Vegetarians and vegans will have a lot to cheer for at Front Street Café — but hardcore carnivores won’t feel left out of the fun.
The New American restaurant in Fishtown features farm-to-table organic takes on comfort-food favorites, often created as vegan or vegetarian in ways that will fly under the radar (and win over even the staunchest meat fans). But Front Street doesn’t take its health kicks too seriously, as evidenced by the robust bar and drink menu. Definitely check out the unique “root beer” cocktail ($10) featuring Jagermeister, cherry bitters and other heavyweight spirits.
On the food menu, some dishes take an obvious vegetable and finesse it into something familiar like the buffalo cauliflower ($10), a dish with an excellent spicy flavor that goes a long way to bridging the texture gap between cauliflower and chicken wings. The loaded potato wedges ($7) look the part of potato skins but with lentil chili, a dairy-free cashew-based cheese whiz, tomato jam and bacon bits made out of mushrooms and chives. The combination of veggie elements pulls off the look and feel well enough, and the flavors aren’t too far behind with a nice dash of salt.
The best culinary masquerade is the Fishtown queso ($9), a layered dip of cashew whiz, black beans, salsa and avocado. We dare anybody to be able to tell the difference with any of this dish’s artery-clogging nacho brethren in the city.
Front Street Café also does actual meat dishes quite well. The short-rib sliders ($12) are tender, well-seasoned and tasty. The buttermilk-fried chicken sandwich ($11) was super-juicy and perfectly crisp and topped with thick bacon and tomato jam on a nice brioche bun. (Yes, our inner flesh-chewing hunter spirit finally got to howl at the moon.)
Back on the vegan/vegetarian side of the menu, Front Street’s spaghetti and meatballs ($14) feature spaghetti squash, lentil meatballs and romesco sauce approximating the Italian classic. It’s the least convincing when it comes to replicating the pasta experience, which is embedded in every human’s DNA, but it’s still a lovely dish. The squash has a nice crunch and the meatballs hit the right spots.
So vegan, vegetarians and other grazers, if you happen to be in Fishtown and you want to try a fun game/experiment with your meat-eating friends, take them to Front Street Café and see how long it takes them to realized the majority of their dishes are meat- and/or dairy-free. Also swing by for breakfast or brunch, which is equally vegan-friendly and a hot ticket in that part of town.