UPDATE 2011: this place has closed.

los angeles vegans with a big time sweet tooth, you need to pick yourselves up stat and head over to ice pan in west hollywood. the ‘natural’ and ‘nutritious’ ice cream parlor offers ten low sugar, low fat flavors with no added preservatives, all of which can be made vegan by choosing the soy milk option. i checked ice pan out over the weekend and ordered their nondairy chocolate ice cream with oreo topping, which did not disappoint.

chocolate and oreo soy ice cream. $4.95

for a dessert that prides itself on being ‘healthy,’ this stuff sure was creamy and decadent tasting. the soy ice cream could definitely pass for the real thing, and the crispy little oreo bits added a delightfully crunchy texture. oh, and i’m leaving out probably the coolest thing about ice pan: they make the ice cream right there in front of you! you get to watch as they blend up your ice cream and milk mixture, poor it onto the ice pan and mix it until it becomes firm. then they lay the toppings on top of the ice cream, mash it all up, and scoop into your container. neato! (for more about how they make it, check out this step-by-step.)

so let’s just review here: ten flavors of ice cream with a vegan option, tons of toppings to choose from, amazing taste and creamy texture, all made right before your eyes. oh and let’s not leave out the bit about it being ‘healthier’ than normal ice cream and having no artificial flavors or preservatives. bottom line, i think you need to get down to ice pan right now and try out their vegan ice cream. you won’t be sorry.

ice pan
7100 Santa Monica Blvd # 135
West Hollywood, CA 90046
(323) 883-0267
Mon-Sun. 11:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.

love n haight is a tiny little sandwich joint in the lower haight area of san francisco, and is a great place to grab a quick and cheap vegan bite. i found it by accident when stumbling around after too many pints at the magnolia brewery, and was pretty damn impressed with the food.

what appeared to be just a crappy hole in the wall sandwich shop turned out to be a place offering huge vegan sandwiches piled high with fake meats, hummus and avocado. my husband and i split the “veggie chicken” and “veggie peppersteak” sandwiches (both without mayo), and they really hit the spot.

vegan peppersteak sandwich, no mayo plus avocado. $6.48

for sandwiches well under $10, the things were huge and all the ingredients were fresh and tasty. the 2 flavors of mock meat tasted pretty similar…but for the price and size i really can’t complain. plus, all the vegetables were top notch and the bread was perfectly soft. definitely a delicious and unexpected treat when wandering around an unfamiliar part of town.

vegan chicken sandwich, no mayo plus hummus. $5.84

another great thing about love n haight, is that everything right down to the bread selections are labeled indicating whether or not they are vegan. just be sure to order all your sandwiches without mayo, because this place doesn’t have vegenaise. love n haight also offers a wide array of vegan chips and cookies…definitely a great place to get your grub on after a day of drinking.

while this wasn’t a like life-altering sandwich experience or anything, it was pretty damn cheap and convenient at the time. if you are ever in the area, i’d recommend checking love n haight out.

love n haight deli and cafe
553 Haight St
(between Fillmore St & Steiner St)
San Francisco, CA 94117
(415) 252-8190

Hours:
Mon-Sat. 11:30 a.m. – 2:00 a.m.
Sun. 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 a.m.

Recently, I was fortunate to be invited to a special vegan dinner with a select group of friends to celebrate both Memorial Day, and (more importantly) that revered global festival, otherwise known as Morrissey’s Birthday. Immediately upon receiving the invite, I offered to bring a dessert for the gang to eat. It being a birthday celebration and all, I decided to get a vegan ice cream birthday cake with “Happy Birthday Moz” written upon it.

I immediately thought of Scoops, a local favorite of vegans, as they offer not only a reasonable vegan ice cream selection, but also have a made-to-order vegan ice cream cake offering for only $25. Unfortunately, there’s a rather confusing set of steps to go through in order to place an order. First, you call the store, where they give you another number to call. You call that number, and are told to leave a message, with a promise of a call-back by the end of the next business day. Well, I called three times over as many days, and nobody bothered to call me back, leaving me somewhat caught short the day before the dinner, as none of the other restaurants in town would make me a vegan cake without 48 hours notice. Finally, I copped out and went to Wholefoods, to buy a lame combination of Soy Dream cookie dough ice cream and a fucking vegan brownie. How embarrassing!

Before we get to the dinner, though, Scoops has fallen foul of LA vegans (and even meat eaters, too) for serving Foie Gras ice cream. Not that I give a shit either way (I’d eat at XIV again in a force-fed fat-heartbeat), but (under pressure) they have assured people that they would not stock it any more, only to say – a few days later – that they have it “sometimes”.

