redwood foods recently purchased by heather mills

i’ve got some vegan news, y’all. heather mills now owns cheezly, and she’s bringing it to america. if you don’t know what cheezly is, it’s an amazing vegan cheese from the UK that did very well in our best vegan cheese challenge. if you don’t know who heather mills is, she used to be married to that pink-colored dude at the top of the page.

i got an email from redwood foods (the company behind cheezly and loads of other vegan goodies from across the pond) today that was just full of great news. check it out:

We’re the importers and distributors for Redwood Foods Cheezly from the UK and I often read your blog, etc. I think it’s probably one of the best there is. Thanks for all the hard work. Anyway, I just wanted to bring you up to date on the latest Cheezly developments. Firstly, Redwood Foods was just purchased by Heather Mills who is a committed vegan and a very dedicated animal rights activist. The original management team is still in place at Redwood and Heather will be a great ambassador for us and veganism in general. Secondly, we expect soon to be offering a new and improved shredded version of Cheezly here in the States. Thirdly, we plan soon to lower our suggested retail price for Cheezly to $5.99 and maybe a little lower. Lastly, we hope that it won’t now be too long before we start marketing other Redwood manufactured items in the US.

Please take a look at these links:
www.redwoodfoods.co.uk/news/
www.heathermills.org

so to recap, the bloody awesome news is: new and improved cheezly shreds are coming to the united states, AND the price of cheezly is being lowered!!! this is like a dream come true. we are really gonna have way too many tasty vegan cheeses to choose from.

so congratulations to redwood foods and heather mills on this new partnership. i think this means i’m gonna get to eat a lot more of this:

CHEEZLY! WOO HOO!

bring us the vegan goods, we are ready. my days of paying thousands of dollars on shipping or filling my luggage from london up with nothing but cheezly may be over.

many of you may have noticed that mars is phazing out skittles containing gelatin, and replacing them with ostensibly vegan versions of the rainbow colored treats.

…but not so fast! before you rush out and fork over your hard-earned dollars for the candy you have been missing for years, stop a second to think about what that money is supporting. while skittles now contain all vegan ingredients, their manufacturer is anything but cruelty-free. mars, the maker of candies such as m&m’s, snickers, twix, dove, three muskateers, starburst, and skittles, conducts deadly and unnecessary tests on animals. since this is such a happy-go-lucky blog, i won’t depress you with all the details. if you want more information, you can read about it here.

as with anything, you should take all this with a grain of salt. although, mars openly admits to testing on animals for symbioscience research, they deny sponsoring “research that harms animals” in the development of their snack food. PETA, however, claims that they are lying to the public and provides a whole list of disgusting incidents in which animal experiments were conducted for candy research. either  way, mars has confirmed that they do test on animas. do you really think the candy division money is separate from the pet food?

just to be clear, i’m not telling you to avoid skittles or not eat them now that their ingredients are vegan. go right ahead. i just want you to be aware of the tests your money is funding. if you do decide to eat up the new gelatin-free skittles anyway, be sure to read the ingredients. not all the old calves’ feet candies are completely off the shelves yet.

my two cents.

We recently received a letter from somebody claiming to represent Green Leaves Vegan (see below). You may recall that when we tested their food in the original Operation Pancake, samples from several food items showed as positive for Casein and Egg.

We’re delighted to make available the information, reproduced below, where Green Leaves Vegan’s representative is categorically stating that the food at Green Leaves Vegan is, in fact, vegan. We also completely retract any assertion (expressed or implied) that the food available now at that restaurant is not vegan.

As we stated in the original post, the tests we performed were a “snapshot of the moment in time”, and positive results for traces of the non-vegan contaminants are restricted purely to the samples that we obtained at that time.

We’re not able to re-test new samples from Green Leaves Vegan, but would gladly reproduce tests from a certified food laboratory.

Also, we can confirm that Mr. Jeff Mann is an active attorney at the State Bar of California. His detailed record can be found here.

