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Flore Cafe: Get Over There ASAP
29September 9th, 2009flore cafe (closed), LA restaurantsEvery so often in the LA vegan scene I run into somebody that says “You know, I wish I’d eaten at The Vegan Spot before it closed down”. Well, Los Angeles vegans, its successor restaurant Flore Cafe (sister restaurant to the amazing Flore) is in need of our attention once again.
Most LA vegans would put the esteemed Silverlake restaurant Flore in their top five vegan dining options in the city. An innovative menu, all-organic ingredients and incredible attention to detail in both the preparation and presentation of the food really sets it apart from places like Cafe Flourish (fast dining, limited menu). If only parking was easier in Silverlake, we’d probably visit Flore a whole lot more than we do.
Well, rising from the ashes of The Vegan Spot (my favorite ever LA vegan restaurant) just half a mile or so away from Flore is Flore Cafe. While owned by the same people as Flore, the Cafe is not entirely vegan (having eggs and milk products on the menu), but it serves many similar menu items as its sister restaurant a few blocks south – all organic, all very well thought out and all absolutely wonderfully prepared.
On a recent visit to Flore Cafe, we decided to order the Avocado and Seitan Salad and Tempeh Tu-no Melt – boy, we were not disappointed.
Avocado & Seitan Salad: Bed of mixed greens with sliced avocado, sprouts, grilled seitan, tomato and red onion. Served with choice of vinaigrette or tahini dressing. $9.95
The salad was crispy and fresh, perfectly prepared and the seitan was some of the best I’ve ever had (I don’t know how Flore make their seitan, but I wish I could make it the way they do!). In addition to the amazing seitan, all the ingredients in the salad were top notch. At first, nearly $10 seemed like a lot to pay for a salad…but when this bowl arrived overflowing with wheat meat and fresh produce, $10 seemed like a bargain. The tahini dressing was deliciously creamy as well, I couldn’t fault anything about this dish.
Tempeh Tu-no Melt: Tempeh salad, daikon sprouts and cashew cheese layered on organic seeded six grain bread grilled to warm, soulful perfection. Served with a mixed green salad. $8.95
The Tempeh Tu-no Melt was also truly outstanding – a well filled toasted sandwich with a sizable side of equally crispy salad. The melt was stuffed with a creamy and chunky tempeh salad mixture, with just the right amount of crunch. It tasted amazing all mixed up with Flore’s flavorful cashew cheese and the slightly sour daikon sprouts. Like the seitan salad, this melt was enormous. Each half was packed with a ton of tempeh; we ended up taking half of it home for a later meal.
Flore Cafe has a great menu, with tons of options, considering how small the place is. Whether you are in the mood for a full on breakfast, a hearty burger, a toasted sandwich or a burrito…Flore Cafe is your place. Here are just a few of the other things we’ve eaten there. If you are a reader of this blog, you’ve probably seen these pix before:
Smokey Seitan & Portobello Burger: served with red onion, lettuce, tomato, vegenaise and a side salad. $9.95
Flore Cafe offers 4 types of veggie burgers. I highly recommend the seitan and portobello burger—a large patty made of wheat meat and mushrooms all topped off with loads of vegetables.
Tofu Scramble: Tofu, tomato, basil, mushroom, red onion & spinach. $6.95
The tofu scramble at Flore Cafe is one of the best breakfast dishes in Los Angeles, and just about the only vegan one I can think for under $7. It comes with mounds of chunky tofu mixed with spinach and mushrooms, as well as a generous helping of tomato and avocado. Goes great with hot sauce.
Breakfast Burrito: Tofu scramble, cashew cheese, potatoes, avocado and pico de gallo ina whole wheat tortilla. Served with a side of fruit. $6.95
The breakfast burrito is also a good deal at $6.95—lots of perfectly cooked tofu, potatoes and avocado rolled up tight in an oversized tortilla.
I know we have given them flack before on this blog for serving eggs and dairy, but I’d strongly recommend visiting Flore Cafe both in the near future and on a regular basis. Like so many tiny businesses these days the economy isn’t on its side so all the help we can give Flore Cafe to remain on our list as a superb restaurant with a bunch of vegan options will, I’m sure, be much appreciated.
