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April 18th, 2011rants, vegan events
the moment we’ve been waiting for has arrived. after an unapologetic response to last week’s uproar, vegnews has finally changed their ways and offered an official apology…
Tags: vegnews -
April 17th, 2011vegan events
hey everyone! time for a vegan round up of coachella day #2 from the sexy vegan. this food looks amazing, so be sure to check it out if you are in the desert today. i don’t know what i’m more jealous of…the insane vegan cuisine or the bands!
Coachella – Day 2: Ahhh…started Saturday off rested and refreshed. Slept in…slept WAY in..all the way to 7:45! My aging bladder usually wakes me up at 6:15 so this really was a treat.
When lunchtime arrived, we ventured into the food/ferris wheel/giant steel praying mantis area, and weighed our options: Indian? It’s 100 degrees, I’m sweating enough, thank you…maybe when the sun goes down. Raw? I ate healthy yesterday, I’m looking to get down n’ dirty today. Stir fry over pad Thai noodles with egg roll? Now we’re talkin’! How ’bout some garlic fries to go along with that? Sounds like a match made in music festival heaven!
The Stir Fry: This all vegan stand was brought to us by The Egg Roll People. The stir fry was decent. It was served up from a steam table, and while the big hunks of broccoli were a bit over cooked, there’s really no need to hold it against them, since they certainly can’t be expected to stir fry veggies to order. The rice noodles were cooked right, the peanut sauce was tasty, and there were little fried tofu cubes tossed in. This was fairly solid.
The egg roll was, however, was the run-away winner on the plate. Browned and crispy with perfect cabbage that had a nice gingery kick. If you’re trying to sample everything, and your belly space is becoming prime real estate, skip the stir fry and get an order of egg rolls. They are the EGG ROLL PEOPLE after all.
Tags: coachella, field report, sexy vegan -
April 16th, 2011vegan events
hey everyone! the sexy vegan is on the ground at coachella, and he just sent us this awesome vegan field report! if you are in the desert this weekend, take note!
Coachella – Day 1: the first day of coahella is always a tough one…for me anyway. It’s a day of adjustmnet. Departing L.A. at 6 a.m. leaves me somewhat sleep deprived, the amount of direct sunlight my body sees in a week is octupled in one day, and my “trying not to step on sprawled out hipsters” reflex is a bit rusty. Not to mention, my first beer was at noon. Anyway, by dinner time, I needed some serious nutrition! I spotted this sign from like a mile away, and thought they deserved a try, if for no other reason than their advertising was very effective.
They had salads, fresh fruit, and a wrap with a choice of tofu or marinated tempeh. I didn’t feel like balancing a salad on my knee and fiddling with a fork, so I had to go with something hand-held. Alright let me be honest…I just didn’t want a friggin’ salad. Since I always like to see how people handle the tempeh, I went with the tempeh wrap. Enclosed in a soft lavash, were crisp, fresh greens, shredded carrots, and some very well prepared tempeh, tossed with a tasty peanut/ginger sauce.
Tempeh is a tricky thing. It’s got a bitter taste, and kind of an unpleasant texture when it’s fresh out of the package. It needs lots of love. The key is to steam it for at least 30-40 minutes before you do anything else. This softens it up and makes it very welcoming to any marinades you throw at it. This stand nailed it. The tempeh was tender and flavorful, and the whole thing was overall delicious. If you’re at Coachella and want something crisp and healthy, they are to the right of the Outdoor Stage, go eat there.
Tags: coachella
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April 13th, 2011more restaurants (not LA), san diego, vegan events
good god, somebody pinch me because this cannot be real. stone, one one of our favorite breweries on earth, is hosting their first ENTIRELY VEGAN BEER PAIRING DINNER next month at their world class restaurant in escondido.
we’ve already raved about stone world bistro and gardens a couple times on this blog. in fact we love the restaurant at their brewery so much, it’s where we spent our five year wedding anniversary. when i heard stone would be holding an entirely vegan dinner with four courses and beer for just $49, i couldn’t believe it.
here’s how stone describes the evening…
Tags: beer, beer pairing, fancy, stone, tasting menu -
April 11th, 2011vegan bakers, vegan events
who doesn’t love vegan cupcakes? who doesn’t love craft beer? well this saturday april 16th you can get a taste of both when we host this month’s vegan drinks celebration with c’est la v bakeshop at the surly goat in west hollywood. (please be sure to rsvp if you’d like to attend!)
kim garr, the mastermind behind LA’s popular c’est la ve bakeshop, was recently a contestant on the food network’s cupcake wars. on saturday night, she’ll be selling the goodies she made on the show, plus all the flavors she would have made had she advanced to further rounds. it’s gonna be a vegan cupcake extravaganza! check out the flavors kim will have on hand for you to try (in addition to the midnight chocolate peanut butter cup pictured above).