It might be time for a foie gras / customer service demonstration outside Scoops. Serving foie gras is one thing, but lying about it isn’t acceptable, any more than not calling back paying customers who leave multiple messages requesting products! On top of that, some of the staff have a really shitty “no eye contact” attitude (especially the old Asian gentleman who works in there) when asked basic questions about their menu and offerings.

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if you live in los angeles, you probably know that beverly hills is a part of town where it’s hard to find vegan food. however the newsroom cafe on robertson is an extremely vegan-friendly eatery that’s often overlooked. they’ve a huge menu of healthy-style options, a full juice bar, hearty breakfasts, baked goods, desserts….even beer, wine and fresh-fruit-filled cocktails.

i used to frequent the newsroom often a couple years ago, though i always found it a bit trendy and over-crowded with ‘celebrity’ clientele and health-nut yuppie types. fortunately and unfortunately, the place was smacked with a C rating from the health department a year ago, and business has slowed down a bit. while at first i was horrified about the low grade, i later found it was due to meat refrigeration temperatures and i talked myself into thinking, “fuckit, i’ll still eat there. serves those carnivores right! meat’s murder after all.” so now after a long break, i have finally returned to the newsroom, which is much emptier than i remember it, but the food is still bloody spectacular.

Monja's Tofu Scramble (no cheese): tofu scrambled with spinach, bits of broken vegan sausage and caramelized oninos with ciabatta toast. $11.25

today with my husband, i visited the newsroom after a very long break and i went with something i’d never ordered before—monja’s tofu scramble with no cheese. when my food arrived, the huge plate was loaded up with well-seasoned scramble, thick soy sausage bits, sauteed spinach, caramelized onions, and more crispy breakfast potatoes than i could ever eat. albeit a tad expensive, this dish was a serious food score…i highly recommend monja’s. plus, as a side it came with two ginormous slices of ciabatta bread that were so crispy i could barely eat them…in a good way. although it was a seemingly boring tofu scramble, monja’s managed to be a completely unique and refreshing take on vegan breakfast. here here.

my husband stuck with the good ‘ole spicy tofu cancun, which i’ve blogged about before, but was every bit as excellent this time around.

spicy tofu cancun: spicy tofu scrambled with salsa chipotle, baked corn tortilla rajas, tomatillo salsa and salsa quemada w/whole wheat tortilla. $10.50

i used to eat the tofu cancun at the newsroom at least twice a week back in the day, and when i tried it this morning, it tasted better than ever. something about the steaming chunks of seasoned tofu all mixed in with softly cooked tortilla chips, then slathered in hot sauce…where can you go wrong? definitely give this thing a whirl; i’d say it’s up there with the best breakfasts in los angeles.

so at the end of the day: i know i have condemned the newsroom for having a low health score before, but i cannot lie…their food is brilliant. go load up on a huge vegan breakfast with fresh juice and a few animal-free sides next time you get the chance. it will cost you, but it’s definitely worth it. and if you are looking for a cheaper alternative, hit up the sister-location interim cafe in santa monica…the menu is almost the same, except even more vegan friendly and less expensive.

oh also, let’s take a moment to look at the silver lining. the newsroom used to be filled to the brim with total d-bags. now that they have had health department dramz, the place is mellow and much more enjoyable. since the issues were eventually about the meat storing systems, i think i can look at the dramz as their loss and my gain. let’s go enjoy the newsroom before it gets full of yuppie cuntz again.

newsroom cafe
120 N Robertson Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90048

i have been anticipating the release of daiya vegan cheese ever since the product made a splash at the natural products expo back in march. local vegan blogger jennshaggy was lucky enough to go, and she couldn’t stop raving about how wonderful/tasty/stretchy/perfect this new vegan cheese was. imagine how stoked i was to see daiya vegan cheese shreds for sale on pangea at just $5.49 per bag!

grilled cheese sandwich with daiya vegan cheese!

i ordered some up, invited over some friends, and put daiya vegan cheese to the test. i provided the cheddar flavor, fellow blogger vegyogini was kind enough to provide the mozzarella, and vegan blogger foodeater was also on hand to do some, well, foodeatin’! as you can see from the picture of the grilled cheese sandwich above, people are not lying when they say daiya stretches and melts. the cheddar cheese flavor was so FUCKING FANTASTIC…i shit you not, it actually tastes like cheese. did you hear that?!?!?! we have a vegan product that MELTS and STRETCHES and TASTES like actual CHEESE. is this a dream? everyone present agreed that this stuff was insane; we would send it back if we ever got this at a restaurant, it tasted too damn real. that’s all i gotta say. it tasted like cheese. what more description do you want?

pizza with daiya vegan cheese

we also tested out the vegan mozzarella shreds, which were great…but not quite as good as the cheddar. as you can see from the picture above, the daiya got kinda oily and the shape of the little shreds stayed intact. i’m actually beginning to think that the problem with the mozzarella is the way it was shredded. i am convinced this mozz would be damn near perfect if it was shred a little thicker.

