don’t miss this! for a limited time, madeleine bistro is selling coupons to get $20 worth of food for ten bucks! the restaurant is now open on saturday and sunday evenings as well as sunday for brunch…and if you haven’t tried it yet, now’s your chance! we’re approaching the holiday season, which means they’re starting to roll out thanksgiving menu specials!

get your coupon here, and if you ever see the thanksgiving sandwich on the menu (herbed seitan, cranberry mayo, caramelized onions, gravy), ORDER IT!

after years of sticking it out in the valley, madeleine bistro (our favorite restaurant ever) is finally planning to expand over the hill and open a cafe in los angeles next month. according to them, it’s gonna be an all vegan ice cream, pastry, and sandwich shop in westside LA featuring many of the menu items from madeleine bistro as well as an array of handcrafted desserts and eventually booze! but before they open, they need to do a bit of fundraising, and they’re offering some pretty sweet prizes (pun intended!) to people who help them meet their goal.

they’re only accepting donations for ten days, so if you wanna get in on this, don’t stall. i’m usually pretty wary of online fundraising, but with this deal donors get something back in return—anything from free desserts to a party catered by chef dave. hmmmm…help a vegan restaurant open, and get a party catered by the country’s best vegan chef in the process? i may have to go out and make some actual friends so i can take advantage of this!

seriously though, read all about the project here and pitch in whatever you can. los angeles will be a much better place when this cafe is open.

as you probably know, the opening hours of madeleine bistro (what i consider to be the finest vegan restaurant on earth), have been pretty irregular. over the past year, they’ve shut down their weekday operation, gone on hiatus, switched around their weekend schedule, and everything in between. thankfully for us, it now appears as though they’ve settled into a normal routine of being open on saturday and sunday evenings for dinner, as well as brunch time on sunday from 10am – 3pm.

we checked them out for brunch last sunday at around 11am, and had a meal of epic proportions. i am constantly amazed by the insane food this restaurant is able to create—it’s truly next level vegan stuff like i’ve never tasted. the first thing i noticed when i opened the menu was the addition of a tempeh reuben. being obsessed with the sandwich (you may remember the reuben wars of ’09!), of course i had to order it.

tempeh reuben with choice of side. $12

phenomenal. madeleine bistro’s reuben is much more dainty and delicate than the giant reubens full of fake meat that i’m used to, and even more delicious. thin pieces of tempeh topped with homemade cheese, sauerkraut, and thousand island, served between two slices of grilled bread. it came with a choice of side, and i opted for the potato salad…

the best potato salad ever

hands down, best potato salad i’ve ever eaten. it consisted of red potatoes, chives, and celery in a light creamy sauce. my only complaint is that i wanted more.

chocolate covered donut. $2

i finished it all off with some vegan creme brulee (pictured at the top–OMG!) and a chocolate covered donut, another new (to me) addition to the menu. i have been a fan of madeleine bistro’s normal sugar coated donuts for years (they even made our bucket list!), and i think i liked this one even more. the cake was hot, fresh, and surprisingly light…while the chocolate was rich and melty.

we grabbed some photos of other madeleine dishes (all stuff we’ve blogged about before), but check them out anyway…

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if you read this blog regularly, you probably know that we are huge fans of the madeleine bistro meal delivery service, the bistro box. the menu changes from week to week, it’s available for pick up or delivery on mondays, and it always features an insanely delicious and wide variety of gourmet items. i’m talking several servings of restaurant quality cuisine, to be enjoyed in the comfort of your own home. well next week’s box will probably be the best one yet, because in addition to a stellar line up of classic madeleine bistro dishes, it will feature a dessert from one of our favorite vegan bakeries, clara’s cakes! (BTW, if you wanna catch a ride on the bistro box train next week, try to book by noon on friday/TOMORROW. that will guarantee you a seat, but they’ll be selling tickets until noon on sunday, or until they sell out.)

vegan gobs! vegan whoopie pies!

if you aren’t familiar with clara’s cakes, it’s an incredible los angeles-based bakery headed up by a 14 year old girl named clara. she may be young, but she bakes like a freakin’ pro, and her treats are something to behold. next week’s box will include a sweet from madeleine bistro as well as a bonus boston creme gob (or whoopie pie, whatever you wanna call them!) by clara. i have had these things and i promise you they are beyond yum—huge soft spongy cookies cushioning a generous blob of frosting…it’s what vegan dreams are made of.

the bistro box itself is bringing its a-game next week as well. highlights include QG favorites like chicken fried seitan, lemon rosemary seitan, mac n cheese, a scramble sandwich, the legendary red beet tartare and MUCH more.

chicken fried seitan, mashed potatoes, pan gravy. all in next week's box.

