The Globe
1531 14th Ave, 324-8815
Tues-Sun 7 am-3 pm, closed Mon.
As it happens, both J. and I were having car trouble, which is not the reason we decided to have lunch at the Globe–we had been planning it around our psychotic schedules for weeks–but there is, to be sure, a kind of metaphorical alignment between cleaning out your carburetor and having a nice, healthy vegan lunch. If only it were simply carburetor trouble–that’s where the metaphor breaks down.
We ate at the Globe because we are both unalloyed fans of the biscuits and gravy ($2.55 for a small portion, $4.50 for a large). That’s pretty much all there is to it, although sometimes we like a slice of broiled tofu on top (75 cents each). The biscuits are tasty, but a little dry, which only makes the efforts of the gravy–which is peppery and mushroomy and deeply brown–more heroic. The tofu is sliced thin enough to acquire a crispy shell in the broiler, melts slightly on the inside, and delivers a salty little kick to your taste buds.
Should you need a little color in there among the browns, there are collard greens ($2.25), which have a tangy, vinegary smack that is exactly right, and whole-corn grits ($2.25) that are bright yellow–and I don’t want to know what makes them so buttery. Probably margarine, mine old enemy–no, I really don’t want to know.
The question that always haunts my vegan meals is: “How could this be better with meat?” Which is why I stay away from dishes that depend on meat for their presence, like the Globe’s shepherd’s pie. But I’m happy to say that at the end of our meal–after a horn-shaped blueberry pastry ($1.50) that tasted like an uncooked science experiment, and a chocolate chip cookie ($1.50) that was crispy and restrained and delicious–J. and I had not missed a single ham hock or crumb of sausage, and the mechanical misfiring world was temporarily held at bay.