the mozzarella still melted though, unlike a lot of vegan cheeses, and the texture was pretty convincing. i am gonna order it again for sure, and maybe make a mozzarella/cheddar grilled cheese combo. for more daiya bloggage, check out vegyogini’s two posts.

i can’t wait for daiya to be readily available. seriously, the vegan world is about to get flipped upside down. for now you can only order the stuff at pangea, but hopefully other places will have it soon as well. my advice is to buy more than one bag, unless you don’t mind paying shipping fees that cost 3x as much as the product. yikes. i suggest you get together with some friends and order a ton of it to save money.

DAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIYA. that shit melts.

in the mood for a huge, hearty, warm, melty, fake-meaty vegan sandwich for under $10? look no further than chango coffee house in echo park. the hipster cofee shop/art gallery is located at echo park avenue and delta street, a spot that locals have dubbed “chicken corner,” and has recently added two unbelievably tasty vegan sandwiches to their menu. i had the chance to try both over the weekend, steak & cheese as well as chicken pesto, and each one brought a kind of sandwich satisfaction that isn’t available anywhere else in town.

vegan steak and cheese sandwich. $7.50

the vegan steak and cheese sandwich is basically a vegan version of your typical “philly cheesesteak,” with thick soy steak strips and dairy-free mozzarella, along with sauteed onions and mushrooms. chango toasted the sandwich when i ordered it, so the bread was warm and crispy and the soy cheese was perfectly melty. for the steak chango uses gardein, and for the cheese they use teese from chicago soy dairy…each being the best replacement out there for its animal-product counterpart. i can tell you, this steak and cheese sandwich was so amazing, even a meat-eater would fall in love with it. not since doomie’s or the vegan spot (both are closed down now) have i had such a great vegan sandwich.

vegan chicken pesto salad panini. $7.50

the vegan chicken pesto sandwich was equally impressive, with thick chunks of gardein protein, creamy cheese-less pesto sauce, fresh basil, crisp lettuce and juicy tomatoes. the pesto was really garlicky, just the way i like it, and the bread heated up to be perfectly toasty and crunchy. where else can you buy a big chunky chicken pesto sandwich that’s vegan in los angeles?!? …that’s right. nowhere.

the thing i love about chango’s new sandwiches, are they are unlike the normal “vegan” sandwich options you can get just about anywhere. rather than just some grilled vegetables and maybe tofu on a bread roll, chango take its vegan sandwiches to the next level with fake meats, soy cheeses, and incredible homemade pesto sauce. plus, they are really well prepared, perfectly assembled with just the right amount of ingredients, and toasted to absolute perfection. you aren’t gonna get any other sandwich this good for well under 10 dollars, i guarantee you.

the atmosphere is also great at chango, it reminds me of a hip seattle coffee shop with its bohemian customers, shelves full of books to peruse, and bright art adorning the wall. seriously, it’s the perfect place to sit back and relax with a cup of caffeine and a huge vegan sandwich. get your ass over to chango asap and see what this food is all about. the vegan items are listed right now on the “specials” chalkboard to the left of the counter, not on the main board.

chango coffee house
1559 Echo Park Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90026

it was a super eco-friendly day in los angeles as hippies, vegans and all around earth lovers gathered to partake in worldfest, “a solar-powered celebration of music, the environment, animals and humanity.” basically a big grassy field in the valley was fenced off and people were charged 7 bucks (+ $5 for parking) to hear to jam bands, listen to animal activist speakers, and have the opportunity to purchase a wide variety of all vegan food and alcohol. i went for a couple hours today and didn’t spend much time with the speakers or the music…i did get my fill of food though, and that’s what i’m here to tell ya about.

wordfest vegan corn dog. $3.50

between the two of us, my husband and i murdered a lot of vegan goodies. one of my favorites was a corn dog offered up by a stand selling field roast sausages, tofurky links, curly fries and vegan burgers. the corn dog was a standard veggie dog turned spectacular with corn batter and a deep fryer. this was nothing like your out-of-the-freezer family meal corn dogs…this thing was just like the old school hot dog on a stick meals i used to get at my local mall. the batter formed a crispy and almost burnt layer on the outside which surrounded fluffy moist corn bread and finally a plump and juicy soy dog. this totally brought back childhood memories.

we also tried the vegan chicken curry from the bodhi tree stand, which was excellent. the bodhi tree is a vegetarian restaurant located in huntington beach, and after eating their curry, i know i will be making a trip there very soon. the sauce was sweet with a perfectly subtle spiciness, and the soy meat was thick and juicy. all the vegetables were fresh and well-prepared as well, and they had so many other appetizing dishes i didn’t even get to try.

