-
a moveable feast brings underground vegan fine dining to los angeles
23June 29th, 2011vegan events
this is the moment i’ve been waiting for…finally, a vegan secret supper club in los angeles! “a moveable feast” is a limited seating, gourmet, underground dinner series created by kim garr of c’est la vegan/c’est la v bakeshop and alix bannon of cute and delicious/vegan bake sale that takes place once a month at a secret location. they implement a “pay what you want” policy, with the suggested amount being between $75-$125. for that you get a stunning 5 course meal along with a signature cocktail (non-alcoholic version available) in an intimate speakeasy setting. their next dinner, which will feature mediterranean cuisine, is scheduled for july 9th at 7pm somewhere in studio city. you can make reservations via email, but there are only 6 spaces available, so act fast!
i was lucky enough to attend the inaugural movable feast last month, and i can honestly say it was one of the finest meals i’ve ever eaten. six guests gathered around a long dining table, made friendly conversation, and enjoyed course after course of incredible vegan food for over three hours. here’s a look at what we ate. special thanks to little vegan planet…who took all the amazing photos in this post, except the one of the lemonade!
homemade lemonade, served alcoholic or non
upon arrival, guests were served a glass of homemade lemonade with or without alcohol. i ordered mine sans the booze, and it was absolutely lovely. cool and refreshing, perfect for a warm evening.
course #1: home baked bread served with mushroom lentil pate, vegan goat cheese and artichoke pesto
the theme of our meal was “spring italian,” and it was off to a great start with a 3-part appetizer. our first course was served family style and consisted of freshly baked bread with mushroom lentil pate, vegan goat cheese, and artichoke pesto.
everything was phenomenal—the nut-based goat cheese (pictured at the top of the post) is some of the finest vegan cheese i’ve ever tasted. the creamy pesto and chunky pate were superb as well, and nobody could get enough of the homemade bread.
honestly, this was like 3 appetizers for the price of one! course two was also fully loaded, as it came with both a cup of soup and a hearty bread-based salad.
course #2: roasted beet soup with spring panzanella salad (bread with artichoke puree, artichokes, peas, basil, arugula and radicchio)
the roasted beet soup was rich and flavorful, and the panzanella salad was truly unique. huge cubes of soft bread covered in artichoke puree all mixed up with chunky vegetables. the serving was huge as well—on a normal night, this could easily be an entire dinner for one. but this was no normal night, it was a feast by any definition. next up, course three!
course #3: homemade gnocci in a sage and "butter" sauce
this homemade gnocci is something i’ll remember forever. it was so soft and delicate, each bite instantly melted in my mouth. the vegan butter sauce was creamy but not overly heavy, and the sage added the perfect amount of flavor.
course #4: homemade seitan piccata with roasted broccolini
course four was a gorgeous plate of homemade seitan piccata and roasted broccolini. oh my god, so good. this seitan tasted like fine restaurant-quality stuff, i couldn’t believe it. it was massive as well, but i guess since we spent so much time eating and chatting between courses, every single person at the table finished it off. and of course, we had room for dessert.
course #5: olive oil lemon rosemary cake with strawberry ice cream
course five was another double course with a serving of olive oil lemon rosemary cake and homemade strawberry ice cream, and it was excellent. dessert isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when i think of olive oil and rosemary, but in this cake they worked perfectly. it was rich and moist, and paired so well with the ice cream. again, everyone at the table cleaned their plates.
if you enjoy gourmet vegan food and have a sense of adventure, i implore you to check out a movable feast. here are the details for their next event:
a moveable feast: mediterranean dinner
saturday july 9th at 7pm
at an undisclosed location in studio city
price is between $75-$125
and includes a 5 course meal with a signature cocktail
feel free to BYOB
email veganfeast@gmail.com for reservations
6 spots availablei can’t stress to you enough how lovely our meal was. we bonded with the other diners, drank wine, and indulged in crazy good food made by two awesome ladies. it really was the perfect night!
Tags: a movable feast, fancy, gourmet, supper club
21 responses to “a moveable feast brings underground vegan fine dining to los angeles” 
-
OMG. I must attend! I can’t on the 9th but I will aim for August.
-
Seriously? Thats a crime.
We’re doing 8 vegan courses that don’t look like shit and use whole food, not wheat gluten or tofu. And free-pouring good vegan wine. And a cocktail. . We charge $95.
-
Danica June 29th, 2011 at 10:20
GOOD GOD all this food looks amazing! I am going to try to talk my boyfriend into taking me here. Homemade gnocci? Yes please!
-
I’m confused. Are you trying to say this doesn’t look good or something? I want it all!
