Nutshell and the topsy-turvy world that’s in it

A priest, a rabbi, and a monk walk into a bar. The priest orders a a beer and a burger (it’s Friday), the rabbi orders a pickled sausage, and the monk gets a non-Belgian beer. Maybe I’ll come up with a punchline later, but that’s a good illustration of just how bizarre this post gets. We (three omnivores) went to Nutshell, a completely vegan restaurant. They were fairly busy. We could’ve sat at a table, but opted to wait on the couches in the back gallery section for a booth. More cozy. While we waited, the nice lady brought us some wine and bread (non gratis). You get a selection of breads to pick from, we went with one sampler and one 400-million grain naan. Add to that selections of olive oil and salt(?!) and there’s a pretty fun taste experience to kickoff the meal.

So we got our seat after a bit, and N happened to know one of the vegans in the booth next to us, so they chatted through the cage-like bars for a bit, while we hammered out our meal selections…there were many things I couldn’t quite identify. Burdock and various vegan cheeses mostly. We settled on a spinach turnover sorta thing for appetize, Ryan got the sandwich, N had the living lasagna, and I got charred kale and potatoes gratin.

The lasagna was amazing. By living, I think they meant no pasta noodles. It was a stack of tomato, avocado, vegan ricotta, pesto, and other stuff pressed and cut to serve like lasagna. And it was great. Ryan’s sandwich was also fabulous. Fresh ingredients, ample avocado, and served on a vegan sticky bun…it had great texture and great flavor. My items were really good as well. A light char to the kale gave it a really well-rounded flavor. The potatoes gratin was a bit less exciting, but it was good. It’d been described with a bit more of a chile twist, and I had expected a bit more of that. Finally, I go to the beginning for the spinach turnover. It was probably the least impressive part of the meal. Still pretty good, but it really could’ve been packed with more spinach filling…it came out more as a fried bread than a stuffed doodad.

We were too full for dessert. And I totally spaced ordering a smoothie like I’d intended. But we will be back. And soon. Because Nutshell was really friggin good. Pricewise, it’s affordable and well worth the cost, but only the WW would call Nutshell’s prices cheap eats.

Find Nutshell at 3808 N Williams Ave. If it’s too crowded and you’re starved, cruise up the street a bit further to Dalo’s. Check other reviews all over, but quickly: Stumptown Vegans and VeganFabulous.

So the Priest and the Rabbi forgot their wallets, but luckily the monk had a thousand bucks. Now you know the sound of one grand flapping. cheers. Maybe you can do better…