bodhi tree vegan curry chicken. $7

the chicken sandwich from follow your heart was another high point of the festival—at only 5 bucks it was a total steal, considering it was huge and came with a side of greens and potato salad. we interrogated the booth about the ingredients in the bun (normal follow your heart buns contain honey), and they ensured us that not only were these special vegan buns ordered just for worldfest, but that their restaurant buns may soon no longer contain honey either! (we will try to keep you posted on that.) aside from the bun, the sandwich was awesome and extremely well priced. the bbq sauce was mild and tangy, not overwhelmingly sweet, and the slices of soy meat were thick and hearty. the potato salad was on point as well: soft and creamy yet not too full of vegenaise. total perfection.

follow your heart vegan chicken bbq sandwich with potato salad. $5

for dessert, we rounded off the feasting with some maggie mudd ice cream all the way from san francisco. they offered a whopping bowl filled up with ice cream, chocolate sauce, nuts, sprinkles and whipped cream (ALL VEGAN) for just $7. it came with the choice of three flavors, but i stuck to two: memphis mudd pie (coffee flavor with chocolate cookies, fudge swirl and whiskey) and tarmack (chocolate peanut butter flavor with chocolate cookies and peanut butter swirl). the ice cream itself was extremely decadent, and it came with the most amazing toppings….this has to be the best old-fashioned dessert i’ve had since i was a child. no vegan ice cream has anything on maggie mudd; this stuff was so good, i’m considering a move to SF.

big bowl: tarmack and memphis mudd ice cream topped with whipped cream, nuts, chocolate sauce and sprinkles

to top it all off, worldfest had a bad ass beer garden serving up $5 pints of lagunitas ipa and $10 bottles of double ipa. that made coachella’s beer garden look like a total shithole. i’m telling you, this beer was off the chain. not only was it well priced, this stuff was hoppy and flavorful as hell…i’d be stoked to get brew this good in a bar, so imagine how thrilled i was to drink it at a sweaty festival in the valley.

lagunitas double ipa

although i did try a lot of great stuff at worldfest this year, i can only eat so much…so naturally i missed out on tons of vendors. i wanna give some shout outs to places that looked delicious, yet i was way too stuffed to try. to name a few: luscious organic desserts, c’est la v bakeshop, friedel caribbean cuisine and sunpower cafe. the frankenstand was also supposed to make an appearance, but to everyone’s dismay, ended up cancelling. basically what i am trying to say is, even with all the ridiculously tasty vegan food i got to eat today, it was still just the tip of the iceberg. worldfest is apparently THE PLACE to get your vegan eats on—i’m talking several entirely animal-free stands with stuff ranging from salads, to burgers, to fried foods, to desserts including ice cream, cookies, funnel cakes, and cobbler.

word to the wise: save up for worldfest 2010. the amazing food will make all the bitchy fees and unhealthy calories worth it. i’ve never seen so much food i can eat in one place, it made me feel like an omnivore…in a good way!

i gotta take a minute to tell y’all that the best sandwiches i’ve ever eaten were from ike’s place in san francisco. the hole-in-the-wall sandwich shop is located in the castro area of SF and offers a huge menu of specialty sandwiches, most of which can be ordered vegan with mock meats and soy cheese. i tried out ike’s place with my husband on a recent trip up north and we couldn’t believe how fucking amazing our sandwiches were.

vegan eli manning: vegan turkey, garlic and herb sauce, mushrooms, avocado, soy cheese. $9.99

we ordered 2 massive sandwiches and split them, and both were so damn good i couldn’t even decide on a favorite. the vegan eli manning (pictured above) was stacked with vegan turkey, garlic sauce, mushrooms, and soy cheese. i can see why it was the most expensive vegan sandwich on the menu, the thing was so damn hearty. my friend melisser of the urban housewife who suggested we check out ike’s in the first place, implored us to order the vegan backstabber (pictured below) which turned out to be an excellent sandwich as well. the thing that made the backstabber were the marinated artichoke hearts all mixed in with the garlic sauce, un-bloody-believable. we loved it.

vegan backstabber: vegan turkey, marinated artichoke hearts, garlic and herb sauce, soy cheese. $8.98

if you are ever in san francisco looking for a great vegan sandwich, seriously look no further than ike’s place. i don’t even know what makes the sandwiches so exceptional. maybe it’s the fresh ingredients, or the soft bread, or the amazing “dirty sauce” that comes on each one. no matter what the secret ingredient is, all i can say is that ike’s place serves up the best damn sandwiches i’ve ever had. oh, and did i mention the staff are ridiculously friendly and sing along to beatles songs while they make your sandwich? i love this place. i’ve heard ike’s gets crazy on weekdays, so call and order your sandwich in advance if you don’t like lines!