FULL MENU/prices/delivery radius/ordering instructions after the jump…

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there’s never a dull moment in the madeleine bistro saga!

last week we were mourning the closure of LA’s high brow vegan restaurant, and now just days later it appears as though they’re already planning an “encore weekend”.

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saturday was a big day. it was not only the mr.’s birthday, but it was supposed to be the day of the rapture (what a jip that turned out to be!), and most importantly it was the day before the closing of our favorite restaurant…madeleine bistro. of course we made it a point to eat there. after all, it may have been our last meal on the planet (what a way to go!), plus madeleine offered the kind of fancy food befitting of a birthday celebration, and we wanted to dine there one last time. now it’s all gone, and it pains me to write this post!

naturally we went nuts with appetizers, sides, entrees, and a double serving of dessert. i couldn’t move after the meal, but man, the deliciousness was so worth the pain of over-eating. though the restaurant is now closed, i thought i’d torture you with photos of our incredible last supper. everything was beyond epic, so i’ll just let the pictures do the talking…

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UPDATE 5/6/11: due to vegans going psycho, madeleine bistro has decided to move their closing day until may 22nd! take advantage, people. they are only open 3 days a week for 2 more weeks. make it count.

well, this is quite distressing. madeleine bistro, our favorite vegan restaurant in all the land, took to their facebook page at 3am to announce their closure. say it ain’t so!

in a note titled “madeleine bistro closing details”, they wrote…

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jesus would definitely come back from the dead to eat this food—the easter sunday menus at madeleine bistro are looking INSANE.

not just that…but the restaurant is offering discount pricing on their weekly meal service, the bistro box. check it out…

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it’s no secret that our favorite restaurant in los angeles is madeleine bistro. chef dave anderson continually creates what i consider to be the best cuisine known to man—from his signature gourmet tasting menus, to the deep fried comfort foods, to the epic and unbeatable sunday brunch. it’s all out of this world.

about ten months ago we blogged about the introduction of the bistro box, a service that brings a week’s worth of world famous vegan food to your door for a fixed price. i’m happy to report that almost a year later, the bistro box is still going strong and is even better than ever. we picked up a single (the smaller size) order on monday and have been absolutely thrilled with the quality and quantity of the selections. in fact, i’d highly recommend you get your order in for next week ASAP.

we didn’t meticulously plate and photograph everything as it should be served (like we did in our last post), but here’s a photo of the spread before we tore into it to give you an idea of the size:

one week's worth of single-serving bistro box: vegetable pot pie, biscuits, pene with tempeh bolognaise, italian-style veggies, pan-roasted caulifower, corn and leek tamales, black beans, spanish rice, grilled citrus seitan, celery root puree, black kale with garlic, grilled eggplant with caramelized onions and roasted garlic aioli, potato leek soup, bbq ranch chop salad, pickled vegetable salad, millet and quinoa pilaf, coleslaw, and chocolate mousse. $125

i can say without a doubt that the value of this box is incredible. the food is of the high quality you’d expect from a great restaurant like madeleine bistro, and it holds up in all kinds of re-heating situations. plus, the portions really are generous. even with two of us living in the QG household, i don’t know how we’ll possibly get through a single order in one week…

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it’s no secret that i’ve eaten vegan food from all over the world. from paris to london, manhattan to fort lauderdale, san francisco to los angeles—i’ve sampled the fine restaurants that numerous different cities have to offer. and after stuffing my face full of just about every type of vegan cuisine, one establishment continues to stand out as my absolute favorite: madeleine bistro.

earlier this week while most people were celebrating romance and valentine’s day (pffffft), i was celebrating nothing more than the fact that madeleine bistro was offering a seven course chef’s tasting menu. ever since experiencing the insanity of chef dave’s multi-course new year’s eve dinner just over a year ago, i have been dreaming of returning to madeleine bistro for another special holiday meal. i went there this valentine’s day with the absolute highest expectations, yet they were still somehow exceeded. i’m not exaggerating when i say that in my 26 years on the planet, this was the best meal i’ve had yet. just have a look…

lapsang souchong-cured portabella gravlax: house-made pretzel bagel, pine nut creme cheese, braised potato salad

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it should come as no surprise that the best vegan restaurant in los angeles, madeleine bistro, also has the best home delivery service: the bistro box. we have raved about the box before (trust me, it’s THAT good) but since then, madeleine bistro has made several changes to the service, and this week’s menu looks so amazing that i just had to share it with you guys.