Let’s not lose the entire menu from Flore Cafe due to closure or reassignment of the lease to an omnivorous establishment. We’ve already seen Vegan Spot go away, as well as Flore Cafe cease offering LA’s best ever vegan breakfast deal: the “all you can eat” sunday breakfast brunch. Go pay Flore Cafe a visit… today!
Flore Cafe
3206 W Sunset Blvd (at Descanso…not to be confused with Flore at Sunset Junction)
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(323) 667-0116open daily 10am-5pm
Tags: breakfast, burger, organic, salad, sandwich, seitan, silverlake
28 responses to “Flore Cafe: Get Over There ASAP” 
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i go there once or twice a week and get carry-out lunch. this is probably the best value vegan food in LA. so much better than over-rated and boring places like cafe flourish whose entire menu I could easily make from buying stuff at wholefoods. i will be there again today.
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miss anthrope September 9th, 2009 at 08:49
scott: if you don’t like their seitan, there’s something wrong with your tongue.
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I used to go in there and it was always really dirty and the dudes working would be all, “hey – yeah, i wouldn’t order that if i were you. it’s been sitting out for a real long time…” ? what? I stopped going in there.
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i LOVE that tuno melt. so fucking good. and the tofu benediction! if only they still had no whey bakery’s twinkies…. wompwomp.
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I don’t understand what anyone has against this place. The only thing that sucks about it is the parking. I come here fairy often, and the food is just as good as Flore, except there is no crowd to deal with. I love it.
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Why are people dissing on Cafe Flourish? The place may be tiny and have a small menu, but they are a class act… the place is clean, the food is great and the people who run it are some of the nicest I’ve ever met. That part of town needs a good vegan option and now it has one.
I hope The Vegan Spot, I mean, Flore Cafe succeeds. But why is it even being compared to Cafe Flourish? They’re not in the same neighborhood, they don’t serve the same sort of food, and it’s not like one is stealing business from the other. Or did I miss something?
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Siobhan September 9th, 2009 at 12:45
and mind you, their meatloaf with kale, mashed potatoes and carrots IS the most amazing thing EVER.
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I have to agree with dani…I’m not 100% comfortable with the cleanliness factor at Flore Cafe, and I haven’t been there for months.
BTW, I have never had an incident there…the space just feels dirty to me.
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msmerymac September 9th, 2009 at 13:43
I can see how it seems kind of dirty, but I’m wondering how much of that is “Silverlake vibe.” I had the tofu benediction, and it was okay, but no where near as good as the vegan benedict at M Cafe de Chaya! If I lived in Silverlake I might go more often, but there are places closer to me that I like. Example: Pure Luck. If I’m driving over there, Pure Luck is slightly closer and better, though without breakfast or Sunday hours.
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mar-mar September 9th, 2009 at 19:05
I only wished that Cafe Flore would open up earlier because I could never grab breakfast before work.
Tempeh Tu-no Melt is finger licking good… damn I am craving one right now.
Honestly everyone should go there and support…
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As of this moment their phone is disconnected. What up with that?
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Lee Lee September 10th, 2009 at 06:33
Dirty Flore Cafe – Boo!
Boring and Overrated Cafe Flourish – Boo!I only go to places if they’re good – not just because they’re vegan.
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didn’t really mean to rip on cafe flourish. the place is fine for what it is: uninteresting and uninventive vegan food served in a bleh atmosphere. there’s not one thing on the menu somebody with basic food preparation skills couldn’t make easily, whereas I’d love to see somebody make the tuna melt or seitan that’s at cafe flore out of a can. not possible, and the prices are similar. i was contrasting a special place like cafe flore with a vegan “me too” like flourish.
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I haven’t been to Flore Cafe yet (still weeping over the loss of The Vegan Spot), but I’ll make my way over there. However, I love Cafe Flourish’s BLTA – it’s a sandwich I seriously crave. I even wrote a Cafe Flourish review for a friend’s food blog. I’m a pretty good cook and I’ve tried vegan BLTA’s at other restaurants – none can compare with Cafe Flourish.