ike’s place
3506 16th St
(between Prosper St & Sanchez St)
San Francisco, CA 94114
(415) 553-6888

hey los angeles vegans, i have some pretty exciting news for you! on thursday may 14th at noon, jennshaggy of vegan twinkie fame will be selling some of her beloved treats as well as a slew of other no whey baked goods in hollywood to benefit various animal charities. since jenn has retired from baking officially, and her goods are no longer available, i highly suggest you get out to hollywood tomorrow and pick up as many twinkies and cookies as you can carry!

here are all the important details:
what: no whey vegan bake sale for charity
when: thursday may 14th, noon until sold out
where: 7200 Melrose Ave Los Angeles, CA 90046 (outside the fratelli cafe near melrose and formosa)
baked goods: twinkies, pinwheel cookies, sugar cookies, snickerdoodles, cakes, and fudge
price: everything will be between $2-$4

if you have ever tried no whey twinkies, you know how bad ass they are. don’t miss this rare opportunity, these baked goods are no longer available!

also try the pinwheel cookies, they are my personal favorite.

i don’t know what you have planned for your lunch break on thursday, but whatever it is, drop it and get down to this bake sale at noon! see you there!

[googleMap name=”vegan bake sale with no whey twinkies!” description=”outside fratelli cafe at melrose and formosa”]7200 Melrose Ave Los Angeles, CA 90046[/googleMap]

Everybody in America knows Buca Di Beppo… The down-market chain of pseudo Italian-American diners with ebullient servers and over-the-top Italianate décor has won its place in the hearts and minds of many cities – 90 locations, to be exact.

The very first Buca di Beppo I visited was in Seattle. My mother (a fluent Italian speaker who lived in Italy for many years) was quite enchanted by the place. She pointed out pictures of Frank Sinatra, The Pope, Sophia Loren (who bears an uncanny likeness to my mother in the 60s…. Not now, though, for sure) and was overjoyed to be greeted by an Italian-speaker who led us to our table via the kitchen, then handed us our menus. My mother, who LOVES to speak Italian (given the most minute opportunity) immediately engaged with our server in his supposed native tongue. He became a little flustered right away, and I realized after a few back-and-forths that they had began to speak in SPANISH (yeah, my mother is also fluent in that). It turned out that Giuseppe from Napoli was actually Marco, from El Salvador. A very pleasant medical undergrad from UW who had grown his moustache out to look “more Italian”.

Yes, like Marco, every single thing about Buca di Beppo is completely, 100% and absolutely not what it appears to be. From plastic statues to Plexiglas windows to bulk wine served in a fancy bottle – the farcical nature of the place cannot be under (or over) estimated. The menu is rather diverse – everything from “garlic olive oil bread” to “seafood pasta”, so a splendid time should be guaranteed for all.

I ended up at the Universal City Walk outlet a couple of weeks ago with some rather drunk omni friends. I’d researched all the restaurants in advance, and Buca di Beppo was the only one to have several websites glorifying their vegan options, with pasted emails from the management as proof (not to mention the blessing of a trusted iPhone application). So, it was with grand aplomb that we showed up there, rather inebriated, around 10pm on a Sunday night.

I had my entire meal planned out – I was going to get a couple of orders of “Garlic Bread” (without cheese), which is allegedly entirely vegan – bread with no milk or egg additives, olive oil and fresh garlic. The dudes I was with got various horrific and non-vegan dishes, but I must admit the garlic bread was pretty good. Not as good as the old-style bread they used to do (which came in a round cake pan) but still very tasty.

Continuing the olive oil theme, I was craving for green vegetables, so “Green Beans” sounded amazing. And, indeed they were. Crunchy on the outside, smooth as silk on the inside they alone would have been a very nice entrée. BUT, neither of those offerings are particularly “Italian”, so I also ordered the “Spaghetti Marinara” which was completely, 100% predictably boring but nevertheless filled a gap.

spaghetti with marinara $9.99, green beans $5.99, garlic bread with no cheese $7.99

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loving hut is the fastest growing international vegan chain restaurant, and they recently opened up a location near los angeles in alhambra. i checked it out over the weekend with my husband and we were both blown away by the excellence of the food, the size of the portions, and the friendliness of the staff. the best i can describe loving hut’s cuisine is as asian-inspired fast food with lots of fried selections, burgers, burritos and sandwiches as well as vegetable stir frys, spring rolls and noodle bowls. the place is very affordable and everything we tried was super tasty.

