this is way too good to pass up! mark your calendars, people. on monday november 21st our favorite pub, tony’s darts away, is donating half the proceeds from all vegan sausages all day to the beagle freedom project.

eat a vegan dog to save a beagle dog monday at tony's darts away

seriously, don’t miss this chance to eat the best vegan food in burbank and help out one of our favorite charities. and bring lots of friends! if you aren’t familiar with the beagle freedom project, they focus on saving dogs from labs—these are animals that have spent their entire lives in a cage. the proceeds from the event at tony’s will go directly to the SPANISH 41 rescue: the rescue of 41 beagles from a laboratory in spain…

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well this is exciting news! the team behind urban food crawl, LA’s weekly downtown vegan restaurant tour have now launched a weekly silverlake walking tour that will take place on sundays. i don’t know exactly which restaurants they’ll be hitting up, but highlights include savory calzones, tacos, german street food, and sweets! sounds pretty incredible, right?! tours are $65 and last for about 3 and a half hours, and you can get your tickets here.

but that’s not all! as a pre-thanksgiving special, urban food crawl is offering a discount weekend when both of their tours will be only $48.75. check it out! have any of you guys ever been on these tours? what do you think? walking and eating local vegan grub for multiple hours sounds like my perfect day!

you don’t wanna miss this. hot knives, our favorite local bloggers/chefs/cookbook authors are taking over space 15 twenty in hollywood this weekend and throwing a vegetarian (mostly, if not entirely vegan?) event featuring tons of eastside vendors. they’ve got you covered from street food to baked goods, band appearances to cookbook signings, sodas to condiments, posters to records. not only does it sound amazing on paper, but so many of our QG favorites will be there including clara’s cakes, plant food for people, and elf cafe. not to mention the band YACHT in person, DJing and selling merch.

here is the run down on the booths that will be at the event:
YACHT, the band, selling records and merch like their new Shangria-LA T-Shirt.
Plant Food For People, a Highland Park food collective infamous for jackfruit tacos and vegan tamales.
From the Robins Nest, home-crafted jams, jellies and awesome baguette sandwiches.
SaSo, a handmade, small batch hot sauce that you need in your pantry.
Complicated Dance Steps, a local freak-beat tape label will peddle their wares and mix records.
A fall menu of herbal and spice-infused sodas poured by Eden’s Herbals.
Echo Park Books, publisher of the “Art Time Punks” an archive of the infamous Part Time Punks club posters.
Elf Cafe, making available for the first time ever to-go jars of its signature harissa.
Clara’s Cakes, teen baking blogger phenom selling vegan treats.** for a list, see the bottom of the post.
Marriage Records, the Portland-based record label represent the Northwest with a smattering of recent indie releases.
Golden Wings and Rosie’s Vintage will be showcasing groovy threads for you Lady Knives.
Hot Knives will be DJing with Claire L. Evans of YACHT and demo-ing how to make Thanksgiving Pop-Tarts,
and will be giving out free Thanksgiving Trifecta Pop-Tarts to anyone who brings a book or buys a book for them to sign!

aaaaah this sounds like it could be one of the best vegan events of the year—that vendor list is blowing my mind. the whole thing goes down at:

space 15 twenty
1520 n. cahuenga blvd.
los angeles CA
sunday november 13th from 11am – 4pm
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
i will race you guys to the cookbook line for a vegan thanksgiving pop tart!

**i talked to clara from clara’s cakes to find out what treats she’d be bringing. right now the list is: pumpkin spice gobs, chocolate chip cookie covered oreos (THEY RULE!), neapolitan cupcakes, and pumpkin muffins. can’t wait to try ‘em all!

latest updates: m cafe updated!

the luckiest turkey on earth

it’s that time of year! thanksgiving is fast approaching, and while most of the country is planning epic meals of death, it’s time to start thinking about our cruelty-free celebrations. consider this a running list of vegan thanksgiving options in LA for 2011. as more restaurants release details, i’ll update the post. so keep checking this link. and if i’m missing anything, leave it in the comments!

list after the jump –>

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awwww shit. it’s about to get serious. if there’s one thing we vegans hold dear, it’s cupcakes (just consult the vegan sound board—5 rows down, 3 over), and this weekend the folks at urban food crawl are holding a vegan cupcake competition to find out who makes the very best in LA.

WHO WILL WIN? you can be the judge…

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this weekend is gonna rule. not only is there a vegan halloween party on saturday, but there’s a pop-up all you can eat vegan brunch on sunday to celebrate dia de los muertos and benefit one of our favorite charities, ARME!

advance tickets are only ten bucks (they go up to $15 the day of), and i highly encourage you to RSVP sooner rather than later. not only because the event will probably sell out, but because the organizers want to be sure to cook enough food for everyone to be absolutely stuffed. the menu is looking insane: think herb roasted potatoes, smoked jackfruit burritos, seitan sausage, aztec tofu scramble, muffins, sweet rice, drinks, and cocktails for an additional charge! if there’s one thing LA is missing, it’s an all you can eat vegan sunday brunch. let’s take advantage of this one, even if it’s just for one weekend!

more details after the jump…

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whether or not you’re into holidays, i think we can all agree that eating themed vegan food is lots of fun. and adding craft beer to the mix? even better! that’s why i encourage all of you (who are 21 and over, sorry kids!) to check out the all vegan halloween event on saturday 10/29 at verdugo bar at 3pm.