From: Jeff Mann (jeffmannlaw@att.net)
Date: July 15, 2009 3:58:33 PM PDT
Cc: marnow6@yahoo.com
Subject: Green Leaves vegan

This office represents Green Leaves Vegan In Los Angeles Ca.Your website quarrygirl.com indicates that my clients food registers “overload” for Casein in my clients cheese dishes.and registers high for egg content in both it’s chicken and fish dishes.Your site contines to allege that my client is misleading it’s customers. The facts are that Green Leaves Vegan is vegan and is verified by the Los Angeles Health Dept. Green Leaves has passed all city inspections regarding it’s vegan menu. The information yoou have provided is false, malicious and defamatory. My clients business has suffered as a direct result of you website.You have 10 days to retract your comments about my clients restaurant on your website in a clear and noticable way. My client is even willing to allow you to retest his food. Failure to perform the above will result in legal action against you.Please be guided accordingly. Jeff Mann Attorney at Law. 3660 Wilshire bl. #522 Los Angeles Ca 90010 213-930-1902.

kid size temptation soft serve from chicago soy dairy with vegan chocolate chips. $2.75

summer time is officially here, and that means it’s ice cream season! as the weather in los angeles heats up to apocalyptic temperatures, don’t let the fact that you’re a vegan stop you from indulging in a cool, creamy treat. head on over to carvel ice cream in west LA and pick up some of their delicious temptation vegan soft serve from none other than the folks at chicago soy dairy. that’s right, carvel is the first place in los angeles to carry this tasty and realistic non-dairy soft serve from the company that brought us teese and dandies.

i stopped by carvel recently, and when i told the girl behind the counter i was vegan, she was very friendly and accommodating. she pointed me to a selection of vegan sorbets, vegan toppings, and gave me a sample of vanilla non-dairy soft serve. that’s right, the elusive VEGAN SOFT SERVE. since it’s so hard to find in this city, of course i had to get some. i ordered a kid-size portion and topped it off with vegan chocolate chips. yum……it totally hit the spot! i wasn’t sure at the time, but later i found out that the soft serve i ate was indeed temptation, stuff i have been hearing about from vegans across the country for quite some time. i am so glad that this stuff has made it over to los angeles, because it’s so ridiculously creamy and “real” tasting.

the girl also explained that they’d be getting even more vegan soft serve flavors in by the end of the month…so that pretty much seals it, i know i will be back at carvel very soon. i have heard the chocolate temptation soft serve is THE BEST.

in addition to temptation vegan ice cream and friendly employees, carvel also has lovely balcony seating and 3 levels of free parking. it’s located on the top floor next to ralphs on pico in west LA, so don’t miss it. carvel is a great place to unwind with some old fashioned soft serve and take a break from the summer heat. i haven’t eaten ice cream like this since i was a kid…and it’s vegan!

carvel ice cream
9618 W Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90035
(310) 278-5411

it looks like america’s favorite pastime is becoming a little more vegan-friendly, at least in the city of los angeles. now you can enjoy a good old fashion baseball at dodgers stadium with a vegan frank in hand.

now i’m no sports fan, and i will would have never even known the stadium was offering vegan hot dogs…but luckily for you a friend of mine spotted them, tried them out, and even got some snap shots of them for your benefit.

veggie dog. $6.25

dodgers stadium uses lightlife’s smart jumbo dogs, which are completely vegan, as well as bimbo bakeries buns, which are also vegan! while $6.25 is a lot to pay for a simple veggie dog, i guess it’s pretty standard considering the fact that everything is overpriced at sporting events. now you can feel ripped off just like the meat-eaters…it’s only fair.

baseball is way cooler when vegan hot dogs are around!

these vegan hot dogs are available in Reserved level Section 4 at the Wetzel Pretzel stand, so don’t miss them.

one of the concession stands selling veggie dogs! yay!

for more information about vegetarian and vegan options at stadiums all around the country, check out this site called soy happy. it’s great to see so many sports arenas introducing more vegan options. if you do go see a game, you should stock up on vegan food and show support.

special thanks to my friend for making this vegan hot dog discovery. hopefully you will keep this post in mind next time you are watching a baseball game in LA. and remember, veggie dogs taste great with baseball, beer and pretty fireworks.

fireworks at dodgers stadium. just because.

