Craig LaBan
Philadelphia Inquirer
Published: Sunday, May 21, 2006
When Rich Landau first announced plans to move his groundbreaking vegan restaurant, Horizons Cafe, from Willow Grove to Center City, he hoped the move would bring it “the credibility” of a downtown location.
But I'm thinking it's quite the opposite. No sophisticated restaurant scene can be viewed as complete anymore without some serious vegetarian cooking – let alone non-dairy, animal-free vegan. And until February, when Landau and his wife, Kate Jacoby, opened their extraordinary new venture in Bella Vista, Philly's veggie landscape was borderline pitiful.
I've recently eaten such unspeakably bad things at other vegan haunts – like homemade seitan at nearby Vesuvio that had the appeal of plumber's putty – it's clear that vegetarians have been adrift (and ignored) in carnivorous Philly.
But the new Horizons (no longer “Cafe”) is more than a kind oasis for the long-wandering Tofu Tribe. It's a major addition to our repertoire of special dining experiences. The food is so carefully wrought, so vividly infused with creativity and satisfying flavors, that any meat-eating dude with a half-open mind is in danger of being impressed.
“Fantastic!” declared he-man Doug after a hearty plate of garlicky grilled seitan with olive oil-mashed potatoes.
“To be honest, I'm shocked,” conceded macho Phil, sneakily angling for the last scoop of silky vegan cheesecake.
That could have been the rum talking – we'd diligently worked our way through the stellar list of primo rums, caipirinhas, and jalapeno-spiced “Margatinis.”
But as a longtime fan of Horizons' efforts, I was also shocked to see how far this restaurant had evolved from its funky BYOB beginnings attached to a strip-mall health food store.
Landau and Jacoby have left the old co-op look far behind. The two-story space still has a bohemian feel with pulsing bright colors, a bluish ground- floor tapas lounge, and a peach-colored upstairs dining room that is surprisingly pretty. Gauzy curtains and paddle fans turning in the barnlike rafters lend the feel of a Caribbean getaway. Sturdy synthetic leather chairs add welcome comfort.
And not only does the new Horizons have a smart little wine list and bar, all of it vegan-vetted for animal products – the staff knows how to serve it, and the meal too. Our waitress, a former organic farmer, lucidly explained the finer points of seitan (textured wheat gluten), tempeh (soybean cakes), and tofu (soy curd) – without apology or pretense.
More important, that's now how Landau cooks. Gone are the cutesy mock labels of “tofu scallops” and “seitan wings” that gave his suburban audience a faux frame of reference.
Landau's inventive dishes have matured to the point where they now stand on their meatless own. Cast in vibrant Latin and Caribbean flavors, and beautifully presented with an eye to details and complex contrasts, this is some of the most interesting cooking in town, vegan or otherwise.
Landau coaxes real flavor from tofu through a three-day brine in tamari and Old Bay, then crisps it with an aromatic seed crust to be served, choplike, over Sardinian couscous with sweet leeks and wild mushrooms. Tempeh, typically dry, is moistened by a slow poach in gingered curry stock then served over sweet boniato mash and coconut-calabaza stew with a tangy glaze of tamarind and rum. Korean gochu jang chile paste warms the Pacific Rim sauce over soy-marinated tofu with mashed potatoes.
There were several worthy Horizons classics: the Jamaican grilled seitan strips glazed with a complex BBQ brew of jerk-spiced molasses; crispy seitan sopes tacos over chayote and avocado stew sparked by mulato chiles; and salsa-striped enchiladas stuffed with smoked tofu and wild mushrooms. (The gloppy mustard-baked seitan, meanwhile, should be retired.)
But I was especially impressed to see Landau's deeper explorations of pure vegetable cooking. His chilled cucumber soup is brilliant, buttery with avocado, vibrant with lime, and earthy with cumin oil and the snap of smoked pumpkin seeds.
Edamames are turned to fluffy Asian hummus inside an edible nori basket with a nifty side of pickled radish. Portobellos are sliced into carpaccio plumes speckled with cracked pepper. Vegetarian paella is deconstructed into a crisped cake of creamy La Bomba rice ringed by saffron sauce and gorgeous grilled artichokes and asparagus, and a roasted piquillo pepper cleverly stuffed with smoked white beans and peas.
A spectacular tower of Yucatan chopped spinach salad, festooned with tortilla confetti, smoke-dried olives, and creamy cilantro dressing, was the most fiest-ive plate of roughage I've ever eaten.
Jacoby runs the dining room, but is also a pastry chef who brings Caribbean inspirations to her impressive desserts. Rum stands in for one of the milks in coconut tres leches cake, which gets layered with tart lime sorbet into a boozy Mojito Perfecto parfait. Sweet agave subs for honey in the silky creme brulee. And a liberal use of coconut milk, blended with soy milk and tofu, goes a long way toward the convincing creaminess of her cheesecakes. They're so startlingly good, they've finally defined the seemingly contradictory notion of vegan indulgence.
Then again, Horizons is bursting with many such taste revelations. So many, in fact, it's hard to believe it took so long for them to make it downtown.
