Dining at Cafe Indigo

I recently spent one of the last weekends of summer away in New Hampshire and had the pleasure of visiting Cafe Indigo, a little vegan cafe and bakery in Concord.  Famous for its veganized carrot cake and woopie pies, this wholesaler of vegan baked goods also has a tiny dining area where guests are served simple, casual vegan fare for lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch.

When you first enter the tiny storefront tucked inside an industrial strip far from the town center, you are greeted with a tempting display of baked goods.  I was so transfixed by the brownies, cupcakes, and bars that I almost forgot to take a seat in the dining area for lunch.

The menu features standard veganized versions of classics like burgers, BLT, fried fish, "cheese steak," as well as salads, soups, and wraps.  They also have a separate wheat free menu that is greatly appreciated by diners like me who stay away from gluten.

I ordered "The Rachel," which was kind of like a reuben with cabbage slaw and mustardy dressing.  The regular sandwich includes housemade seitan, but for the gluten-free version the patty inside was made from bean flour.  It was a suitable substitute, albeit a tad dry and crumbly, so I was happy to receive a side of Sriracha when I requested some hot sauce to dress it up a bit.

My dining companion had the House Made Veggie Burger which was made from black beans and brown rice, dressed with garlic aoili, and served with lettuce and tomato on a homemade roll.  Both sandwiches came with a handful of corn chips.

image from wtfveganfood.com

For dessert I had my tastebuds set on carrot cake, but was disappointed to find they were out of it (!!).  My alternate choice was the famous woopie pie, but when I asked which of the three flavors our server would recommend, she said she isn't really a big fan of them because they're too sweet.  The next option was the sweet potato brownie with chocolate ganache, which she assured us was really good.  We also got a couple of the chocolate mini cupcakes - one with vanilla frosting, and one with chocolate, both of which were decent desserts that even nonvegans would happily devour.  As for the sweet potato brownie, it was more like dense pumpkin bread with a not-too-chocolatey coating on top.  I was a little disappointed and regret not going for the sugar fix of the woopie pie.  Next time...