Mexican Hot Chocolate Sugar Skull Cookies with Cinnamon Icing by Twice Baked Vegan

there’s going to be all kinds of craziness including a photo booth, a costume contest, a raffle, and face painting…plus food throughout the night by local vendors and QG favorites  such as the frankenstand, seabirds, veg-it-up, doomie’s, amanda’s bakery, twice baked, and pacha new peruvian cuisine. the event is FREE, but donations for gentle barn are requested.

check out the flyer after the jump…

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you already know this! we are following the band silver snakes as they navigate through a multi-state vegan tour. all updates come to us via text from band member alex. and now, for a gigantic vegan burrito…

Los Betos in Boise, ID

Boise, ID post show, bad idea burrito. Los betos. Beans, french fries and guacamole + horchata! (Its actually vegan here!)

hey guys! we’re still tracking silver snakes and posting all the great vegan that they eat on their tour, as texted to me from band member alex! today they went from reno, NV to boise, ID. check out what the dudes ate today…and go see them if they come to a city near you!

There is nothing but mountains on our way to boise but we are going to hit up a place called Oriental express before the show. My stomach hates me. I haven’t had a raw vegetable in 5 days…

Whole Foods in Reno, NV

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heads up, folks! it’s oktoberfest time, and today the verdugo bar is hosting a vegan-friendly celebration with loads of german beer and food by the international sausage party. admission is ten bucks per person—it includes a commemorative stein, and the opportunity to watch a bunch of drunk people chillin’ in lederhosen. i checked with the food vendor, and they will definitely have some vegan sausages on hand, along with beer onion rings as a topping. WANT.

salad daze dog: vegan dog, special salad daze butternut squash dressing, kraut and red slaw, deli mustard. $6

we got a taste of international sausage party a few weeks ago at the hot knives salad daze cookbook launch, and it was awesome…

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as you may know, we’re following the band silver snakes as they go on a ten day tour, and updating you with pix of the vegan food they eat on the road. today the dudes were in reno, and alex from the band sent us some snaps of their findings. check it out:

Pneumatic Diner in Reno NV

Reno, NV. Pneumatic diner – vegan breakfast burrito and a hot chocolate. Super filling! I wish it had beans. Awesome habanero hot sauce and sriracha (of course)

Craft beer in Reno

Craft beer&wine, reno NV. The boys are drinking some ipa’s and I’m enjoying a lovely death valley root beer. Playing a basement show tonight by a 24hr burrito spot!

fuck yeah. now i’m hungry and thirsty! to catch up with the band, tomorrow the band will be in idaho, then washington, oregon, and california. check out the schedule and go see them if you’re nearby!

UPDATE: how the hell did i forget the chili dogs?

finding vegan food can be hard sometimes, but imagine being a vegan musician on tour. shuffling around from city to city, being away from home, and dealing with the pressures of performing—all while trying to find 3 animal-free meals per day in uncharted territory. sounds challenging, eh? well that’s what alex estrada is up to right now, as his band silver snakes embarks on a 10 day tour from california to nevada, to washington and oregon and back again. for educational purposes, alex has agreed to document his vegan tour experience via text to me, and i’m gonna post it all here on the blog. the tour culminates here in LA with a CD release party on october 23rd, so i expect to see you all there after reading what’s gone into the silver snakes’ stomachs for ten days straight. if you aren’t familiar with silver snakes yet, check out their site, listen to them on spotify, and read up on them at peta2.

their tour kicked off today in sacramento, and the band stopped off at a chipotle in lebec, CA for lunch, followed by some sugar plum vegan in sacramento for dinner. here are the photos, along with alex’s direct words via SMS.

chipotle veggie bowl with extra beans, all the salsas, and extra corn tortillas

California classic. Lebec, CA – chipotle veggie bowl. Extra beans, all the salsas, corn tortilla on the side. I have no idea where we are… I think we are by bakersfield.

I found a place in Sacramento I want to try. I hope we make it in time! Dude I heard this place has a jackfruit/walnut tuna melt and animal style fries.. pray4me …

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i’m sure you’ve heard of urban food crawl by now. they host weekly gastronomic tours of downtown LA vegan hot spots, and in the coming weeks they have some pretty sweet events planned.

check it out…

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just over a week ago, we joined the hot knives team on the verdugo patio for an afternoon of snacks and beer to celebrate the release of their new vegetarian (and vegan-friendly) cookbook, salad daze.

we’d been looking forward to this day for ages—we’ve been HK fans for years, and even had an opportunity to test out one of the the salad daze recipes (magic shroom dust, loved it!) several months ago. now that the book has been released into the world and i’ve got it in my hands, i can safely say that it doesn’t disappoint. page after page of meatless recipes, with all the vegan ones clearly marked, each listed with their own thoughtful beer and soundtrack pairing.

so how was the release party? it was awesome! we always love kickin’ it on the verdugo patio with some good beer, but eating hot knives food at the same time makes it even better. on this day, the dudes prepared a slew of appetizers including some recipes from the book, and played a strictly salad daze playlist of bands we love including the fall, the stooges, and belle & sebastian.

here’s what we ate…

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hey vegan youngsters, today is hug a vegetarian day! what’s that mean? it means that peta2 is gonna wrangle you guys up in silverlake for some vegan sausages by the frankenstand, cupcakes by clara’s cakes, plus free stickers and hugs to go around.

we love the frankenstand!

the event will take place from 4-6pm. come hungry, because the frankenstand and clara’s cakes are 2 of the best vendors in town. for more info: check out the official facebook invite!