The Grange

The Grange
166 Broadway
Providence, RI 02903
401-831-0600
website

The Grange opened a few months ago in an up and coming Providence neighborhood.  Julian's is down the street as well as another great stop, Seven Stars Bakery.

The restaurant is located at the corner of Dean Street and Broadway.  There's plenty of on street parking as well as a shared lot in the back with the Kitchen store (ignore all the scary signs).

Step inside and you'll find an urban oasis.  The waiting area has hanging swings, plants, and a small library.  Many of the furnishings are reclaimed.  At night candles light the walls in muffin tins.  One of the waiters mentioned that the floor is from an old bowling alley.  A string of antique telephone pole insulators glows above the bar.  In the evenings, the lights are low and the atmosphere is cozy.  During the day, the windows let in lots of light. 

The menu focuses on local foods, so it changes often.  All entrees are vegetarian and many can be made vegan.  Late night or at lunch time, you'll find the incredibly creative carrot dog!  My favorite standby is the chicken fried oyster mushroom po'boy on a pretzel roll.  For breakfast, the pretzel bread french toast with maple "butter" is mighty tasty.  There are also very impressive vegan desserts.  We love the coconut creme brulee.

Don't forget to visit the tiny bakery/cafe called Chicory that is attached.  They brew Stumptown coffee from Oregon and have many vegan baked goods including donuts (beignets).

 Carrot dog with Gochujang BBQ, kimchee, daikon, and chili aioli

Chicken fried oyster mushroom po'boy 

 Grilled spiced tofu with pistou and olive tapenade

 Apple galette

 

Coconut creme brulee (vanilla with a coconut milk base)

Chocolate dessert trio: (brownie, mousse and mocha chicory ice cream)

FoMu Vegan Ice Cream and Cafe

FoMu Ice Cream and Cafe
481 Cambridge St.
Allston, MA 02134
617-903-3276
website

FoMu, you gotta love the name!  When I first heard Boston would have a vegan ice cream shop, I was ecstatic.  Allston is a bit of a drive for us, but it was well worth it!  The Allston location is right near Grasshopper, so you may need to hunt for on street parking if you aren't taking the bus or hoofin' it.

The store has funky art, shiny steel furniture, and a ginormous chalkboard detailing all the ice cream flavors.  Expect to see 15-20 options, including a few soft serve varieties.  They generally use a coconut base, but a couple of flavors are nut based.  If you can't decide what to get, you are welcome to sample.

My current standby is usually the salted caramel.  However, I've recently been digging the saffron rosewater.  There are also limited edition flavors that come and go.  A couple of our faves included: coffee and donuts as well as caramel samoa (caramel ice cream with coconut and chocolate covered shortbread).

I'm not much of a sundae person, but FoMu also has a ton of toppings including vegan marshmallow, gummy bears, mochi, sprinkles, and sauces.

Not in the mood for ice cream?  They also have smoothies, coffee, and tea.  Plus they carry a myriad of vegan baked goods and local chocolate from Taza.

A second FoMu location just opened in Jamaica Plain.  The JP location is a little smaller.  We didn't see soft serve there and they don't make the ice cream cakes at this location yet either.  That doesn't stop us from visiting though.

Above is carrot cake and salted caramel.
The topping is a local Taza Chocolate company mix of nuts, cacao nibs, and stone ground chocolate.
 

This is saffron rosewater with baker's dozen (a mix of random baked goods).