Veganism holds its own at Squid & Ink

Vegans get hangovers, too. That's probably why weekend breakfasts are keeping Georgetown's new vegan cafe, Squid & Ink, hopping.

The breakfast menu, served until 4 p.m. every day, kicks off with the king of morning-after food: biscuits and gravy. Vegan fare can tend toward the ambiguous -- maybe that's why Squid & Ink describes their meat-free country gravy poured over wheat-free toasted biscuits as "goo-covered fluff." Whatever. It's hearty and filling, the coffee is strong and on TV they're showing the old Saturday-morning cartoons we used to get up at 7 a.m. to watch.

At any meal, the variety on the menu at this small, artsy cafe would have you believe that vegans are as omnivorous as all the rest. The French Kiss ($7.50) is two massive slabs of bread dipped in an egg-free soy batter, fried and served up with both scrambled tofu and soy sausage. Grill those slabs with some faux ham and cheese in between and you have the Monte Cristo, served with choice of soup, salad or fries for $7.50. (Avoid the tortilla soup, which may take the moral high ground over its chicken-based doppelganger but would definitely be the one to lose in a fistfight.)

Seitan stands in for chicken-fried steak, and thin, crunchy tempeh delivers a decent performance as bacon on buttery, crisped sourdough bread with lettuce and tomato. Soups, salads, pastas and even vegetarian seafood entrees ("fish" made from soy and seaweed) round out the menu, along with vegan desserts from special-order outfit Bangarang Bakery.

Owners Jarrod Ducat and Sarah O'Neal opened Georgetown's first 100-percent animal-free zone in August (one-upping the vegetarian Georgetown Liquor Co., which opened in the neighborhood this past spring). They bring an arsenal of vegan cooking tricks and a DIY punk ethos from the U District's Wayward Cafe, which Ducat also owns.

Like that vegan mecca to the north, which is run as a collective and staffed by volunteers, Squid & Ink is a place where you feel veganism is about much more than a meal. It's a lifestyle, a battle cry and a badge of honor, a movement taken over by a young, pierced generation who like volume in their music as well as their food. Squid & Ink is a place where you can fill up on both.

Squid & Ink is located at 1128 S. Albro Pl.; 206-763-2696; www.myspace.com/squid_and_ink

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