golden nuggets: deep fried breaded soy protein. $5.95

we started with the golden nuggets, which were basically huge chunks of seitan coated in bread crumbs and fried. they weren’t overly oily, and the coating was surprisingly light. the seitan was extra thick and wheat-meaty, and i gotta say these were quite possibly the best vegan nuggets i’ve ever had. they didn’t mess around with that fake “chicken” taste that most nuggets do, these just had a really excellent seitan flavor. not to mention the tangy mayo-style dipping sauce they came with, which was incredible!

aulac special salad: shredded cabbage with soy chicken tossed with mint and special sauce. $6.95

my husband ordered the aulac special salad, which was a massive mound of cabbage covered in mock meat strips. the chickeny strips were delicious, and the shredded cabbage was crisp and fresh. definitely a win if you are looking for a really satisfying, yet healthy salad.

teriyaki sub: grilled sauteed soy protein on a sandwich. $6.95

i ordered the teriyaki sub, a sandwich roll covered in vegan mayo and piled high with grilled soy meat, onions and tomatoes. this thing was so tasty—the fake steak was thick, juicy, and cooked in the most delicious teriyaki sauce. what a fucking great sandwich.

the food isn’t the only good thing about loving hut; the service is quick and attentive, there is ample parking, the restaurant is clean and spacious, and everything is very well-priced. we had such a pleasant experience there, i know i would be a regular if i lived in alhambra.

one last thing. apparently, loving hut is affiliated with the “supreme master”, and i’m not even sure exactly what that means, but it has stirred up quite the conversation. they did have supreme master television playing in the restaurant, which is basically a non-stop stream of cheezily produced pro-vegan programming. while some people accuse the organization of being “cultish”, it seemed harmless enough to me, and loving hut served up damn good vegan food, so i don’t really care about any of that other noise.

go check out loving hut asap. there are tons of locations, so hopefully you live close enough to one to make the trip. and get the golden nuggets!

Loving Hut
621 W. Main St.
Alhambra, CA 91801
Tel: 1-626-289-2684
Fax: 1-775-628-8037
Open Tue – Sun (11:00 am – 9:00 pm)

UPDATE #3: mendocino farms has gone out of their way to take the non-vegan items off the menu, and start offering an absolutely vegan shwarma. i ate it today and it was delicious. mendocino farms really handled this situation well, and fixed everything the very day they were notified that they were using non-vegan ingredients. i highly suggest you get over to mendocino and get the shwarma before may is over! (orignial updates and post below)

UPDATE #2: apparently mendocino farms has a replacement for the soy cutlet and will be making a new vegan shwarma starting today. from the store manager:

I just spoke with Chef Judy and she told me that we will no longer be
using the soycutlet effective today.
For the vegan shwarma, she has made a vegan fallafel in house that is
definitely vegan. So that will remain our secret sandwich of the month.
Thanks again for your feedback and please let me know if you have any
other questions.
All the Best,
Lenny

this guy really seems to care, so the non-vegan ingredients could have been an honest mistake. they seem to have fixed it, so go eat that shwarma! just make sure you confirm it’s falafel in there, and not eggy soy cutlets! (orginal update and post below)

UPDATE: the “vegan” shwarma at this place isn’t vegan at all! one of our readers who goes by “jaydawg” went to mendocino today, and left the following comment:

WARNING: THIS SANDWICH IS NOT VEGAN!!!!!
Okay, so I went to Mendocino Farms today specifically to try the Vegan Shawarma. I hate the be the bearer of bad news, but sadly this is NOT VEGAN!!!. When we got there, my wife asked what were the most popular vegan dishes and they suggested the Not BLT Melt and Ron’s Vegan Baked Soy Cutlet Club, as well as the Spicy Soyrizo and Black Bean Wrap and the “Secret” Vegan Shawarma. She asked what type of bacon they use for the BLT and they told us it was Morningstar Farms. I thanked them and informed them that most Morningstar products use egg whites and/or dairy. We decided to order two of the Vegan Shawarmas, but didn’t think to ask about the “shawarma” that they used. About halfway through the devouring process (all things considered, it is still an amazing wrap), I began to wonder if the “shawarma (which appeared to be a breaded cutlet) was in fact vegan. When I was done, I went back and confirmed that the “shawarma” was the same “herbed breaded vegan cutlet” that they use in the Ron’s Vegan Baked Soy Cutlet Club. I asked what brand they use and they again told me Morningstar. I asked to see the ingredients label and they were kind enough to bring me the box….and there it was in black and white: nonfat dry milk and egg whites (http://www.morningstarfarms.com/product_detail.aspx?family=365&id=12353). I showed the young lady that this was definitely NOT vegan and she looked absolutely bewildered. She circled the offending ingredients and assured me that she would speak with their chef.

