

Thanks for a great weekend, Atlanta!

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