NOTE: Please see update regarding Green Leaves Vegan here

From the moment that we got our first POSITIVE result when sampling a “vegan” menu item from one of our favorite LA-area vegan restaurants, we knew that we were on to something with Operation Pancake. When POSITIVE readings gave way to HIGH and OVERLOAD results we were quite shocked. For us, though, the most memorable moment was when we unpacked the “vegan cheese (no casein) quesadilla” from Green Leaves Vegan and the acidic smell of “real” cheese came right at us out of the box as our sample crept toward OVERLOAD. We stepped back. We retested. We then warmed the quesadilla, played with the stretchy, greasy cheese and realized that the multitude of tip-offs we’d been getting about the sketchy ingredients and evasive staff members at Green Leaves Vegan might just be true.

Read the rest of this entry »

Is your vegan food really vegan? We pull out all the stops to test 17 LA area vegan restaurants for non-vegan ingredients, and to find out why seven of them failed miserably.

NOTE: Please see update regarding Green Leaves Vegan here

UPDATE: Please check out the follow-up post from today when you’ve read this. THANKS.

From Pure Luck to Green Leaves, Vegan House to Vegan Plate and Rosemead to Taipei we pull back the covers on the seedy world of vegan restaurants, and an international supply chain that pumps eggs and milk into our supposedly vegan food on a daily basis.

Vegan Quesadilla from Green Leaves Vegan tested “Overload” for casein, a milk protein.

Surely, a vegan restaurant is safe to eat at if I’m a vegan?

Really? Regular readers of quarrygirl.com will recall us publishing an email and photos from “Mr. Wishbone” detailing the contents of a dumpster at LA Vegan Thai with non-vegan ingredients plainly visible, and presumably used as ingredients in the food (pancakes in this case).

After we published Mr. Wishbone’s findings, several people wrote in with stories about potentially non-vegan ingredients being sighted in vegan restaurants, and one particular thread on the quarrums “Vegan Dirt” began to get rather busy, with accusations flying here and there about shrimp paste being spotted in some restaurants, and “vegan cheese” that looked and tasted exactly like dairy-based cheese being served in others.

While this blog hasn’t hesitated to call out non-vegan “vegan donuts” and non-vegan “vegan cheese pizzas” in the past, we can only make information public that can be empirically proven. Accusations and reports of non-vegan ingredients and suspect food handling (of which we get many) have to stay smoldering in our Deleted Items folder laying in a morass of uncertainty. Or so we thought until a couple of weeks ago, when Mr. Wishbone emailed again, and requested a meeting: “I have some knowledge of the food industry, and I think we can prove whether or not a food item contains certain non-vegan ingredients. I can tell you, though, it’s not going to be easy or cheap. If we meet I’ll share my ideas”. Intrigued, and under the strictest secrecy, we met up for lunch.

The Plan

During the meeting, Mr. Wishbone outlined an ambitious plan that would enable us to test for common non-vegan ingredients (eggs, casein [a component of milk], and shellfish) in a multitude of menu items from local vegan restaurants. The plan would be a logistical, financial and time-sucking nightmare but, if done properly, and to scientific testing standards, it would be a ground-breaking and highly reliable indicator of just how “pure” food from vegan restaurants really is. Here’s an outline of the plan:

• Locate a facility that has no traces of egg, casein or shellfish in which to perform the advanced tests
• Purchase anti-contamination equipment including industrial sterilization supplies, lab coats, uncontaminated bags, swabs, razor blades, gloves and floor coverings
• Obtain highly restricted industrial food testing “kits” only available to the food manufacturing industry
• Develop a regimented process to test each food item with the highest standards of inter-test cleanliness, ensuring that absolutely no food particles from one food item contaminate another
• Select a diverse set of menu items from 100% vegan-only restaurants throughout LA (with one exception, see later)
• Order the food for carry-out, and seal it in an airtight bag in its original packaging either inside, or very close to the point of purchase
• Transport the food items to the testing facility intact and sealed, and perform the tests within 48 hours of purchase, keeping them refrigerated until immediately before the test
• Develop a strict bracketing control, with a thorough analysis of the testing facility and equipment before testing: A negative control to ensure no pre-existing contamination, and a positive control test on a known-positive food product (containing all three target non-vegan items) to ensure that the tests do indicate positive results
• Conduct the test in absolute secrecy to ensure that no restaurant would know they were providing samples, and pose as regular customers ordering take-out food in a normal way, with no disclosure that the items would be used for a test

So, we divided up the work between us, and dedicated a Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday as well as over $1,000 of our collective money to pulling off the most extensive scientific test that we know of to find out, once and for all, if samples of restaurant food are vegan or not.

