Plant-Based Eating in Walla Walla, WA
Traveling to Walla Walla, WA? Sharon Palmer shares her top tips for plant-based eating in this beautiful city.
It was so fun to visit the town of my alma mater, Walla Walla University in Eastern Washington. I attended college there for two years when I was fresh out of high school, before transferring to California to complete my nutrition studies. At that time, it was a rural, agricultural community with not too much going on. Today, it has become famous for award-winning wines and local farm-to-table cuisine. Check out my top tips for plant-powering your getaway to this beautiful city.
Main Street
The weather was toasty in the summertime, so we stayed on the shady side of the street as we explored the charming Main Street area, which is home to wineries, cafes, restaurants, and shops. Walla Walla experiences all seasons, with cool, golden falls, crisp, chilly winters, verdant green springs, and hot, dry summers.
Whitehouse-Crawford
This is (in my opinion) the best restaurant in Walla Walla, with amazingly local, regional foods in a charming historic location. The service is incredible.
Whitehouse-Crawford
These onions are famous—they are the most flavorful sweet onions you’ll ever find. So, we partook in an appetizer of lightly fried sweet onions, dusted in corn flour before frying.
Whitehouse-Crawford
There were several plant-based options on the menu, including a farmers market salad with a wonderful green dressing.
Whitehouse-Crawford
The chef cooked up this amazing plant-based entrée with rice, patty pan squash, green beans, corn, and peas with a fresh pesto. It just screamed summer.
Sorbet, Whitehouse-Crawford
I love to request a simple sorbet when traveling.
We had a chance to try a few local wines, and we loved these vintages. You’ll find amazing reds coming out of this region.
This Syrah was one of our favorites of the weekend, though it is completely sold out and you can’t find it (other than at a restaurant that has some squirreled away!)
We drove out to this vineyard, set in a beautiful area a few minutes from town, to sample some gorgeous reds.
Walla Walla Roastery
This fabulous freshly roasted coffee was served at many cafes—we had to bring some home.
Loved grabbing a quick lunch here, the bread is freshly baked and the menu is light and creative.
The house-made veggie burger on whole grain bread was amazing!
We even brought home a loaf of this fabulous whole grain sourdough to enjoy at home! That’s how good the bread was.
The foods are hyper local, such as the flour used in the bakeries. We saw the local farms harvesting wheat as we arrived, so you can only imagine how wonderful all the baked products were.
This is where I went to school for two years, as I began my studies in food and nutrition. Lots of great memories come back to me, and it looks exactly the same to me.
The famous Walla Walla sweet onions are celebrated here. I brought home a bag of them and made the most amazing French onion soup from my book (The Plant-Powered Diet) you can imagine.
Walla Walla Organics
I brought home these local beans, too. I cooked up a Moroccan-spiced pot of chickpeas with the bag on the left. The variety was really dark and had a crunchy outside.
If you get a chance to visit Walla Walla, please do. It’s an easy weekend trip from Seattle or Spokane. You will find a charming location, wonderful food and wine, and outdoor activities, such as hiking.
For more plant-based eating guides, check out:
Plant-Based Eating in Spokane
Plant-Based Eating in the Big Island, Hawaii
Plant-Based Eating in the Southwest: Utah and Colorado
nice post thanks