For the past few weeks, I’ve been lusting over a trip to a new vegan restaurant in Asheville, NC, and I finally got to go after getting paid this past weekend.

The name of the restaurant is Plant, and it’s a pretty small, upscale, completely vegan restaurant. In fact, it’s the only 100% vegan restaurant in town. The head chef is the former chef of another local, vegetarian restaurant, Laughing Seed.

I loved the atmosphere – really cozy. Also, the host and waitress we had were both incredibly friendly. But most important was the food.

I had looked over the menu in advance so I would have an idea of what I wanted to get, but everything sounded so good I had trouble deciding. Once I was in the restaurant, though, I settled on the Berger & Truffle Fries.

Besides the fries obviously being amazing, the burger was incredibly satisfying. I’ve always had a soft spot for a good, thick, comforting veggie burger, and this beats all the ones of the past I’ve had. The horseradish mayo had a great kick to it, the crispy onions were a nice touch. Really, my only complaint was that it was almost too big for my mouth to handle. I made quite the mess of it, and had to ask for another napkin or two. Totally worth a mess, of course.

My boyfriend ordered the Jerk Char Broiled Seitan. I can’t write too much about it because I only had a bite, but what I can say is that the spicy seitan contrasted nicely with the sweet greens.

For dessert, we selected the Blackout Pie. It’s a peanut butter chocolate pie on a chocolate crust, and the slice came with house-made banana ice cream and cherry sauce.

It was plated so beautifully. Dessert was the source of my only complaint about Plant though – I would’ve liked a slightly larger piece of pie considering my boyfriend and I were sharing it, but I’m sure it would have been enough for one person.

Plant is definitely a great date restaurant, but considering that I paid $70 (including tip) for this dinner, it’s not somewhere I can afford to go very often.