Siete

My little niece recently became gluten-free and dairy free (not by choice).  During the initial adjustment phase, my mother, and her mother, both basically bought every snack food, baked good, alternative pasta/milk/baking mixes, etc that they could find.  Most, my niece was uninterested in.  And thus, the rest of us greatly increased our gluten-free and dairy free product intake.  Not that I minded really, as I love trying things, even when they are generally less likely to be good.

Which lead me to Siete, a brand of paleo, non GMO, gluten free, dairy free, soy free, vegan products.  The brand focuses on Mexican-American foods, including chips, seasonings, salsas, beans, taco shells, tortillas, and cookies.  We tried mostly the snacks.

Churro Grain Free Cinnamon Chips.

"“Churros...” Even the name melts in our mouth as we roll our tongues to say it! Inspired by trips to the plaza in Mexico on Saturday afternoons, walking from vendor to vendor under vibrant papel picado and piñatas, with newspaper-wrapped churros in hand, we made these Grain Free Churro Strips! Not only are they extremely delicious, but they’re also made with simple ingredients like cassava flour, coconut sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla bean powder, so everyone can enjoy. All that’s left for you to decide is whether or not to pair with cajeta, dip in hot chocolate, or savor straight from the bag!"

These really are quite tasty, and don't taste gluten-free or odd.  The fat strip form factor is effective: they have a slightly blistered nature, and good crunch to them.  They are very well coated in cinnamon and (coconut) sugar.  Crunchy, sweet, cinnamon-y, yup, nothing to dislike here.

They are great to just munch on, and a bag goes quickly, but I think they'd be great dunked in whipped cream or used on an ice cream sundae or pudding garnish too.  But my bag didn't last long enough to test any of those theories out.  ****.

Sea Salt Tortilla Chips.

"Tortilla chips without any grains that taste better than any regular chip you have ever eaten."

Tortilla chips are available in a variety of flavors: Sea Salt, Lime, Nacho, Fuego, Ranch, Sal y Limón, and No Salt.  We had the basic sea salt.

They ... were tortilla chips.  Triangle shape.  Some grains to them.  Very minimal salt.  Relatively thin.  Crispy.  Pretty average tortilla chips, but I guess that is success, in that they didn't taste gluten free?  Not my thing as I don't go for tortilla chips really.  **.

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The Common Man Roadside Donuts

The Common Man is a chain of restaurants (and Inns) around New England.  I've reviewed their event catering before, when they catered a reception in honor of my grandmother.  Much like dining at the restaurant, I found it a bit hit or miss, and mostly forgettable.   The Common Man also runs several fast casual locations at highway rest stops, known as The Common Man Roadside.  These venues have coffee shops with all your standard espresso drinks and pastries, market with grab and go, and delis with breakfast sandwiches, omelettes or burritos in the morning, and deli sandwiches, wraps, grilled sandwiches, burgers, salads, and fried food later in the day.  They also have pizza and pasta at some locations, along with ice cream stands.  One of them, the Millyard, has full service lunch, dinner, and brunch with greatly expanded offerings.  But although I've passed by them en route to the bathroom for a pit stop, I haven't ever actually visited one.

"You might smell the Donut Shop before you actually see it. That tantalizing smell is coming from a small building next to the Hooksett Welcome Center where irresistible apple cider donuts are made daily year-round. Come watch them being created. No doubt, you will have to eat some here while they’re still warm, and then take a bag home to share. Your family and friends will appreciate it.

The choice is yours – plain, cinnamon & sugar, maple glazed pumpkin, or chocolate. Visit once and you’ll understand why the Donut Shop is a regular destination for many. You’ll be back, again and again."

The Common Man Roadside also has a standalone donut shop at one of their locations.  Clearly, as someone who eats donuts about once a week, this has caught my attention.  But I still never visited, as it was always closed in the afternoons when I went through the area.  When my parents recently returned from a road trip to Maine, they did stop, when it was open, and of course my mother impulse bought a dox of donuts.  So finally I got a chance to try them!  I think all the donuts are cider donuts, which are rare in the San Francisco area where I now live (I think the only time I've seen them were once at Craftsman & Wolves), but are very common around New England, particularly in the fall (like the ones from Lou's that everyone raves about in my home town).

Cinnamon Sugar Cider Donuts.

My mom selected these, and opted for the basic cinnamon sugar cider donuts.

I found them ... ok.  One thing I usually like about a cider donut is the great crust on it, a nice crisp exterior, and these were just soft all over.  The base flavor was fine, slightly spiced.  Decently coated in cinnamon sugar.  They tasted fresh enough, just a bit boring.  I wouldn't get them again.  Better once I heated up to make a bit more crispy, and topped with a scoop of ice cream.  Low ***.

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Ho Ho Té, NYC

Ho Ho Té is a bubble tea and snack store in NY in midtown.  They have no website, and I think they operate primarily for delivery and tourists who stumble in.  I got a chance to try out a dessert from them this summer, when I was visiting and ordering sushi on DoorDash, and took advantage of the "add a treat" feature to add on a treat from a nearby business.  I know little else about the place, other than that they have a number of taro items, which is what caught my eye.  Give the name, I think the bubble tea is likely their primary business?

Taro Puffs. $5.50.

"Flaky taro puffs filled with a smooth, creamy taro paste, presented with a light sprinkling of sesame seeds."

The puffs arrived in a cute little package, 2 to an order.  They were not warm.  The color was sorta grey purple.  They didn't look particular attractive.

