At Bengaluru Cafe in Northern Liberties, which focuses on vegan and vegetarian dishes from South India, my Sunday brunch came crisp, buttery, and caffeinated. A dosa – the crepe made from a fermented batter of rice and lentils – stretched across the plate, golden and delicate, with edges that shatter and a center that softened around warm, turmeric-yellow potatoes. A pat of butter melted into the surface, adding a richness that didn’t mute the dosa’s clean tang. Drag pieces through the chutneys and sip the side cup of sambar (a lentil and vegetable stew), and the flavors keep shifting: cool, bright, savory, gently spiced. The filter coffee is the perfect partner — dark, milky, fragrant, and just bitter enough to snap the morning into focus. Bengaluru Cafe, 809 N. Second St., 215-964 9700, bengaluru.cafe

—Michael Klein

It’s rare for a new bakery to answer two completely distinct longings at once, but Rougarou Baking is a unicorn. The business, which opened in Queen Village in April, specializes in both Jewish and Cajun-Creole-inspired pastries that eloquently reflect the family heritages of the couple behind it, Paige and Zach Wernich.

From a pure timing perspective, the Jewish portion of Rougarou’s weekend menu fills the babka-sized hole in my heart left by Essen’s unfortunate closure. The tender crumb of Paige’s babka loaf — a tribute to Zach’s Jewish family — is laced with a marbling of chocolate kissed with cinnamon, an unconventional but successful gambit to unite the often bickering cinnamon-or-chocolate babka camps. I’ll become a regular for that delight, as well as Rougarou’s honey-glazed challah braids.

But as a former New Orleanian, I was also particularly taken with the baked goods that called out Paige’s childhood roots in Louisiana — especially the jambalaya hand pie. The buttery richness of its folded pie dough crust, flaky from a touch of vinegar, is packed with a hearty scoop of the famous Cajun rice dish, its moist grains fragrant from the holy trinity of onions, celery, and bell peppers that come sautéed in the cayenne-spiced renderings of the smoked andouille sausage nuggets also nestled inside. One bite of that pie immediately transported me back to my travels through Cajun Country.

This is the recipe Paige grew up cooking with her Nanny Peggy over the live fires of a campground on the Gulf Coast, where her extended family would gather for summer reunions in the wake of Katrina. “Nanny was the chef of the family,” said Paige, “and I owe every bit to her teachings.” Rougarou Baking, 526 S. Fourth St., rougaroubaking.com

— Craig LaBan

Oh Doom, Philly’s heavy metal bar. The vibes, the Sabbath playing in the background, the excellent food, and the housemade tonic. I could wax poetic about this place for days. On a recent trip, I got my hands on their charred green beans — a dish so popular that it was promoted from happy hour exclusive to a regular menu slot. The blistered green beans have the perfect bite and snap, and come topped with chili maple vinaigrette, scallions, and peanuts. It’s the perfect bright flavor bomb to pair with other dishes that are inevitably heavier (and fried) but also delicious, like their seitan wings in a dry Sichuan rub or their pork and tofu chili dog. Doom, 427 N. Seventh St., www.doom.bar

— Emily Bloch

Last year, I had written about how cabbage was trending, and this year, I’m still finding that my friends are comparing notes on the hottest cabbage dishes in town. I have a new one to add to the rotation: Uchi’s seared cabbage, which I had this past week as part of their $83 vegetable tasting menu.

Conceived by chef Ford Sonnenberg, it consists of sous vide savoy cabbage, cooked with liquid koji, then charred on the plancha and plated in a puddle of coconut milk-based walnut cream. It hits all the right notes of crispy, creamy, smoky, spicy, and herbaceous. It’s dressed with a brightly acidic and funky relish made of shallots, Fresno chilis, and lots of fresh herbs. It may seem antithetical to go to a sushi restaurant for a vegetable omakase, but Uchi’s took me by surprise. It might just be one of the best vegetarian tastings in town. Uchi, 1620 Sansom St. Ste. C1, 215-647-7611, uchirestaurants.com

— Kiki Aranita