The Story

Here’s the story of what we did, how we did it and the surprising results….

Read the rest of this entry »

hey readers, i wanna encourage you to click over and check out this blog post i wrote for the popular LA blog, losanjealous.com. what you’ll find is some bona fide banh mi sandwich porn, and write-up on one of our favorite vegan eateries, vinh loi tofu.

curry meatball chicken sub. $6.50

if you don’t read losanjealous already, i suggest you start now. it’s a kick ass blog that’s updated regularly with los angeles news, concert pix, giveaways, food reviews and ramblings. plus, they cuss. and you know how much i love that. i’ll be writing for them sporadically in the “under $10” section, a recurring series of restaurant reviews for the tight wallet. hopefully i can help spread the word around los angeles about all the great, cheap vegan food there is to eat. stay tuned…

Last night was NOT the best of nights. I had to work late and then run a bunch of errands before coming home to work some more, dreading the “cupboard is bare” syndrome as I’ve not been shopping in days. I pulled into the Whole Foods Market at Third and Fairfax on the way home, deciding to get some warm food to carry out so I could pretend like I had prepared it myself (denial is a wonderful thing). Upon passing the pizza bar, I saw a sign that said “vegan pizza” so I stopped and inquired. Well, after a lot of to and fro it appears that Whole Foods not only have a vegan cheese pizza offering at every location in Southern California but they started topping it with the amazing Daiya cheese (yes, I had to pinch myself on this one – I even asked to see the cheese packaging, and they pulled out a bag that had “Daiya Vegan Cheese” written all over it.

In case you have been living under a rock or accidentally got to this page by Googling “asian pizza porn” (and, yes, that is an example of a real search than brought a visitor briefly to quarrygirl.com recently), you will be aware that Daiya cheese is the  most amazing vegan cheese substitute on the planet, and takes the whole experience of being a pizza-loving vegan up a notch or two.

So, I wasted no time in ordering a pizza with my standard toppings: Mushrooms, Garlic and Tomatoes and while I was waiting for it to be prepared I scuttled around the store picking up a nice bottle of organic wine and some groceries I’d been needing for a while. As soon as I was done shopping, I picked up my piping hot pizza and was back in the car and home in no time.

Massive Vegan Pizza from Whole Foods

When I plopped the pizza down on my countertop I had to step back and take a reality check at what just happened. I’d gone into a Whole Foods Market, and brought home an absolutely enormous vegan pizza, covered in melty Daiya cheese and chunky vegetables all piled on a crispy Italian-style crust. And, all for just $17. I’m glad I accidentally left my iPhone on the pizza box when I snapped the picture, as it provides some scale of the enormity of that 16 slice pie which is easily 50% bigger than an Extra Large pizza anywhere else.

Vegan Pizza with Daiya Cheese, Mushrooms, Tomatoes and Roasted Garlic. $17

So much for the size and Daiya cheese, but how did the pizza taste? The bottom line: If I’d been served this pizza in a pricey restaurant at twice the price, I’d have been impressed. The fact that I bought it in a GROCERY STORE, and it cost less than a three topping X-Large vegetarian pizza from most crappy delivery joints is seriously impressive. The crust was crispy and tasty, the vegetables were perfectly prepared and the vegan cheese needs no introduction.

Daiya: The Best Vegan Cheese out there

The pictures really don’t do this pizza any justice at all. The convenience of popping into any Wholefoods for one of the best vegan pizzas you’ll ever eat cannot be beaten. According to the duty manager, “all” Whole Foods Market outlets in SoCal will soon (or already do) have Daiya cheese, presumably replacing the chemical mass that is Follow Your Heart vegan cheese. (Of course, your results may vary, so call ahead if you have to go out of your way).