That totally sucks, because other than the fact that it’s not vegan, the (non) Vegan Shawarma is one bad-ass wrap…on par with the Buffalo Chicken Wrap at Cafe Muse and the Baja Burrito at Pure Luck. It’s a sad day.

after following up with mendocino about their NON-VEGAN sandwich being advertised as vegan, i received this email:

We do apologize about the soy cutlet issue. The other brand we were sourcing discontinued their product. They have been selling this soy cutlet from morningstar to us as a substitution for our “vegan” option. Unfortunately your friend is correct and our soy cutlet does have egg white in it. Which doesn’t make it vegan at all. We have addressed this issue and will be taking it off the menu.
We are working on more vegan options but for now you should stick to the soyrizo which is always a winner.

Thank you very much,
Lenny Fejeran
Store Manager
213.620.1114

looks like for now, you can’t trust mendocino farms. they have “vegan” options on their menu, that are clearly NOT vegan. i’d steer clear until they do their research. it’s really sad, because the shwarma was great…and not even because of the fake meat, but because of the vegetables and the dressing. original post below. if you do decide to eat at mendocino, make sure you know exactly what you are ordering.

usually when i visit downtown los angeles on a weekday, it’s for a pretty un-fun reason, but i manage to take advantage of the unique cuisine that city has to offer. well today was no different, so when i found myself having to travel to the grand/wilshire area, i naturally rewarded myself by grabbing a sandwich from mendocino farms. i’ve written about mendocino farms before, and the very vegan-friendly and uber-high-quality to-go shop is high on my list of places to eat in that area. however today was different…today mendocino farms was beyond exceptional. today they sold me without a doubt the best fucking sandwich i’ve ever had…and i really like sandwiches!

vegan shwarma: mediterranean soy shwarma with merquez lentil and white bean puree, vegan tzatziki, red onions, tomatoes, cucumbers and shredded romaine on grilled tortilla wrap $9.25

turns out i caught mendocino at an extremely lucky moment, because right now during may of 2009, they are offering the vegan shwarma as their “secret sandwich of the month.” you see, mendocino is such a cool fun-loving place that they rotate secret sandwiches for the hell of it, and you can only find out about the secret sandwich by visiting the shop or subscribing to their email newsletter.

it was LAist.com’s blog post about the amazing vegan shwarma that first alerted me to mendocino farms, which was followed by much praise for the sandwich by my fellow los angeles vegan bloggers jennshaggy and foodeater. however, the shwarma being a rotating secret sandwich, i thought i may never get the chance to try it. well i sure as fuck lucked out, my loyal readers, because today the coveted shwarma was in the house and i got to finally eat what i have often heard so many others rave about.

all i can say is that the shwarma surpassed all the glowing reviews in pure awesomeness and seriously cemented itself in my mind as the sandwich of my dreams. the soy meat was juicy and succulent, the bean puree was thick and substantial, and the tzatziki was ridiculously creamy and oozing with dill and lemon flavors. all these fine ingredients were mixed in with the freshest vegetables and sandwiched in a perfectly-grilled tortilla wrap. SERIOUSLY DUDE. THIS IS THE BEST FUCKING SANDWICH IN THE WORLD. it is a CRIME that this will be gone next month, and it is a CRIME that mendocino is only open on weekdays. ugh!

Read the rest of this entry »

Let me set the stage. One of my most critical and trusted vendors (whom my company spends a lot of dollarz with every month) invited us out for a “nice dinner in West Hollywood” with him and his wife. After I suggested a few low-end vegan-friendly places, it was clear that he wanted to take us somewhere “much nicer”. Randomly, I suggested Real Food Daily, and he said “My wife went to the one in Santa Monica and really enjoyed it. I’d love to go there!”. So, it was with much delight that we met up for dinner.

From the minute we were seated, it was clear that we were unwelcome. Each time our server approached the table she just began to ask her questions with NO preamble, loudly interrupting our conversation in such a rude way. She clearly wanted to turn the table as fast as possible, and rushed us through the ordering (clearly, we were not all ready to order). Rather than go away and come back she stood by our table looking fed up while we all placed our orders. We started with some nachos – which were pretty tasty and arrived within about 2 minutes of us ordering them (probably because they were a pre-made popular item in the kitchen).

About 5 minutes after the nachos arrived, two servers showed up with our food, and started shoving it down in front of us, moving our nacho plates out of the way or (in my case) removing it entirely, even though I was mid-bite. One guest at the table grabbed her nacho plate and was left holding it with nowhere to set it down after the entrée plates were delivered to the tiny four-top.

TV Dinner: Tempeh vegetable loaf, mashed potatoes, gravy, vegetables. $13.95

While the food was “OK”, it was VERY bland. There’s not one distinctive taste in any of it, and my choice (the TV dinner) I could prepare at home for a lot less than $14. During the brief time we spent there, our server never had eye contact with us once, the environment was so unpleasant that we could not wait to leave and the food so overpriced (with necessary “extras” costing $3 or more ON TOP OF entrées that were pushing fifteen bucks. One exception was the “Taco the Town” tacos, which got rave reviews.

