vegansaurus!

Road trip: Vegan in Los Angeles!

Two vegansaurs hit up Los Angeles this holiday season and lived to tell the tale, which is definitely your gain! Here, for your enjoyment, are our field notes, guaranteed to make you hungry.

Jordan!

I have a secret. You guys would probably never have guessed it, and I probably shouldn’t even be telling you this, but did you know that there are vegans in L.A.? Yeah. I know. It turns out they have about 80 billion vegan/vegan-friendly restaurants even! I was lucky enough to get to try a couple of these strange and new establishments this month on a whirlwind trip, and I’m here to share my findings with the good people of San Francisco.

First stop was a place called Pure Luck. PL is the kind of place that San Francisco is sadly lacking in (GET ON IT, VEGANS) - cheap, all-vegan food, and great all-vegan beer in a casual atmosphere served up by cute and highly capable servers. Pure Luck is famous for their jackfruit “carnitas” tacos, so that’s what I had. For the uninitiated, jackfruit is a tropical fruit that, when young, is largely tasteless and has a weird, fibrous-yet-tender texture, which makes it a perfect candidate to replace the gross-ass stringy meat that gets stewed down into carnitas or pulled pork or whatever. Pure Luck does jackfruit up right - the texture is perfect, and the flavor is satisfying and perfect with the corn tortillas, cilantro, onion, and salsa verde that make up the rest of the taco. Get a couple of these with some caesar salad (bomb-diggity!) for under $10. Add any of the hand-picked Belgiany-skewing beers that happen to be on the rotating beer menu, and you’ve got yourself a first-class A-1 meal.

If you’re lucky enough to spend the night in LA (or get there in the morning or early afternoon), then you are lucky indeed because you can avail yourself of the fine brunch options available to vegans in LA. Not to bash SF or anything, because I love the hells out of this city, but there’s a SERIOUS lack of fully-vegan brunch options here. Yes, we have some pretty great tofu scrambles at Boogaloos and St. Francis Fountain, but they don’t have vegan home fries, and that, that is a serious problem. So, if you’re one of the lucky jetsetters who gets to have brunch in LA, do it up right - go all out, and HAVE HOME FRIES. The place to do this that I recommend is Flore. Granted, it’s the only place I’ve had brunch in LA, but it’s cheap, the portions are huge, and they have great potatoes, so I don’t know what more you could possibly want. I had the tofu benedict, which was 3 big pieces of lovely bread with broiled (I think) tofu, tomato, kale, and a lake of hollandaise sauce. The benedict was so big they had to give me my potatoes in a bowl on the side. Also, the coffee was great, and I drank about 90 cups, so I suppose you should watch out for that, but there are worse things than spending the afternoon jittering running to pee every 20 minutes, right? Greatness comes at a price! Anyway, the service is a tad slow, but it’s brunch, so don’t go if you are in a hurry. Brunch is for layabouts, and don’t you forget it!

Finally, on my way out of town, I got to check out VegiSoul, LA’s vegetarian soul food place. I haven’t had a lot of soul food in my day (I’m from Canada, where neither soul nor food exists - kidding! But no, we don’t have soul food up there and certainly not vegan soul food), but I’ve had enough to know that I fucking LOVE IT. If I could eat only one meal for the rest of my life, it would probably be all the deep-fried-smothered-in-barbecue-sauce stuff with greens from Chicago’s SoulVeg, and I wouldn’t be unhappy at all. VegiSoul isn’t quite as mind-blowingly pants-wetting awesome as SoulVeg, but it delivers a very solid meal and has super nice people working there. I had the Fibs (fake ribs!), greens, and mac ‘n cheese. The mac was a bit different than the super creamy stuff I’m used to getting (and loving) from Souley Vegan in the East Bay. VegiSoul’s mac had tiny diced-up bits of green and red pepper in it, which lent a nice flavor to things, and instead of a super creamy sauce, their mac fell more into the greasy awesomeness camp. It had nice flavor and went really well with the fibs, which were meaty (kind of oddly so - not that I suspect they had actual meat in them, of course; they were just a different texture than I’ve encountered before, which is good!) and smothered with a tangy, not-too-overpowering barbecue sauce. The star of my meal was the greens, which were perfectly cooked and salted just right, which just serves as a double reminder that I can’t cook those kinds of greens at home for shit. Ah well.