-
brett June 29th, 2011 at 10:27
Sounds interesting, but for $100 a plate I’d sure hope it’s “a feast.” Sounds a bit expensive for an underground club where the chef is not having to pay overhead and staff. Kind of goes against the idea of them and makes it more of an “exclusive” event for people who can throw down that kind of money for dinner.
Good to see another gourmet vegan option in LA though, now that the Madeleine ship has sailed (or hasn’t? who knows).
-
samil June 29th, 2011 at 10:58
I actually think $100 is good value for that meal – if it’s as good as QG is saying. Remember that the chefs certainly save on rent and other costs, but they are making very small amounts of food and therefore suffering reverse economies of scale.
If you think about it, there is probably a day of shopping and preparation (including testing the recipes to make sure they work) then another day of actual cooking plus clean up and the cost of food to offset the income.
So, let’s say 14 hours of time for two people = 28 hours. The raw ingredients probably cost about $250. With six seats at $100 that’s $600 gross, less $250 (food) = $350 left. Divide that by 28 hours and you’re left with $8.90 an hour for all that work – about the same as a cashier makes in a McDonald’s restaurant.
Also, you can BYO wine, saving a ton off the 300%+ markups that restaurants charge.
It really isn’t as expensive as it sounds.
-
I was so lucky to go to this dinner. It was sincerely one of the best meals of my life. I honestly never knew you could have better than restaurant quality food. And I mean the best restaurants.
All the food is made from scratch and you can really tell the difference. They’re only serving 6-8 people and making each plate and course super special. I know the price tag isn’t for everyone but this evening is designed for people who really want a super special dining experience.
Also the company on the first night was just as good as the food.
-
Drool…
This looks amazing. I can’t attend this month’s but hope to soon. Keep us posted–yum!
-
brett June 29th, 2011 at 13:42
@samil –
AFAIK this is not the regular job of the duo putting on this club. In fact, in general supper clubs (and certainly historically-speaking) were not about profit-making. They were about a group of locals getting together over great food, and all of the social pleasures which naturally come from that. If the duo IS trying to make this a for-profit business venture, then I’d have to raise an eyebrow.
Personally, I’d rather see a supper club hosted by different vegan chefs around town; sort of like the Collaboration beer gardens that have been going on in LA which are thrown by local bartender/brewers.
-
BRAVO!!! <3
(we're in the midst of a similar concept, but with latin flavors though, and it's just so exciting to see new FINE DINING vegan options in LA!!!)
GREAT JOB, KIM & ALIX!!!
-
Lastofthepirates June 29th, 2011 at 14:45
Should I feel guilty if I were to attend this one month and could only pay the minimum for my wife and I?
-
james June 29th, 2011 at 15:53
weird. seems a lot like going to a friends house for dinner except you have to pay 100 bux…. i dont get it.
-
That is so, so rad. The food all sounds perfect. I am so excited about this!
-
Ha! Mine was (and still is) 20 bux but I had more regular grocery in there
so normal people could afford it -
flurrybot June 29th, 2011 at 18:27
Hey Matt Kantor,
I might have checked out your Supper Club if you hadn’t said that this food looks like shit. Do you think your comment will attract customers to your eatery?
Have some style, man.
-
Wow, the food looks amazing. I’ve had baked treats from both of them so I’m sure the dinners are just as good.
-
Hi Matt Kantor. I checked out your website. It looks like there’s a lot of fish involved with your cooking.
I’m not super stoked on cooking that goes overboard on soy products either, but last I checked this was a blog of, by, and for vegans.
I get that you’re doing a vegan one-off in July, and that’s kind of cool. I guess vegan food is kinda hip right now, and if that mitigates the suffering of animals in the factory farming system, its a good thing.
But I don’t get what would motivate you to come onto the site of a blog in another country, and be so critical of folks who have RADICALLY different values, ideas, and relationships to food than you do.
I’m certainly not going onto Canadian meat blogs to criticize the way they saute asparagus.
-
I was also one of the lucky bunch at this dinner and can tell you it was OUTSTANDING. I literally cannot think of a meal I’ve had that was better than this one–there wasn’t a single “miss” in the whole spread. I have paid more for meals at XIV or Madeleine Bistro and the food was half as good. This was truly a unique dining experience and I cannot wait until the next one I get a chance to go to. This would make the perfect gift for your vegan boy/girlfriend. Ugh that rosemary cake and homemade ice cream…incredible!!!
2 Trackbacks / Pingbacks
-
[…] Just about a month ago, we threw our first dinner to see how everything would come together, to much success. You can read a full review, with all the details about our next event here over on Quarrygirl. […]
-
[…] next moveable feast is on august 13th! 0 July 22nd, 2011quarrygirlvegan events about a month ago we blogged about a moveable feast, a new underground gourmet vegan supper club in los angeles created by kim and […]
tizzle June 29th, 2011 at 09:41