Hale

I'm still not sure if it's pronounced HAIL or HA LEI...

Did you catch the phonetic difference? Last night was date night. Finally. I've been having perpetual date day with a six year old all summer. I was so relieved to spend the evening with just Isom. I made the plans, so it was a perfect evening. Through all my Yelping, I'd heard about a vegan restaurant...I was intrigued and wanted very much to try it out. So, we did. It is in town and has parking (although limited) and they are open for both lunch and dinner. It was small and modern and the staff was friendly...weird, but friendly. Our waiter continually bowed. It was quite amusing. We were unsure of what to order (which I must add here, the waiter should have spent more time explaining dishes and less time bowing down). Our dining experience was an adventure. Not only is Hale a vegan restaurant, but it also macrobiotic. Don't know what that's about? Click here. The nice thing about eating at a vegan restaurant is that I could order ANYTHING on the menu. It was safe. I didn't have to wonder...is there meat? Every time I go out to eat (and we all know that's a lot), the menu is always a bit questionable and a source of some stress for me. I do manage. We decided to try an appetizer, an entree, and dessert. Lotus root is pictured above with a wasabi aioli dipping sauce. It tasted and had the texture of potato. Where can I buy this? I'd like to duplicate this at home! My entree is pictured below. A cutlet. A cutlet of what I don't know (all I know is it was not meat). Everything was tasty. My organic wine complemented my meal nicely too. All in all, my first time experiencing vegan macrobiotic food, was highly enjoyable. It's probably not realistic to say that I could do this often, but I'm so glad we tried something completely new and off the beaten path. I felt really good all evening long---no overly processed bloat, no grease fried regret weighing heavy on my belly and mind. Now to figure out the correct pronunciation of the restaurant so I can verbally recommend it to others.