Palo Alto Monday Night Dinners

I’ve been reading the Macro Chef blog for quite a while.  I’m not sure how I stumbled upon his musings, but I do know that he cooks delicious meals with vegetarian ingredients that are healthy yet full of flavor.  He often writes in his blog about Monday Night Gourmet Vegetarian Dinners in his hometown of Palo Alto.  They have always sounded so wonderful – relaxed dining with local and fresh ingredients shared with strangers who are destined to become close friends.  After all, what better way to meet people than to break bread (or gourmet vegan cookies) with them?

The Monday night dinners take place about 10 minutes away from my little dorm on the Stanford campus, so I hopped on my bike and checked one out last weekend!  I am trying to challenge myself to be more comfortable bring my camera around to social situations.  It still feels very awkward to take shots of acquaintances and even more of complete strangers!

The meal was amazing.  Just check out the menu!

Chickpea soup with summer vegetables
    Tempeh in lemon coconut sauce over basmati rice
    Roasted summer squash
    Chopped salad with fresh mint and cilantro
    Toasted almond cookies
    Lemon ginger tea 

The meal was set up in an assembly line, manned by volunteers.  My plate was heaped with food, but I still couldn’t resist going back for seconds!

Luckily for me, the company was just as good as the food!  I ended up at the solo table with an eclectic group of individuals.  There was everyone from a French couchsurfer who was headed back home the next day to pick grapes in his homeland, to a recently-divorced Russian lady, to a colorectal surgeon to an entrepreneur who runs a vegan beauty.  Needless to say, the conversation was never boring!

I had such a great time, that I went back for more this week.  I’ll share more photos and stories from that meal soon!  I promise that this time I got braver and took even more photos.

The whole experience cost only $15 and is used to fund future dinners.  I highly recommend checking them out if you are in the Palo Alto area.  For more information, check out the Peninsula Macro Website.