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Sorry but y’all are wrong about Cafe Flourish. The food is actually quite inventive and usually always delicious, they add new things on to their specials menu all the time. While the place itself might be small, it’s bright, clean, nicely decorated and has a nice view of Wilshire Blvd. Either you’ve never actually eaten there and are just talking about something you don’t know firsthand, or you have a bone to pick with someone who works there. I don’t see how anyone who’s actually eaten their food can say it’s boring or uninventive as it’s a lot more unique and better prepared than many other places that get a lot more credit.
I realize this post was about Flore Cafe and not Cafe Flourish, but Flourish is awesome and deserves quite a bit more credit than it’s getting in this comment thread.
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miss anthrope September 10th, 2009 at 12:55
i agree with foodeater. CAFE FLOURISH RULES. and still has quite possibly the best vegan reuben in town.
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freddysbored September 10th, 2009 at 21:09
I drove over for the all you can eat brunch a couple of weekends ago. Not only was there no all you can eat brunch, but I was so ignored by the guys working there I felt like I’d snuck a velvet rope w/o being on the guest list. I ended up at Flore,which was yummy, but not special enough for the trek.
BTW, Cafe Flourish, while overpriced, is wonderful, delicious, & the staff is fantastic. And I ate outside & two passerbye eyed my food, asked about it, & ended up going in for takeout. I can’t eat there often because of $$, but Foodeater is right–definitely check it out.
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freddysbored September 10th, 2009 at 21:13
BTW, I didn’t mean to suggest not trying out Flore Cafe. Quarrygirl is right–vegan food options should be given a tried & given a chance to thrive. I just had a bad experience my time there. Hopefully they’be taken a cue from hard times & are providing better customer service. If I hear they have, I’d totally be willing to try them again.
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Lee Lee September 11th, 2009 at 05:16
Been to Cafe Flourish a few times and sorry but it’s just “Eh”. By all means, if you want to go over there and spend $20 bucks for a sandwich, then be my guest.
Maybe Flore Cafe should consider actually serving breakfast in the morning. Although I don’t like the joint, there are none (or hardly any) vegan places open early (like 8am) for breakfast. Working folks are already in staff meetings by 11am.
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I’ve never paid anywhere near $20 for a sandwich or anything else at Cafe Flourish. You don’t have to like the place but making up lies about them is lame considering their menu & prices are available for all to see online:
http://www.cafeflourish.com/Cafe_Flourish/View_the_Menu.htmlJust because you’re cheap doesn’t mean the restaurant sucks.
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Lee Lee September 11th, 2009 at 15:12
Thanks for attacking me. I’m saying that the restaurant is too expensive and that I don’t like it very much. We all have a right to like what we like. Thanks again for the attack.
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spartan September 11th, 2009 at 15:38
I agree that Flourish is WAY overpriced. I haven’t been to Flore Cafe yet. Shit I better go.
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I didn’t attack you Lee Lee, you posted incorrectly on a public website that the sandwiches at Cafe Flourish are $20 when they are not. I was correcting you and linked to their menu which shows their actual prices. That’s not an attack, it’s defending a quality restaurant that deserves a lot better than to be put down as “Boring and Overrated”.
We all have a right to like what we like indeed… and I like Cafe Flourish so the lie you posted about what they charge wasn’t going to be left unaddressed. I had an awesome meal there tonight including a large & delicious sandwich, a giant salad full of fresh and organic vegetables that was too much for me to eat on my own, and a beverage, all for UNDER $20. You don’t have to like the place but you don’t have to lie about what they offer or how much it costs just to get your point across.
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baby fuckface September 23rd, 2009 at 14:59
Fuck this restaurant. The owner is a stuck-up hipster who wears leather and could care less about the vegan community. I’ve seen her treat people like utter shit and I will never go into either of her dirty restaurants and give her a dime of my money. I’m all for supporting vegan businesses, but not when it’s making some greedy bitch money while she shits on everyone else. Fuck this place and fuck her.
1 Trackbacks / Pingbacks
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flore cafe: the vegan all-you-can-eat sunday brunch is back! | quarrygirl: a vegan food blog in los angeles September 17th, 2009 at 19:36
[…] as we mentioned last week, flore cafe has been struggling…and this is yet another reason to go support them. they have decided to start up the all-you-can eat vegan brunch again every sunday for just $10, for as long as they can. […]
pops September 9th, 2009 at 08:40