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After four years of eating out on LA’s vegan restaurant scene, and in recognition of our “LA’s Top 5 Vegan Restaurants” post a year ago, we thought it would be good to update our “top list” of the establishments we, and the commenters on this esteemed blog, thought were really good. Do you agree with our list? Want to bump a mention off the list, or add your own? Please comment. Don’t be shy. We had to start somewhere.

Cruzer Pizza “from veal to vegan”

The story behind Cruzer Pizza is as amazing as the pizza itself. The popular Silverlake gourmet pizza delivery outlet one day threw all its mozarella, sausage, veal (yuk!) and pepperoni in the trash and began stocking Field Roast, Match Meats and Daiya cheese, becoming one of only three entirely vegan pizzerias in the United States. This was all thanks to awesome animal rights activist Michelle Sass who lobbied the owners, and personally took charge of the menu and food items creating pizza that vegans and onmivores alike would love.

The Quarrygirl Pizza at Cruzer

Cruzer even reached out to bloggers, magazines and the local community to create pizzas that they thought fellow vegans would like. And so, the quarrygirl.com pizza was born, because we love olive oil, shrooms and Field Roast. And so do you, right?

Flore Vegan

The fact that Flore was not on last year’s list is nothing short of a crime. Owner and chef Miranda Megill has been cooking up a vegan storm in the LA area for years from her Silverlake location on Sunset Blvd., and lately also through the ill-fated and now closed Vegan Spot, Flore Care and Meet Market (all the same location). The outlandishly creative Miranda is as picky with her ingredients as she is with the food preparation. She selects only the best organic produce, and is usually to be found supervising the kitchen hands-on to ensure that your meal is top-notch.

Club Sandwich at Flore Vegan

Also, everything is made from scratch including the succulent seitan and homemade desserts. Seriously, their flaky and “buttery” croissants are the best vegan pastries we’ve ever tried.

Stuff I Eat

We can’t keep away from this place, and we can’t keep raving about it. With an eclectic menu of options spanning the gamut from soul food through Mexican-inspired and down to earth, honest to goodness, American-style favorites, Stuff I Eat excels in every category. The staff are all so helpful, polite and caring that one feels grateful to be in their restaurant. The portions are HUGE, and the quality of every food item, from the way it looks to the way it tastes cannot be overstated.

Kilamanjaro Quesadilla at Stuff I Eat

Feeling hungry? The $18 “Organic Soul Food Platter” will fill you up, as well as one or two of your guests. The burritos are to die for (how many burritos have fresh, steamed broccoli topping them?), and any place that has a menu item called “Sumthin-Sumthin” as well as the intriguingly named “Kilimanjaro Quesadilla” (so called, because it’s about as big as its namesake mountain) is just great in my book.

Shojin

Situated on the top floor of a downtown shopping mall in Little Tokyo is Shojin, a must-visit vegan restaurant. Serving an inventive menu of veganized japanese staples, as well as some inventive signature dishes, Shojin really is at the peak of artful food preparation.

Spicy Seitan BBQ Roll and Shiitake & Avocado Roll at Shojin

Whether you go for the sushi (with seitan, tofu and other faux-fish accoutrements), the pan-fried seitan stir-fry or the incredibly tasty hand-made deserts you will know that such care has been put into preparing your food with prime, organic ingredients that you just can’t go wrong. Order as much stuff as you like — the portions are small, but the taste is big.

Madeleine Bistro

LA-resident vegans and omnivores are extremely fortunate to share a city with Madeleine Bistro, one of the world’s finest vegan restaurants. Chef Dave Anderson has spared no expense or time in thinking through and preparing the most minute details of every menu item. From a doughnut that is so light and fluffy it practically levitates, to a veganized carbon-copy emulation of a Big Mac (which I’m told by omnivores tastes way, way better than the real thing), through magical soufflés and German Mac ‘n’ Cheese (complete with Bacon bits!) you are certain to delight in the experience of fine vegan dining with a menu as inventive as it is familiar. Every dish at Madeleine’s has that “HOW DO THEY DO THIS?” question mark hanging over it. Dave Anderson is a culinary genius, and we should all be glad he decided to practice his art on us vegans.