[Photos from www.pureluckrestaurant.com and www.vegisoul.com]

Brianna!

Within the past few months, Native Foods has really been undergoing a lot of changes. Their Westwood location (by UCLA) opened up a to-go side of the restaurant, offering take-out orders for people on the go. They also changed their name to Native Foods Cafe and switched their logo. And they’ve also created a rewards card - rewards cards are awesome until you think about the big-brotherness of it all, how you’re acting as some guinea-pig for marketing purposes and then the company turns around and acts like they’re doing you a favor. But at the end of the day, Native Foods’ Scorpion Burger, in my opinion, makes it all worth it. They have an expansive menu full of burgers and bowls and salads and tacos, a dish to please any palette.

Whenever I make a trip back home to LA, I always manage to go to M Cafe at least once. Sure, they serve fish; I’m sad that it’s not an all-vegan establishment—though luckily its sister restaurant Seed in Venice is!!!—but the vegan stuff it does pull off, it really pulls off. I went to the 7119 Melrose Ave. at La Brea Ave. location. Parking there is reasonable, especially considering the area (curse you, West LA!!). Sadly, a previous visit to M Cafe got me a delicious $10 sandwich and a not-so-delicious $50 parking ticket.

The cafe is really casual. You order up front and you get your food delivered to your table a la a number card. Just so you know, your table does get bussed for you (just to ease any confusion… I always manage to forget this each time I go there!). One night, my friend and I had a lovely dinner there. Our appetizer? Mint chocolate cupcake. Fuck yes, we eat our dessert before dinner. Get over it. The texture was impeccable, the frosting perfectly piped. But the flavor was just not there. When I think “mint chocolate,” I think mint! I wanted so badly to have that punch, but it was sorely missed. The other flavors they had available were strawberry and chocolate—I wish we had gotten the chocolate :(.

For my main course, I got a teriyaki tempura bowl with tofu. I could have gotten the vegetables steamed or sauteed, but the tempura seemed just so tempting! I couldn’t finish the fried veggies though; the oil was just too much for my stomach. Luckily, my dining companion was more than happy to eat up my leftovers. The flavors and textures in this dish were incredible. The tofu even had adorable grill marks that added some much-appreciated char flavor. The bed of brown rice at the bottom completed my meal. It was so rich and satisfying, I could eat it any day of the week (except maybe next time with sauteed veggies instead of deep-fried).

My dining companion got a burger called the Big Macro. I had a bite and it totally hit the spot. As far as veggie burgers go, though, it was pretty standard. It scores some healthy points for being macrobiotic, but I think that overall it was exactly as it should be. If you’re in a veggie-burger-mood, this will totally fill you right up!! It also came with a yummy side of kale with spicy peanut sauce. I almost ate all of his kale, I swear. It was the most delicious, yummy part of the meal, in my opinion. I was half-tempted to get a side of it to take home it was so good! If you’re a kale-lover, you must get that deli item!

[photos by Brianna]

Road Trip Friday: Mineral in Murphys!

Okay Bay Area fat asses, time for a road trip!