I bit in and was pretty let down.  The pastry was not very flaky at all.  It didn't taste particularly fresh.  Highly mediocre pastry, and no real flavor to it.  **+

Taro Puffs: Inside.

Inside was generously stuffed with taro paste.  It was fairly standard taro paste.  Decent flavor, not too sweet.  The taro paste was fine, but not remarkable.  ***.

Overall, a very low ***.  I wanted it fresher, warmer, flakier.

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PLNT Burger

When you think of vegan food, you most likely don't think of burgers, fries, and shakes.  At least, I don't.  I think of generally more healthy cuisine, with a focus around whole plants and vegetables.  But ... it makes sense that vegans want indulgent comfort food too.  Enter: PLNT Burger.  Basically akin to Shake Shack or your favorite burger joint, but, entirely vegan.

"Our menu is 100% plant-based, kosher and delicious."

They aren't trying to be ultra healthy, just, tasty.  Now this I can get behind. 

The chain has locations in NYC, the Boston and DC areas, and Pennsylvania.  I wasn't aware of it however until I recently visited NY, and I kept walking by both locations.  I was intrigued enough to look it up, and the reviews were quite positive.  I was sold when I saw they were offering a free burger or sandwich just for signing up for the rewards club, and doubly sold when I saw I'd get a free shake on my birthday (which just happened to be that month).  You know I love my freebies.

Setting

In NYC, there are two PLNT Burger locations, both adjacent to parks, one across the street from Bryant Park, the other half a block off Madison Square Park.

Bryant Park Location.

The Bryant Park location had virtually no seating, just three seats in the window, and a few stools around the center island.  No outdoor seating.  Clearly a location for takeout, during the warmer weather, it is easy to cross the street and dine in Bryant Park.  I'm curious what people do in the winter however.

Ordering is done via several kiosks along the wall, online through your phone, or, in person if you wished.  I ordered online as I had a reward to redeem and that seemed easiest since I was logged in.  The staff at this location were wonderful, very friendly, welcoming, up for modifying things, and wished me a happy birthday (as I was there redeeming my reward).  I was the only guest at 12:30pm on a Sunday though, which seems a bit concerning for their business.

Burgers / Sandwiches

If you are curious, the burgers use Beyond Burger, the cheese is Follow Your Heart vegan cheese.  I'm not sure what brand the crispy or grilled chicken, fish fillets, or "actual veggies" veggie burgers are.  I still haven't tried one of the burgers, but I hope to next time I'm in NY.

Sweets

For desserts, PLNT has four offerings: soft serve, shakes, floats, and cookies.  All are obviously vegan.  

Cookies are your standard chocolate chip, or a healthy sounding carrot-oat-pineapple. The soft serve is oat-milk based, available in chocolate or vanilla, with or without rainbow or chocolate sprinkles.  I was pretty interested in that, as I adore soft serve in general, and really do quite like oat milk (and the common brand of oat based soft serve on the market, Oatly), but my birthday reward was for a shake only.  

For shakes, I had a lot of options.  Too many, really.  I was so indecisive.  The lineup started with the basics: vanilla, chocolate, or swirl, using the vanilla or chocolate (or both for swirl, obviously) based soft serve.  Then there was strawberry, which I think used syrup with the vanilla base.  Or black and white, which, my research tells me, is a fairly common type of milkshake, that uses vanilla base plus chocolate syrup (rather than the swirl, which is both the vanilla and chocolate bases).  So I think it is less chocolately than a chocolate shake (that uses chocolate base), but more chocolately than the swirl (since that has the vanilla mixed with chocolate)?  Next up is peppermint cookies & cream (vanilla base, peppermint syrup, Oreos). From there, the specials roll in, which during my visit was a banana creme brulee, with bananas blended in and a brulee topping.  You can add sprinkles (rainbow or chocolate), graham crumbs, Oreos, chocolate sauce, or caramel to any shake.  So if the peppermint cookies & cream isn't your thing, but you still want cookies & cream, just add Oreo to the vanilla base (or chocolate, if you want more chocolate flavor, etc).   No whipped (non-dairy) cream topping options.

Mint Cookies N' Cream OATasty Shake. $6.49.
(-Oreos, Sub Chocolate Sprinkles).

Even with all the customization options possible, I still wanted something a bit different, not from the menu.  See, I don't like Oreos, or strawberry shakes, but I wanted something more interesting than just vanilla or chocolate (or even either of those with sprinkles).  I loved the appeal of the mint, but, that was only available in the peppermint cookies & cream.  There was no option to remove the Oreos, but I asked anyway, and asked if I could sub chocolate sprinkles for the Oreos.  Both are priced the same as add-ins, so I hoped this would be allowed.  The staff member I asked said it was no problem at all, and she'd be happy to do it.  I told her I was basically trying to make mint chip, and she approved of my creation.

My shake was quickly prepared, and handed over with a smile.  She wished me a happy birthday.  I was really pleased with the service.

I was even more pleased when I took a sip of the shake.  It was good.  Very good.  The mint flavor was very strong (nearly too strong).  The shake was really well blended, the perfect level of soft and melty, easy to suck up with a straw.  It was loaded with chocolate sprinkles.  Again, borderline too much, but, I loved the texture from the little bits, and the pops of chocolate flavor.  Sure, actual chips would be better, but this definitely created the mint chip experience I was looking for.  The oat milk base was, well, oaty, but really quite enjoyable, creamy, rich.  I'm surprised they don't have a cinnamon/horchata shake available, as it seems like it would be a natural fit.

I absolutely loved it, and would get again without question, although I am also interested in trying others.  ****.

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