After the praises of esteemed FTColleagues such as @CiaoBob@MaladyNelson@Bookwich@westsidegal, I had my hopes sky high for when I finally had the chance to eat at Erven. And last night, those hopes were met and met well. I’m still buzzing a bit from it.
Each dish had a wonderful mix of textures and great balance of flavors. I’ll borrow a word from @westsidegal and say “refined.” This is exciting food. Bold, vibrant, playful and so fucking tasty. The meal reminded me of Paris, for some reason. Like a Californian-Parisian bistro with composed, intentional dishes.
I also think part of what is exciting is that the fact that the food is all vegan is secondary to the food being good. There is no mantra. No call to arms against the meat/dairy industry. It really feels like the goal is to make great food, with food that just happens to be vegan.
I cannot wait to go back.
BEETSw/ pea sorbet, rose vinegar froth, pistachios and strawberries
To start, they give a shooter of complimentary white sangria. Yass. They also set out a lil bowl of mole/lime corn nuts. Yass 2.0.
We also had the Savory Donut Holes that were already pictured in this thread, which were great.
From the “Large Format” portion of the menu, we had the Cavatelli with black trumpet mushrooms, pea tendrils, squash and tom yum gravy. What a hit. The noodles & mushrooms were perfectly cooked, and the broth has a nice, bright sourness. Loved it.
Count me among the Erven fans! Went there for lunch the other day. I was eyeing the crispy brussels sprouts but ended up getting the falafel at the manager’s suggestion. The falafel was nicely seasoned and freshly fried with a lovely ginger tahini. Nothing revelatory, just a tasty sandwich executed well. My buddy got the mushroom hoagie and really liked it, too.
But the real star of the show was the mole cinnamon roll. So good! Fresh, flavorful, and filled with gooey goodness. One of the best cinnamon rolls I’ve had in some time. As with everything else, the bold yet balanced seasoning was the key to the dish.
Only slight downer was my vanilla lemonade, which was tasty but a tad overpriced at $5 for a tiny glass. At that price, they should at least offer refills.
As I say, we were both big fans after our meal. Can’t wait to try this place for dinner!
i don’t feel that anybody has ever “forced” such a lifestyle on me, so your claims about “these people” don’t resonate with me. your claims sound to me like an attempt to politicize this board in a way that i find unappealing.
to answer your question:
YES i would love to eat vegan food, especially if the restaurant
a) was geographically desirable
b) offered good food and good prices
and
c) had a decent parking situation
Looks like Erven is no longer vegan or even vegetarian. It’s a little disappointing to think they couldn’t make it as a vegan place but I’m super excited to see what Chef Nick does with meat and seafood.
We took a trip to Erven to see what Chef Nick is now up to with the non-Vegan menu.
He seems to be slowly adding meat/fish/dairy dishes - the menu is still about 70% Vegan. I am sure that will evolve.
Things we did NOT have but wanted…badly
– charcuterie program (not in-house but from quality out-house providers, which we did not get to try)
– steak tartare
– fried chicken sandie
– NY steak entree with mole-bbq and masa fries
Crispy Potatoes with kale, smoked garlic sauce, and chili
charred avocado with macadamia tahini, chili-garlic salsa and pomegranate seeds
Best dishes were that salmon, and the avocado, though everything was remarkably delicious. Erven’s food continues to blow my mind with funky new taste combination that work amazingly well. My only criticisms would be the texture of the gnocchi and the dumplings were not spot-on.
The menu (from yelp) is not on Erven’s website yet.
