Sunday, June 5, 2011

The Elusive Country Fried Steak

In late April, Imagine Vegan Cafe, Memphis' only totally-vegan eatery, opened in Cooper-Young to satisfy the appetites of comfort food-craving vegans. I did a massive post (with loads of photos) a few weeks ago.

The menu at Imagine is huge! I actually printed a copy, and I've been highlighting each dish as I try it. Sort of an Imagine bucket list, if you will. But almost right after the cafe opened, it sold out of the one item my friends and I have been dying to try — Country Fried Steak!

A few of us started a little Imagine Vegan Supper Club on Wednesday nights, and every time we'd ask if the steak was in, co-owner Adam would give us a sad, knowing look and shake his head. There was some issue with the supplier not being able to re-stock, and Imagine co-owners Adam and Kristie were as saddened by the delay as their customers.

But when I arrived at Imagine for our Food Awareness meeting (our local veggie social club) on Saturday, I was thrilled to see the little "sold out" sign missing from the space next to Country Fried Steak on the menu. So guess what I ordered?

Oh yea. Every bite of this meal was pure bliss. The steak was a thin seitan-based patty, breaded, fried, and smothered in creamy white gravy. You can choose your own sides, but the only proper sides for a country fried steak are vegan mac & cheese and green beans. Am I right? By the way, Imagine's vegan mac & cheese is out-of-this-world too. Um, I totally devoured that plate and finished the meal off with a shared slice of Imagine's Flying Elvis Cake (layered peanut butter, chocolate, and banana cakes iced with buttercream).

So if you live in Memphis and you too have been anxiously awaiting the country fried steak, heed the good news. Just save some for me.

12 comments:

Emily said...

I'm crying.

Matt Harken said...

Only 11,000 miles from my house. If I leave now...

vegan.in.brighton said...

Wow, that looks like an awesome plate of food.

Josh said...

this looks great, but I have to say that I was underwhelmed by their mac n cheese. So far, it's their only menu item I wouldn't wholeheartedly recommend. It's a little bland I felt.

Dianne said...

The Flying Elvis cake sounds like the best part to me.

Babette said...

This looks so comforting!

Amber @ Zombie Cats Eating Plants said...

i wish my screen was scratch and sniff... and lick for that matter... thats plate looks awesome! i wish we had fun places like that down south.

Mark said...

See the bacon in the green beans? j.k. ; )

Unknown said...

I love me a good vegetarian country fried steak. Unfortunately you detail the difficulty with finding one. Thank goodness it finally came in.

Erin said...

Woah, that looks awesome! Reminds me of the cube steak my mom used to fry up when I was little.

Amy S said...

I live in Cleveland MS, which is a little over 2 hours from Memphis. Last week, my husband and I took a trip to Memphis to hit Whole Foods, and we stopped at Imagine.

It was SOOOOO good. We were there for lunch and had a lot of shopping to do afterwards, so we got sandwiches, but everything we ate was fantastic.

I can't wait to go back and try the Chicken Fried Steak.

Anonymous said...

Holy crap. I want to move to Memphis. I don't even know what a Country Fried Steak is, but I want it!