click on each cupcake picture for a much more detailed description…
Tags: beer, cupcakes, vegan drinks -
April 9th, 2011LA restaurants, tony's darts away, vegan events
When springtime hits LA, I find I want to be outside as much as possible. It’s perfect timing, then, that the vegan-friendly, inaugural colLAboration mobile craft beer garden event would be held today, one of the year’s first truly spring-like days. Warm sun, cool breezes off the Pacific and even cooler beers on tap combined to make the the event truly spectacular for all those who attended.
colLAboration is, er, a collaboration of four of LA’s top beer bar owners: Ryan Sweeney of Verdugo Bar and Surly Goat (which happens to be our local hangout), Brian Lenzo of Blue Palms Brewhouse, Clay Harding of 38° Ale House and Tony Yanow of Tony’s Darts Away and soon-to-be-open Mohawk Bend. Collectively, they bring decades of experience not only of beer, but how to create an atmosphere in which to enjoy it.
If you’ve ever been to any of the above establishments, you’ll know that these guys care about their beer and their bars, sparing no effort to make sure you have the best time possible. They’re also hands-on. I still think that watching Brian Lenzo tap a cask with such grace and expertise is something that should be required watching for all beer lovers!
So, appreciating all of their bars as much as we do, we were beside ourselves with anticipation to see what they could achieve together. And we were not disappointed…
Tags: beer, colLAb -
April 5th, 2011vegan events
UPDATE: this event has sold out! yay beer!
i can’t believe it has been almost a year since the opening of tony’s darts away in burbank. in just a short amount of time the pub has become an integral part of the LA craft beer scene, and it remains the best place ever to drink and eat vegan food at the same time.
recently tony’s has teamed up with the other leading beer bars in los angeles to form colLAboration, an organization that plans to throw pop up beer garden parties all over town. their inaugural event will take place this weekend to celebrate tony’s first birthday, and it’s gonna be vegan-friendly!
Tags: beer, colLAb -
March 31st, 2011vegan events
a wide selection of unlimited craft beer. several food trucks and vendors offering only vegan food. music in a historic sunset strip venue. sound appealing? you can find it all at the los angeles vegan beer fest.
Tags: beer fest -
March 12th, 2011news, other, products, vegan bakers, vegan cheese, vegan events
hey everyone! natural products expo west, the world’s largest natural products tradeshow, is going down this weekend in anaheim and we were there all day yesterday.
we got a pretty good feel for the new vegan products that are about to hit the market, so sit back and enjoy this post full of our favorite finds. we’ll start off with stuff from brands that we already know and love—established quarrygirl favoriteses that should be familiar to you guys.
first up: chicago soydairy!
these folks didn’t have a booth at the expo in 2010…but daaaaaaaamn, they made up for it this year with all kinds of craziness! where do i start? their booth was like a vegan party. they had an endless supply of deep-fried vegan mozzarella sticks using teese (pictured above), which were INCREDIBLE.
Tags: expo west, products -
March 9th, 2011LA restaurants, vegan events, vegan stuff
…i get emailed this question AT LEAST 3 times per week. i thought it may be easiest to just write a post about it and point everybody here from now on.
before you read any further, please check out our 2010 lists of top vegan restaurants, top vegetarian restaurants, top omnivorous restaurants, and top ten things to eat in los angeles.
alright, now for the out of town list. i’ll try to break this up in a way that makes sense: fancy dining, casual dining, and pizza. that’s all that matters, right? and i’ll also let you in on a few of my favorite dishes from each restaurant. this is not a list of every vegan-friendly place in LA—that’s what the sidebar of this blog is for. these are just my top picks of places you should visit if you are only in town for a couple days. if you disagree, prove it in the comments section. here we go!
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March 7th, 2011vegan bakers, vegan events
we’ve already witnessed one local vegan take the crown on the food network’s cupcake wars, let’s hope it happens again this tuesday!
this week one of our favorite vegan bakeries ever, c’est la v, is competing for the prize…
Tags: c'est la v, cupcakes -
March 4th, 2011kindkreme, LA restaurants, vegan events
last week we blogged about the fact that kindkreme, LA’s dairy-free ice cream parlor, is up and running in echo park. well tomorrow, they’re having their grand opening party and you are all invited.
here are the details…
Tags: dessert, echo park, events, ice cream -
February 18th, 2011LA restaurants, madeleine bistro, vegan events
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…
Tags: fancy, holiday, tasting menu, the valley -
February 14th, 2011hugo's tacos, LA restaurants, vegan events
we’ve got exciting news, people! every evening this week, hugo’s tacos is offering a 25% discount on all vegan items for quarrygirl readers!
here are the details of the deal…
Tags: atwater village, deals, discount, mexican food, studio city, the valley -
February 12th, 2011vegan cheese, vegan events
i’m not even going to say where this snap shot is from…but it’s a local restaurant, and it pretty much illustrates what i refer to as “the vegan tax.”