"My partner and I tried the vegan tasting dinner with wine pairings at Vast and disappointed is the kindest word I can use to describe the experience. The positives: the view at Vast is incredible, the service was good and attentive, and the wine parings quite nice. As a vegan, I get excited when I see a restaurant advertise a vegan menu. Too often I am forced to pick foods from the regular menu and ask for non-vegan items to be held from the dish. Imagine my surprise to find that is exactly how the vegan tasting menu at Vast was designed! Our amuse was bread with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and spiced pepitas. The bread was good and the oil and vinegar. The pepitas had good flavor, but were awkward…how do you eat them? With your fingers? On top of the bread? With your fork? Second course was a roasted red pepper bisque. The flavor was okay, but missing salt and acid. My partner added balsamic from the bread course to give it some needed zip. When we read that the bisque is a feature of the regular menu with the addition of a (assumed non-vegan) lime marshmallow. We wondered if that was the flavor component that the soup badly needed. The salad was greens, pecans, pickled radish and green goddess vinaigrette. It was oddly presented in a big bowl and, again, lacking flavor and texture. After consulting the menu we saw that it too was a regular feature with the addition of goat cheese and cornbread croutons. More menu subtractions with no tasty additions, in a big bowl of lightly dressed greens with pecans that had sunk to the bottom of the bowl. The main course was butternut squash au poivre, which is listed as a vegan dish on the regular menu. The squash was overcooked and the sauce missing any “poivre” taste, other than a few whole green peppercorns. The frites were potato cubes that lacked a much-needed crunch and the asparagus was overcooked and yet somehow woody. Vegan cooking gives you the opportunity to be thoughtful and creative. Both were missing here!"
