Live and learn

One interesting side effect of having this blog is that I'm finding myself taking a closer look at the things I buy. In general, lately, I find I'm trying harder to make informed, conscientious decisions about where I spend my money and thinking more about the animals or resources that were required for me to be able to buy the food or item at hand. I still have a very long way to go before I can look at my consumption and feel fine about it, but I'm going to examine anyway. For example, we all know where fur comes from. There's no gray area there: you either still dig it or are disgusted by it. But did you know that shearling is actually sheepskin, not just wool? Or that kid leather comes from the skin of a young goat? I didn't know these things until relatively recently. It's surprisingly easy to get around, I think, without having to think about where your food or your clothes come from, but I do think it's important to examine these things every once in a while. To ask yourself some questions, and if you can't come up with immediate answers, to seek out those answers. Which is not to say that we will all do the same things with this information, but I think it's important to be informed.
Well, the point of this whole side-trip is that I learned recently that my beloved panang curry contains fish sauce. Who knew? Not me. But now I do know, so the next question for me is, what will I do with this information? Oddly, I think it will be harder for me to give up panang curry than it was for me to decide that I wouldn't buy myself Uggs (on account of the shearling thing). I adore panang curry, but can I call myself a vegetarian and knowingly consume fish sauce? Zut alors.

Mint Cafe, Cleveland Heights

It’s easy as a vegetarian to find yourself swimming in glorious options at a Thai restaurant. Accordingly, Thai cuisine has long been one of my favorite foods. I first discovered it in college, in New Orleans, when some friends took me to Bangkok Thai, on South Carrollton. I was a vegetarian college student, subsisting on more peanut butter than any one person should consume. (I once gave a French presentation on my love for peanut butter. But, I digress.) I remember my first meal at Bangkok Thai: I couldn’t believe the amazing flavors, and you better believe the meal included a Thai Iced Tea. It was love at first taste. The restaurant quickly became a weekly stop. (Happily, I believe they are still open for business post-Katrina.) Years later, when I was living in San Francisco, Paul and I would order in Thai at least once a week. When we decided to move back to Cleveland, we quickly determined that priority #1, above finding a place to live and hammering out the details of our rapidly approaching wedding, was to find our new go-to Thai restaurant. Sweet relief, we have found that at Mint Cafe.
The crew working at Mint Cafe is always very welcoming and friendly. We do sometimes pine for the days when we could get our dinner delivered. (Mint Cafe doesn’t deliver, but neither do most places.) That said, who couldn’t use an excuse to leave home every once in a while here in the soupy thickness of mid-winter?

the feast:
*panang curry with tofu: This has been one of my favorite Thai dishes for as long as I can recall. In all sincerity, Mint Cafe has perhaps the best panang curry I have ever tasted. One thing I appreciate about their version of the dish, apart from the truly glorious sauce, is that the plate comes out swimming in vegetables. And their veggies are always very pretty. They look and taste fresh —not at all like they were frozen moments before they made the journey to my table. Mint Cafe’s panang sauce has a definite bite to it. Spicy, but pleasantly so. Yum.
*hot thai tea: I’ve grown to embrace the hot version of the iced classic. It doesn’t contain the condensed milk and so is less sweet, but still has that mysterious smokiness that I enjoy so much. And really, when it’s in the single digits outside, I (who am rarely without scarf, inside or outside, this time of year) have no business putting iced beverages into my body.

overall:
This place is truly special and worth a visit. When we were house hunting, we found ourselves, one day, touring a beautiful old home in Cleveland Heights. It didn’t end up being the house for us, but I do recall that the people who lived there had a small chalkboard up in their kitchen, and on it someone had written, “We heart Mint Cafe!”
I understood completely.

PS. The Mint Cafe crew has just opened another restaurant a little further east in Pepper Pike. It’s called Peppermint Cafe (cute, right?). I haven’t been, but I’ve heard it’s every bit as tasty.

http://www.mintcafe.org/