with the rapture looming over our heads, what better way to spend the last day on earth than with a solid IPA?

doomsday party at my place!

bear republic’s racer 5 has been a forbidden fruit to us vegans (let’s keep with the biblical theme, har har!) due to the use of gelatin in the filtration process for quite some time…but as of early 2011, the brewery has changed their ways.

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rah rah! in the midst of all these horrible LA vegan restaurant closures, we’re happy that we finally have some good news to share: zephyr cafe in long beach has decided to dump the dairy!

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great news, vegan buddies! portland based clothing company herbivore, one of our favorite businesses EVER, will be in town this weekend with a special pop-up/art show on saturday, and a booth at worldfest on sunday. go buy stuff!

photo via herbivoreclothing.com

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hey dudes, we’ve got yet another awesome field report for you today. it comes to us all the way from allison ritto in orange county, where she checks out the vegan options at matador cantina in fullerton. i love vegan mexican food, and this place is dangerously close to bootlegger’s brewery…tacos and beer this weekend, anyone?

In an Orange County city of over 100,000 you’d think vegetarian and vegan restaurants would be in abundance. But the only time a completely vegan restaurant can be found in Fullerton is when the Seabirds Truck rolls into town. My hometown, full of college students, health food stores and not one but two Farmer’s Markets, does not have a single dedicated vegan eatery- yet. There are paltry options at a few places if you have the patience to research, quiz the staff, and cross your fingers. I was completely skeptical when I heard that Matador Cantina, in the heart of Downtown Fullerton’s restaurants and bars, was advertising vegan tacos. Mexican food usually falls into two categories: unsafe but “authentic” (lardy beans, rice made with chicken broth) or safe but quickly tiresome fast food (sorry, Chipotle). When eating at most sit-down Mexican restaurants I am lucky if I get a bean and veggie burrito and chips without cow grease to soak up the tequila and quell my salty tears of disappointment. Many places will shrug and try to sell you tortillas with manteca, sauce made with chicken stock, and veggies cooked on a meat juice-soaked grill and insist that your burrito is vegetarian because there isn’t a big chunk of pork in it. Yes I’m talking about you, Super Mex! It’s not because they hate us vegans, they probably just don’t understand, so I resist the urge to vandalize those poor ignorant businesses. So when a restaurant DOES care, and goes out of their way to call an item vegan in black and white on the menu for the world to see, my heart does a little hippity-hop.

From Matador's Facebook page: "The Vegan Street Tacos are made with seasoned “soyrizo,” a house-made meat alternative with sautéed Poblano peppers and grilled onions. This offering is also available as a meat substitute for any menu items at no additional cost."

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update 5/18/11: turns out the “soy bacon” on the village natural burger isn’t vegan! the restaurant is aware of this and is supposedly changing the menu. full update at the bottom of the post. meanwhile: beware.

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hey guys! i’m happy to announce we have a field report today from a legit writer—can you believe it? simon goddard, music journalist extraordinaire and author of the mozipedia (one of our favorite books, look!), penned us this post about his culinary adventures in manhattan. from pizza and burgers to vegan fish and chips…i want it all. enjoy!

Oh, New York! It’s a bit of a temptress. I’m a fiercely loyal Londoner and still every time I set foot in Manhattan I have my doubts as to which is the greatest city on earth. As the song goes, I like the sight, the sound and even the stink of it. In London we have signs which read “No parking, clamping in operation.” In Manhattan they have signs which read “Don’t even THINK of parking here.” Therein lies the singular genius of New York, a masterpiece of concrete, clay and invincible human character.

I digress. I was lucky enough to be working there again this month so promised the estimable Quarrygirl I’d scribble some words for her blog about a few of the nicer things I put in my mouth. And here they are. Whenever in New York, I almost always end up in Greenwich Village at some point, if only for a sneaky stroke of the Bleecker Street Records cat (irresistible) or to marvel at the 300 year-old English Elm in Washington Square (unbelievable). So for all similarly besotted cat-botherers and tree-huggers who may find themselves in the area hankering for impeccable death-free nibbles, here are three personal recommendations.