Murphys, California is about a 2 hour drive from SF (Or maybe more if you obey the rules of the road. Not me! I drive like a bat out of hell because YOUR LAWS DO NOT APPLY TO ME, I MUST BE FREE! Also, i have no regard for human life, yours or my own. However, should an animal cross my path, I will cause a 10 car pile up to avoid hitting it. I am a total asshole.) and its the quaintest, cutest, most adorable, pinch its cheeks and show me where the hookers lived little Gold Rush town in all of creation. I seriously love anything and everything having to do with the Gold Rush. If I could be alive during anytime, I would choose to be Queen Victoria. After that, I would choose to live during the time of the Unicorns. After that, I would choose to live in a Gold Mining town in the Sierra Foothills. I would most likely mine billions of dollars worth of gold and spend the rest of the day sun bathing and eating bon bons. In the evenings, I would do it with lots of hookers and have shoot outs with my twin brother (who looks just like me but is EVIL). My name would be Wild Laura Quick Draw. Seriously, does anyone have a delorean?

Anyway, things you expect to find in Murphys are: Antiques shops, Things with “Frog” in the title (it’s Mark Twain Country, baby!), Local Experts on the Gold Rush who might also be Skeevy Old Dudes Who Want to Do It With You, More Antique Shops, People who collect things like Mountain Man Doll (see pic, it’s great), Wineries (aka FREE ALCOHOL) and more Antiques Shops. Oh, and a few cowboy/biker bars because rape was really big during the Gold Rush. Listen, I never said history was pretty.

One thing you might not expect to find is ONE OF THE BEST VEGETARIAN RESTAURANT I’VE EVER EATEN AT. Jigga what? THAT IS CORRECT. Jigga who? YOU HEARD. 

Mineral is an intimate (read: hella teeny tiny), super cute vegetarian restaurant right on Murphys’ Main Street. Yes, it is called Main Street. I told you this town is fucking adorable. Inside, it gets even better. The lighting is amazing, even dogs* would look super hot in this space. It has an exposed kitchen so you can watch the chef do his thing. And his thing is making the most god damned delicious food you ever sunk your fat face into! Some of the food was so good, words failed me. It’s kinda like a fancified California Cuisine, I guess? My menu favorites were the Red Miso and Mexican lime Bisque with house made smoked tofu, Potato Coriander Seitan in a Hemp Fondue with Chive Oil, Indian spiced FRIED CHOCOLATE. HELLO! Everything is vegetarian and most everything on the menu is vegan or can be made vegan. I went to dinner with some talkative bitches but I’m telling you, the entire meal was basically silent with the exception of a few, “HOLY SHIT!”s.  I don’t know how to grammatically work HOLY SHIT’s out so I’m moving on.

Afterwards, the chef and waitress/hostess/co-owner sat with us and shared some wine and we talked about how amazing they are.  They are both completely down to earth and sweet and welcoming and fantastic.  It’s not the cheapest place I’ve ever eaten but it’s on point with the other nice restaurants in the area and when you see the quality of the organic, local ingredients they use, it’s more than reasonable. Apparently the lunch is off the hook too with the best homemade veggie burgers on EARTH. I tried to get back but didn’t make it out of bed on time and they close at 3 for lunch. WHAT? I WAS ON VACATION.

If you are a veggie or vegan or AWESOME in the Bay Area or Sacramento (it’s only about an hour from Sacto and don’t you want to get the fuck out of Sacramento anyway?!), I definitely advise a road trip up to this area with a must stop at Mineral for both lunch and dinner. Also, if you bring a lady friend, you will totally get laid. Just saying.  

*ugly people not real dogs, that is health code violation!

Road Trip Friday: Ubuntu in Napa!

Sometimes you just want to get the fuck out of dodge. On occasional Fridays, we’ll feature different veg friendly places to visit and dine that are within an hour or two from SF. Let’s start with Napa because I’m a classy drunk. LET’S GET WASTED! SHOW ME YOUR BRA! WOO!

I’ve been to Ubuntu three times and look forward to a fourth visit like it’s my job.  

