• September 12th, 2011quarrygirlfatty's & co, LA restaurants

    this is such great news! fatty’s, one of our favorite vegetarian restaurants in LA, is officially re-opening thursday evening after a 9 month hiatus. we are so freaking stoked. the restaurant sent us sneak peek of their new menu, which we’ve posted below, and it includes many of our old favorite dishes as well as loads of new vegan options. in fact, fatty’s has shifted its focus from being a vegetarian restaurant with vegan options to having a mostly vegan menu with a few dairy options. how rad is that?!

    if you haven’t been to fatty’s yet, trust me: get over to eagle rock and treat yourself. it’s one of the very few nice/fancy/gourmet/classy joints to get a vegan meal in los angeles, and the food is positively stunning.

    paella: Trumpet, oyster and shitaki mushrooms, wild rice, corn, hearts of palm, heirloom tomatoes, olives and sweet peas with saffron. $18

    official word from fatty’s and a peek at the menu after the jump…

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  • August 16th, 2011quarrygirlfatty's & co, LA restaurants

    it looks like i’m a little bit late to the game on this one, but apparently there’s a weekend pop up event going down at the shuttered fatty’s in eagle rock for the rest of the month! “charlie puffer at fatty’s” takes place on friday, saturday, and sunday evenings through august and features fancy cuisine and wine pairings by chef jonathan harootunian.


    photo credit: charlie puffer’s posterous

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  • December 31st, 2010quarrygirlfatty's & co, LA restaurants

    nooOOOooOo! could this be true?! eat/drink/see eagle rock reports that today marks fatty & co.’s last day in business.

    we will miss the vegan chartreuse and all the other wonderful food at fatty's!

    we have been fans of fatty’s for quite awhile, and we even named the meatless restaurant as one of our top vegetarian picks in 2009, so we are devastated by this news. the cafe has been scaling back its hours for the past few months though, so i really can’t say we’re too surprised…

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  • Yesterday we brought you a list of the 5 best vegan restaurants in Los Angeles. But if a 100% vegan eatery isn’t on the cards for whatever reason, LA has a superb selection of vegan-friendly vegetarian restaurants, some of which rival or exceed the offerings available at vegan-only establishments. From a 60s-era hippie health-food store to a moderne hipster hangout, LA has it all. Check out our top five vegan-friendly vegetarian restaurants and please let us know in the comments if you think any don’t deserve the list, or you have a favorite that should be on it.

    Follow Your Heart

    Psychedelia. Woodstock. Topanga Canyon. Flower Power. Tie Dye. We have many things to thank the late 60s for, and Follow Your Heart is one of them. This amazing vegetarian oasis, established in 1970 in Canoga Park, has LA’s premier (= only) vegetarian grocery store with a TON of vegan products (some of which can’t be purchased anywhere else). Not only that, it has a cosy restaurant and patio where some of LA’s finest vegan food is waiting for you.

    Vegan Reuben at Follow Your Heart

    Vegan Reuben at Follow Your Heart

    Don’t miss the Reuben Sandwich (make sure you ask for extra 1,000 island dressing), as a human being has to try this out at least once in their life! There are many, many dishes with home made fake meats, and vegan entrees such as breakfast burritos, benedicts etc. Follow Your Heart does a SUPER job with the restaurant food and you pretty much can’t go wrong. If you’re averse to honey (hopefully you are, bees are cool), the buns have honey in them, so be sure to order your delicious burger on VEGAN bread.

    Fatty’s & Co

    Fatty’s is an interesting place. So overtly pretentious, yet with honest down-to-earth food items you can’t get anywhere else it’s a somewhat strange place to dine. If you walk in when the place is empty, the greeter will give you a hard time because you didn’t make a reservation, but when you’re seated in this pristine restaurant with cavernous ceilings you will be served some truly special food.

