Life Vegan

PHOTO: MARTHA WILLIAMS

My first impression of the new Life Vegan in Evanston came when a ten-year-old girl arrived at our table, filled my water glass to a quarter of its capacity, then looked me in the eye and said, “Is that enough?”

It turned out to be an apt metaphor for a restaurant that’s doing just barely enough. One month after opening, it was still without printed menus, but the waitress kindly offered to tell us the options “as many times as [we] would like.” True, I can get Brazilian soccer scores on my cell phone in real time, but maybe it does take a month to print menus. Regardless, I settled on appetizers of buffalo tofu and battered cauliflower and the black-eyed pea burger. The water bearer made yummy faces at the two appetizers, but scowled at my burger order, which rattled me in a way I haven’t been rattled since, well, since I was ten years old.

The new outfit for ex–Soul Vegetarian staffer Luetrice Curtis, Life Vegan has a meta-menu that mirrors the South Side staple. Comfort food abounds. The cauliflower, which came with ketchup and a sauce made of “nutritional yeast and oil,” suffered for lack of SV’s barbecue sauce, and the buffalo tofu came undressed, with a small cup of faintly spiced ketchup on the side. But the vegan lasagna my friend ordered could stand up to its cheesy counterparts and, youthful scorn or not, the black-eyed pea burger was one of the best veggie burgers I’ve had in a long time, with a pronounced smoky flavor, crisp edges and just-made freshness. The vegan carrot and coconut cake were moist and rich enough to make my friends forget they were dairy-free.

We left more than two hours after we sat down, thanks largely to service that would test the patience of Gandhi. Still, we hope the logistics at Life Vegan will eventually catch up with the food. We’d first suggest clearing appetizer plates by the time dessert arrives. Then, if we were in a crazy mood, we’d recommend printing some menus.