I’ve lived
in four cities since graduating from college, so I’m pretty good at doing the
moving thing. I have my own personal
stash of boxes into which the contents of my apartment fit perfectly. I’ve mastered the moving “hacks”— including using
socks to protect my glassware and dish towels and t-shirts to wrap the dishes
and picture frames. And I can quickly
navigate the process of setting up utilities, changing my address, and setting
the cats up with a new vet. The worst
part is usually dealing with the DMV—I always end up going back more than once
because I’ve overlooked a small detail on the forms—gah!
Moving also
means figuring out where I’ll eat in my new city. Brooklyn had been a series of dichotomies—vegan
restaurants proliferated, but there were also plenty of places which were definitely
NOT veg-friendly. There are certainly
less vegan options in CT than in Phoenix, Boston, or NYC. But I’ve found that there is a thriving veg community spread
across The Nutmeg State! The Happy Cow
app and Vegan Connecticut Facebook page keep me in the know. There’s also a wonderful event called
Compassionfest held in Hamden twice per year, where all the vegans unite to eat
and buy cruelty-free products.
If you’re in
town and looking for a veg-friendly restaurant, here are some recommendations:
West
Hartford
-Flora – a plant-based
restaurant with especially tasty desserts!
-India – the
menu indicates which items are vegan and gluten free!
-The Spot
Coffee Shop- there’s a yummy quinoa salad on the menu!
-bar taco –
a few choices which are vegan or can be made vegan, and the servers are great
about it.
-Black
Bamboo – there’s a vegan section on the menu!
New Haven
-Lena’s CafĂ©
– there’s a vegan vegetable salad with lots of avocado!
-Claire’s
Cornercopia- it took me about 10 minutes just to read through the extensive vegetarian
menu. The black bean soup was phenomenal!
Middletown
-Ion—awesome
menu with a full vegan bar and terrific desserts!
Bridgeport
-Bloodroot—these
lovely ladies run a vegetarian restaurant and feminist bookstore right on the
water. There’s also a cat who moseys
around!
Manchester
-Divine
Treasures Chocolate— HOMEMADE VEGAN CHOCOLATES AND SOFT SERVE.
Glastonbury
-B.Good –
chain with quite a few vegan options on the menu
Stamford
Grab a meal at one of these places if you're in the area, and stay tuned as I embark on Year 2 here-- because for the first time in three years, those boxes are not being put to use this summer!
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