    Vegan Chartreuse at Fatty's & Co

    Vegan Chartreuse at Fatty's & Co

    After wading through a pretty dairy-heavy menu, there are some vegan wonders which await. Half the appetizers are vegan and run the gamut from bread and oil (very special, bread and oil, I might add) through blackened tempeh to more obscure things like “far east rolls” including non-meat chicken. This is a place with powerful entrees as well — get the vegan paella, ravioli, sloppy joe or chartruese for a throughly different and high quality experience. There are also some rare deserts, including a cotton candy that’s only available if a certain person is in the restaurant (Mrs. Dingle, I kid you not). Eat here when you really want to impress a date or experience vegan fine dining to the fullest.

    Flore Cafe

    Like a phoenix from the ashes, Flore Cafe rose from the amazing Vegan Spot, my favorite ever vegan restaurant. Despite a rocky existence (after the abrupt closing of Vegan Spot I firmly expected this place to be shuttered when I next visit), Flore Cafe has some great vegan food that’s served fast and of very high quality. Almost totally vegan except for a few egg and dairy items, Flore Cafe is unlikely to disappoint. Plus, they really raise the bar with their excellent “all you can eat deals”—from their regular Sunday $10 brunch, to their special event buffets—they give us several reasons to watch them closely.

    Tofu Scramble at Flore Cafe

    Tofu Scramble at Flore Cafe

    The tofu scramble (if you’re really lucky you’ll be eating that at one of the botomless Sunday brunches) is some of the best in town, along with the breakfast burritos, burgers and salads with seitan. Also, their fake tuna a.k.a. “tu-no” is awesome — especially when served on the tu-no melt. Like its sister restaurant Flore (located just 1/2 mile away), Flore Cafe offers organic meat-free menu with fresh ingredients and attention to detail, yet the restaurant is rarely crowded. Not the best place to dine in, but great for a quick snack or take-out feast.

    Cinnamon

    Californian-style Mexican food can be well prepared with vegetarian or vegan ingredients, and Cinnamon has perfected the art. Situated in a nondescript single-frontage store in Highland Park, Cinnamon has a warm, family atmosphere in common with all the best Mexican restaurants. Most times, the owner will be there to personally advise on her menu creations as well as supervise the kitchen. With a huge menu of high quality food items, you basically can’t go wrong.

    Chorizo and Tofu Tacos at Cinnamon Vegetarian

    Chorizo and Tofu Tacos at Cinnamon Vegetarian

    Although a vegetarian restaurant, pretty much anything can be veganized or is already vegan. Burritos, tacos, quesadillas, all the regular Californian-style Mexican food is well represented as well more authentic stuff such as tamales, mole and empanadas. You got your mock meats, spicy black beans, fresh and crunchy vegetables and the typical sauces — all optionally vegan. Cinnamon proves that great Mexican food can be made vegan.You can eat here with a clear conscience because you KNOW the rice has no chicken broth and the refried beans no lard. Check it out…. you really won’t be sorry.

    Paru’s Indian Vegetarian Restaurant

    While our friends at Cinnamon excel at vegetarian Mexican-style food, Paru’s knocks the ball out of the park with vegetarian Indian food. Since the 1970s, Parus has been quietly plugging away, serving some of the best Indian food this side of Brick Lane. With a strict policy on preparing vegan food separately in the kitchen, they are to be trusted with our veganocity. The place is a little foreboding upon arrival. It seems like you’re entering a bail bond office or brothel in a sketchy part of town (they buzz you in), but once past the reinforced door you’re in a private patio that leads to an intimate restaurant.

    Punjab Glory at Paru's Indian Vegetarian Restaurant

    Punjab Glory at Paru's Indian Vegetarian Restaurant

    All but a couple of the menu items are either vegan or can be prepared vegan, and the best bet is to get a few side orders with some rice and bread. It’ll cost you a lot less than the signature dishes, and is a great way to experience the variety of food Paru’s has to offer. Get the dosa (puffy bread that looks like a deflating balloon), bonda (fried potato balls) and one of the lentil dishes. Paru’s is a welcome break from our fake-meat-tofu world as they make everything by hand from vegetables and legumes. That’s a rare thing these days.

    Honorable mentions: Bulan Thai, The Spot, Nite Moon Cafe

    Tomorrow, we’ll be presenting the Top Five LA vegan-friendly omnivorous restaurants. Stay tuned!