I predict that within two years most mainstream pizza joints will have a vegan cheese offering, where the cruelty free nature of vegan cheeses cannot be beaten. Also, vegan cheese (especially Daiya, which has less fat and calories than most) is a healthier option than dairy-based cheeses.

Rock On Whole Foods Market: you just made hundreds of thousands of vegans in Southern California very happy!

whole foods
6350 West 3rd St
Los Angeles, CA 90036 USA

Check with your local Whole Foods to see if they’ve started carrying Daiya!

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!

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]

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!

** NOTE ** These forums are NOT necessarily the views of quarrygirl/aka Ms. Anthrope alone. Several people moderate.

After realizing there are limited vegan-oriented forums anywhere on the Internet where one can engage in frank discussion about the seamier side of vegan life, we stayed up all night and created the quarrums. Feel free to register and join in the discussion. ANYTHING GOES.

quarrygirl.com: a silly vegan blog headquartered in Los Angeles
forums: a place to go on the internet where you can debate issues and share thoughts
quorum: Noun “a gathering of the minimal number of members of an organization to conduct business”
quarrums: the quarrygirl.com forums check them out!

Do enjoy the forums, and let us know what you think. Moderation will be kept to an absolute minimum, and there are no ads or anything anywhere on them. Have at it!

the title of that book is right, vegan cupcakes really are taking over the world. vegan bakers all over the place are trying their hand at the classic dessert and some of the results are better than others. one line of vegan cupcakes i can definitely vouch for is luscious organic desserts. the orange county based company was recently selling their goods at coachella and i got to try 3 different flavors, all of which were superb.

luscious organic desserts oreo cupcake

of the 3 i tried, the oreo cupcake was probably my favorite. slathered in creamy cookie-flavored frosting, the chocolate cake was incredibly moist. i’ve decided luscious is the perfect name for this company, because their desserts definitely are.

luscious organic desserts espresso cupcake

i also tried the espresso cupcake and the chocolate cupcake. both types of frosting were extremely rich and packed with flavor. i don’t know how they got the coffee taste down so perfectly in the espresso frosting, but it was unbelievable. these cupcakes were decadent in every sense of the word. they didn’t taste dry, bland, or have any kind of weird vegan-y texture…instead they were creamy frosting and juicy cake goodness.

luscious organic desserts chocolate cupcake

since i don’t find myself in orange county very often, i am super glad i got to try luscious cupcakes at coachella. currently you can find luscious cupcakes at native foods in costa mesa, mothers market in santa ana, and vegi wokery in cerritos. they also make tons of other mouth-watering desserts that you can order through their website. these are definitely vegan desserts i could get used to.

luscious organic desserts
949-378-7102

i am jealous of people who live in orange county. not just because they are all rich and shit, but because they have some great vegan dining options that i covet. in addition to that’s amore (awesome vegan pizza/italian food), they also have a swanky all-raw/vegan bar and lounge called 118 degrees.

i have never been to the actual restaurant, but i am dying to hit it up after trying their food at coachella. they were at the festival selling their packaged foods under the name jenny’s raw and organic. we ordered the raw taco and pizza with a pasta side salad, both of which were refreshingly delicious.

raw taco from jenny's raw and organic

while the taco was tasty, it was more like a salad than a taco…you know, the kind where they use lettuce instead of a tortilla. i preferred the pizza and pasta, which tasted extremely light and were covered in fresh vegetables.

raw pizza and pasta salad from jenny's raw and organic

after checking out 118’s menu online, i am anxious to get over there asap. they have stuff like raw tamales, enchiladas and nachos, not to mention an array of high quality beers and mixed drinks. maybe they could open up a los angeles location soon…that would be rad.

118 degrees
2981 Bristol
Suite B5
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
714-754-0718
Monday through Saturday
9am to 10pm (last seating at 9pm)
Sundays
10am to 9pm (last seating at 8pm)
Sunday Brunch 10am to 3pm