Review: Sprig & Vine

Posted by Lydia Grossov on Monday, December 19, 2011 · 1 Comment

Sprig & Vine is the best vegan restaurant we have close by, and it’s a pretty darn good restaurant period. For that reason we end up going there A LOT (oh, the sacrifices we make) for birthdays, anniversaries, Sunday brunch, our Breakfast with Gene Baur event or just because.

It’s no accident that it’s our favorite local spot and that the food is so good, though. Ross Olchvary, the owner and chef, was a sous chef and chef de cuisine at Horizons (now reopened as Vedge, in Philadelphia). All that history definitely shines through in the quality of the dishes and creativity in pairing flavors. They also source vegetables from local producers and rotate their menu seasonally according to what’s available.

And the dishes just keep getting better with every season. Chris and I both agree that this fall’s menu has been the best of all, with lots of hearty vegetables, winter squashes, and cozy flavors. The butternut squash raviolis (pictured below) totally took us by surprise when we ordered them for dinner last month. The combination of the creamy filling and the delicate pasta enveloping them, paired with the mild sauce and chunks and winter veggies made it simply divine. We knew it would be good, but we weren’t expecting it to be that good.

I included a sampling (photo gallery below) of a few of our meals there this year. Since the menus are seasonal, some of the dishes are no longer available but some are staples across the seasons. Try them out for yourself, if you’re in our neck of the woods, and let us know what you think.