First visit:

A really wonderful, super romantic dinner.  The food was delicious and perfect, especially the coconut watermelon basil soup.  that soup is ridiculous.  it will change your life.  it’s better than the sex (that you have, most likely.  not me, i am amazing at sex.).  it is like drinking the blood of virgins.  eating it is what winning a gold at the Olympics must feel like.  The wine list is filled with sustainable, organic and bio-dynamic (wtf does that mean?) wines.  The prices were totally reasonable based on quality of service and food.  I didn’t see one heifer doing yoga.  Just the thought of a Skinny White Bitch running around with a yoga mat under one arm and a little crop top (YARG) that says “Namaste” on it is enough to make me lose my shit/lunch so plus multiple stars for that.  I cannot hang.

Second visit:

Holy shit, why am I impossible to take out in public?  I did quite a bit of wine tasting with my friend’s Maria, Ed and Suzanne in downtown Napa before (including one place that I thought was a free tasting room but was actually a bar!  Oops, we have to pay for that?! Thank God I have fabulous slut friends who are willing to exchange numbers for many bottles of free wine!) and so wasn’t entirely prepared to enter a classy establishment for dinner.

DO NOT INFORM THE HOSTESS THAT YOU ARE DRUNK WHEN YOU ARRIVE.  you will be rightly cut the fuck off.  it went a little like this:

hostess: hello!  
Laura: i’m DRUNK!
hostess: okay, what’s the reservation under?
Laura: i’m DRUNK!
Maria: it’s under Meng.
Laura: HE’S DRUNK TOO!!!  HAHAHA!
and so on and so forth.

don’t worry, i hate me too.

once seated, we were politely and tactfully informed that we were being cut off because of my outburst and the you know, being openly intoxicated in a nice restaurant thing.the wait staff and management at Ubuntu handled it VERY well.  they never made us feel unwelcome or called out or anything like that.  and the food helped.  i swear, everything tastes even more amazing when you’re drunk.  that is, it tastes amazing until you want to die.  i wanted to die right before dessert so i headed out to the car to take a power nap.  it felt so good, i can’t even tell you.  we then headed back to the city and don’t worry for my safety and for the safety of others, kind vegansaurus readers, i didn’t drive!  ed was sober sister and is an excellent driver and made an amazing mix c.d.  if you’ve never seen maria and ed perform usher’s, “love in this club”, you are missing the fuck out.  you have not lived until ed has looked you in the eye and told you he wants to set you free, sexually, emotionally, mentally, physically.  or however it goes. (ED note: it goes, “physically, mentally, sexually, emotionally”.)  it’s hot, trust me.  i think they’ll be doing it tomorrow at temple bar, in fact.  you should totally be there.)

Third visit:

To celebrate my friend Joel’s recent entrance into adulthood a good 10 years before his time (aka, buying a house at 25. OVERACHIEVERS! UGH!). The food was equally as delicious this time and I remember it all very well. The soup remained the star of the menu, who knew that coconut and watermelon and basil and edible flower = magical magicallity. Well, I guess I do now and so do you. We had more of the delicious chickpea fries, the creamy polenta was delicious as was the farro (far less saltier this time, I wonder if they’d gotten complaints?) and finished it off with the super tasty almond milkshake and yummy mini-vegan carrot cake cupcakes.

The cupcakes are not on the regular menu so make sure to ask for them, beg if you have to! Actually, they only have ONE vegan dessert on the regular menu and it’s some whack shaved ice shit. I mean, it’s good and all but COME ON. One vegan dessert selection at a vegetarian restaurant* isn’t enough. I guess that’s my only complaint. That and the fact that the soup isn’t endless, like at the Olive Garden (those people are geniuses!).

In conclusion: Ubuntu.  Delicious when sober.  Delicious when drunk.  Delicious for dinner.  Delicious for lunch.  Please someone send that into The New Yorker poetry section, kthx!

*sorry, “vegetables” restaurant! they don’t like the term, “vegetarian”, i guess it turns off the snob foodies and the snob foodies LOVE this place. It annoys me that they don’t embrace vegetarian but hey, The NY Times named it one of the 10 best new restaurants in the country. I’m sorry but that’s fucking awesome for a vegetables restaurant.

[all photos, with the exception of the first one, are from the wonderful & talented foonus]