Lemon-rosemary seitan and cauliflower crepe at Madeleine Bistro

I’d usually not hesitate to recommend a visit to Madeleine Bistro, but recently their opening hours and menu offerings have become erratic, and there have been rumors of both a closure and a second location opening up. My advice is to get yourself there pronto (in case the worst happens) but call ahead first to make sure they’re open when you want to visit.

in a constant attempt to keep you updated on the ever-changing situation of one of LA’s best vegan restaurants, madeleine bistro, i’m bringing you some news that they posted on facebook and twitter yesterday. apparently, they are closing for the fall. so act fast, and go eat there.

from twitter.com/madeleinebistro

last time we posted on the tarzana restaurant, we told you that they were temporarily closed for brunch, and only open friday – sunday night. well that’s changed as well. madeleine bistro is now open for brunch on sundays only (10am – 3pm) and for dinner on friday, saturday, and sunday (5pm – 9pm). i’m not sure how long this will last, as they say, they are closing for the fall….so if you have a hankering for chef dave’s food, you should get on it.

madeleine bistro did post a more hopeful note on their facebook page, saying:

make a reservation to visit us soon… we will be closing our tarzana location for renovations and expansion plan this fall.. stay tuned for exact date and details… thanks for your support!!

expansion plan?!?! sounds good to me. not sure if this is the new rumored location in eagle rock, but i sure hope so.

so that’s all i know at the moment. brunch is back, sunday only. they will be closing for fall, but hopefully not for long. i will keep you guys updated as i hear more info, but everyone should follow madeleine bistro on twitter and friend them on facebook for the latest news.

oh, and by the way, i have been looking for an excuse to show you this new breakfast sandwich that just got added to madeleine’s brunch menu. it’s so good! a bagel mcmuffin thingy with vegan cheese, tofu, and tempeh bacon. nommers.

hey everyone: listen up! this is a HUGE madeleine bistro update for this weekend that you are gonna wanna know about. hot off the press we’ve got NEW hours, a NEW menu, and a NEW poll for you to fill out…but sorry, no new location yet, as we hinted at earlier.

desconstructed s'mores: chocolate ganache, graham crackers, marshmallow fluff. $12

here’s what’s up with madeleine this weekend!

1.) NO BRUNCH THIS WEEKEND. sorry folks, but madeleine is renovating and improving their current brunch menu and need a few weeks off to get it ready to go. they will still be open for dinner though, so don’t miss out on that.

2.) NEW MENUS for this weekend! not only is there a brand new dessert on board (pictured above), but the tasting menu sounds incredible. the new dessert is chef dave’s version of “deconstructed s’mores,” basically chocolate ganache, graham crackers, and vegan marshmallow fluff. i’ve tasted it, and i can say it’s one of the best vegan desserts i’ve ever had. EVER. the tasting menu this week sounds just as epic: a 5 course meal of bisque, “re-imagined” beet tartare, arborio-crusted mushrooms, cheese cannolis, and fig perdu. read all about the new menu here. you won’t wanna miss it.

3.) lastly, VOTE FOR MADELEINE BISTRO in the vegnews veggie awards! they were nominated for best restaurant (page 1), and for best chef (page 6). honestly, they deserve it. and we deserve to see LA represented FINALLY in the veggie awards. DO IT. also, please vote for quarrygirl in the best blog category! thx. xo.

that’s all i got for now. bummer that madeleine is closed for brunch this weekend, but i guess that means i better make it there for dinner. s’mores, anyone?!?!

madeleine bistro
18621 Ventura Blvd.
Tarzana, CA
(818) 758-6971

hey everyone, i’m gonna go ahead and spread a HUGE RUMOR here. it appears as though madeleine bistro is expanding/moving their main restaurant to eagle rock.

it’s no secret that the vegan fine dining establishment has been looking for a new location for quite some time—the internet is abuzz with rumors that santa monica or hollywood may be madeleine bistro’s new home. well i’m sorry west-siders and tourists, but hipsters can rejoice! …i have it on pretty good authority that madeleine bistro is moving east. as of now, they are in negotiations with an already vegetarian establishment in eagle rock, and hope to move into their space.

new maddy's?!

the madeleine bistro takeover may start happening as early as next weekend. stay tuned.

BTW: if this doesn’t happen, DON’T LOOK AT ME! as i said in the VERY FIRST SENTENCE of this post, THIS IS A RUMOR! believe at your own risk. jeez. if i AM RIGHT, though…you heard it here FIRST, suckaz!