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  • September 11th, 2009quarrygirlfatty's & co, LA restaurants

    fattys-chartreuse-cu

    fatty’s & co in eagle rock is a very special place. the small eatery focuses on fine gourmet-style meat-free cuisine with good wine, and an upscale atmosphere. you wouldn’t think eagle rock is the kind of place where you’d find a fancy vegetarian restaurant, but it is. granted, the menu at fatty’s is a little heavy on the dairy side, but the vegan dishes they do serve are nothing short of excellent.

    recently i dined at fatty’s and ordered the first vegan entree listed on the menu, the chartreuse. the description boasted that it was the “original dish of the Carthusian monks,” so i just had to give it a try.

    chartreuse: The original dish of the Carthusian monks using layers of braised spinach, carrots, beets and celery root, served here with herb crusted tofu fillets a la dijonnaise and mushroom velouté. $15

    chartreuse: The original dish of the Carthusian monks using layers of braised spinach, carrots, beets and celery root, served here with herb crusted tofu fillets a la dijonnaise and mushroom velouté. $15

    the dish reminded me of an even more delicious version of a red beet tartare, complete with braised spinach, beets and carrots sitting on a pond of tasty gravy. it was all topped off with two huge slices of crusted tofu, that tasted eerily close to battered and fried fish…but in a good way, not a gross way. although the dish was moderately-sized, it was extremely filling—there was so much flavor and richness packed into each bite. i assure you, monks never ate this well.

    with each entree ordered, you receive your choice of vegan soup or salad. i went with the salad, which turned out to be much more interesting than i expected. this was no green salad, mind you, but a clump of pureed jimaca mixed with other vegetables in a light sauce and garnished with blueberries and pine nuts. it was cool, crisp, and oh so refreshing.

    fattys-salad

    you end up paying a bit more at fatty’s, but the beautiful presentation and high-quality ingredients make up for it. it’s not often that vegans get to partake in a true fine dining experience, so i suggest you check this place out as soon as you can. just be sure to make reservations. fatty’s is packed during peak hours!

    fattys-ext

    fatty’s & co
    1627 Colorado Blvd.
    Eagle Rock, CA 90041
    323.254.8804

    Wednesday – Saturday 6pm – 10pm
    Sunday 5pm – 9pm
    Closed Mondays and Tuesdays

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  • April 17th, 2009quarrygirlfatty's & co, LA restaurants

    it’s no secret that i’ve been eating at vegan-friendly restaurants all over los angeles for quite some time. however, throughout the last several years of living here as a vegan, for some reason i never bothered to check out fatty’s in eagle rock. the all vegetarian restaurant on colorado boulevard has high prices, gourmet menu items that i can’t pronounce, strange opening hours, and a pretty dairy-heavy menu. for so long i just assumed the place wasn’t for me. BOY WAS I WRONG. i finally had the chance to check out fatty’s a few weeks ago and it rocked my my vegan socks off.

    my husband and i ended up at fatty’s on accident. we had an epic double-date dinner planned to attend shojin’s 1 year anniversary party with lex and kristin of vegan-la, which also coincided roughly with when they would be leaving los angeles to embark on backpacking trip around europe. turned out shojin was way too crowded to eat at (i’m talking line-out-the-door savage nightmare), so we headed out to fatty’s eagle rock for of the best vegan meals i’ve had in this town.

    fudgey: a two layer chocolate bundt cake with chocolate ganache, toasted coconut and pecan frosting with a creamy center. $8

    fudgey: a two layer chocolate bundt cake with chocolate ganache, toasted coconut and pecan frosting with a creamy center. $8

    just because it was so fucking scrumptious, lemme start by telling you about the fudgey. this was the dessert that lex and kristin ordered and were kind enough to share with us (had this been my cake, nobody else at the table woulda got even a bite of it!), and we all agreed it was delicious. the thing was big enough to feed a boatload of people and it came with layer after layer of sugary goodness. chocolate, coconut, and pecan creaminess made this one of the best sweet things i’ve ever encountered. dense and decadent, this cake could fool ANYONE who is addicted to eggs and milk. nothing about it tasted vegan. fudgey is the perfect name for this ridiculously fudgey dish.

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