Tac-o' the Town: Seasoned seitan with onions, peppers, guacamole, pico de gallo, tofu sour cream, Spanish rice, black beans. $14.25

To my utter embarrassment, the person that invited us there, and paid for the meal had only a couple of bites of his food. I asked him if everything was OK, and he said “well, it seems to be all bell peppers and rice – not very good at all”.

I’ve always disliked RFD, even after giving it many, many chances to succeed for me. There are no positives in my mind, but plenty of negatives: Rude staff, indifferent service, expensive and useless valet service, expensive and bland food, cramped tables crammed together, pre-made food that arrives WAY too quickly for it to be freshly prepared, an atmosphere of omnivores “trying” vegan food with vegan/trendy/vegetarian friends and a general shitty vibe about the entire place.

I was terribly embarrassed that I suggested RFD as a dinner location for somebody generous enough to invite us out, and drive all the way from Santa Monica with his wife to spend time with us. I HATE RFD, and I will NEVER go back, EVER. Fuck their brunch, screw their servers that rudely interrupt conversation and damn to hell the fucking valet that left me standing there for 10 minutes in awkward conversation.

Real Food Daily
414 N La Cienega Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90048
(310) 289-9910

It’s been a rip-roaring week in the no-holds-barred quarrums! From Paul McCartney debates to vigilante undercover investigations of vegan dating sites it’s all there. Here are some highlights:

Vegan Pizza Photos. The world is going nuts for vegan pizza. If we didn’t execute tissue samples on the posters of every picture here, we’d be concerned that some of these amazing pizzas might not be vegan!

vegan teese pizza posted by quarrygirl. check out the forums for pix from other users.

Vegan Thai Food Boycott? The world is also going nuts for vegan Thai food. Read about how little of this cuisine really is vegan, and the paces to frequent as well as avoid.

What did you cook today? Tons of great pictures from nutso vegans that cooked food at home.

Share your stories about perceptions others have about you being vegan. Funny observations from others here.

The undercover vegan dating site. Member jvedman went out on a limb to investigate eligible vegans in Atlanta. Read all about out here.

Finally – if you’re on Twitter, check out this topic as it’s full of cool vegan cats to follow.

Are the forums missing anything that you think people should be talking about? If so, feel free to go in and add a topic. The more the merrier!

Happy weekend!

up north in san francisco and berkely, there’s an entirely vegan restaurant with three locations called herbivore. one glance at their menu makes herbivore look like heaven—they’ve got tons of brunch selections, a 2 page lunch and dinner menu with several types of cuisine, loads of desserts, and even tap beer. it would seriously take me months of eating there regularly to try everything, and it all sounds delicious.

i have been to herbivore and blogged about it a couple times in the past for both breakfast and lunch, and thoroughly enjoyed both of my meals. however, every single person i know who lives in SF thinks herbivore sucks balls. the word on the street, according to friends of mine who live up there, is that the only decent things at herbivore are the shwarma and the brunch items. the pad thai is supposedly noodles with a load of peanut butter dumped on them, and the fake meats are store-bought packages from white wave. so i took her advice on my recent visit and stuck to the brunch.

sausage biscuit: with house potatoes, mushroom gravy and avocado-tomato salad. $8.25

i ordered the sausage biscuit, which tasted amazingly like the “sausage rolls” from london i fell in love with at beetroot. the flaky pastry was filled with chunky soy meat…i wish i could find more stuff like this at los angeles vegan restaurants. the breakfast potatoes were just superb as well—slightly burnt and a tad oily with tasty seasoning. my only complaint about this dish is that the sausage biscuit was a bit small (especially for 8 bucks), and it came with a salad which is a bit odd at breakfast-time. whateves, i was overall pretty happy with it.

mudslide ice cream from maggie mudd. $4.75

since i didn’t make it to maggie mudd on my trip, i decided to grab a scoop of their ice cream which is sold at herbivore. it was a bit of a ripoff at $4.75 (i come from the land of huge portions of scoops for 2 bucks), but i gotta say it was damn good. the mudslide flavor was super chunky and the ice cream was really thick and dense. i can’t wait until the day i can visit maggie mudd and go wild with a slap up sundae. this ice cream deserves to be done right! still, i’ll take what i can get, and herbivore’s serving hit the spot.

so overall my experiences at herbivore have been pretty good, although i haven’t ordered any of the “sucky” menu items. i will continue to stick to the brunch offerings when i visit there, and of course the amazing shwarma, which rocks my world.