Village Natural

For years this has been my favourite vegetarian spot in New York, even if I’ve always been in the daytime when it’s fairly quiet and “vibes” are minimal (it’s a bit “yoga” if you know what I mean) but the food seldom disappoints. It’s Vietnamese-owned though the menu ranges from Asian to salads, burgers and Mexican dishes. I’ve tried various mains here, but you can’t beat the burgers.

Black Bean Bacon Burger: Vegan. A delightfully unique veggie burger topped with guacamole, crispy soy bacon, lettuce, tomatoes and onion. $9.50

My favourite is this black-bean burger. It comes open with a dollop of guacamole, a generous fresh salad topped with a strip of crispy veggie bacon***(read update below) brought vigorously to life by a side of orange and ginger dressing. As a meal it strikes a perfect balance between guilty “bad” burger food (and it is a glorious big, flat, more-ish monster of a burger) and enriching “good” healthy salad: you definitely don’t miss fries.

The only disappointment this visit was dessert. In the past they’ve done the most amazing vegan tiramisu, probably the best I’ve ever tasted and one that I’ve all but sadistically enthused about to Quarrygirl to jealousy-inducing extremes. Alas, for whatever reason it wasn’t an option on the blackboard this time. To compensate, I ordered the vegan mocha pie which looked like this:

Mocha Pie. $4.95

It had a porridgy-base, a chalky texture and altogether tasted like somebody had dropped a triangle of brown shoe polish on some oatmeal, then tried to make it smell better by administering a few extra squirts of Tweed by Lentheric. That is, it was cloggy with a wretched perfumed hue and not remotely mocha-ish. If their tiramisu was a 10, the mocha pie just scraped a 2. But despite this Hindenburg of sweet catastrophes, the sometimes slow-to-react zombiefied waiters and the sad fact they serve a handful of fish options, I still rate this place highly. I just pray they get that tiramisu back on their menu before I next darken its door.

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manna in london really does offer vegan fine dining at its best. located at the end of a quiet street in primrose hill, the small restaurant boasts elegant surroundings, friendly service, and absolutely exceptional food. it’s the perfect spot for a romantic evening or a slap up sunday roast, just be sure to arrive with a full wallet and an empty stomach.

homemade organic bread and hummus: a selection of breads fresh from our kitchen daily with extra virgin olive oil and homemade hummus. ₤5

we hit up manna in february when we visited the UK, and as usual, we started with a basket of bread. it sounds simple enough, but this dish is phenomenal. soft warm dough straight from the oven to our table, served with a pot of cool chunky hummus. the perfect beginning to a perfect meal.

organic bangers and mash: organic fennel and pumpkin seed sausages on a bed of parsnip & carrot mash served with cavalo nero on a red wine, leek & thyme jus topped with our onion rings. ₤14

though we’ve been to manna several times and we love to try new things, we NEVER stray from the bangers and mash. we order these without fail on every visit to share, because they are so damn irresistible. the plate comes with a huge mound of fluffy whipped parsnips and carrots, topped with seasoned greens, seed-based vegan sausages, and two massive battered onion rings, all in a red wine sauce. the sausages and onion rings especially are just unbelievable—like a fancy gourmet vegan version of junk food. i would kill to have this meal available in los angeles.

build your own meal (choice of any 4 sides): crispy marinated tofu, sauteed seasonal greens & garlic, grain of the day, bean of the day ₤14

we also split the “build your own meal” combo, which comes with the choice of any four side dishes arranged on a plate.

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vegans, rejoice. we live in a time when nothing (NOTHING!) is off limits, especially thanks to talented peeps like kim from c’est la v. she runs a stellar blog and bakeshop in LA and makes insane treats that you need to eat. exhibit a: strawberry rhubarb bars.

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…so go eat it ASAP. i’m sure you’ve already heard the news: pure luck is closing for good, and we are freaking out. there’ll be so much to miss about the vegan east hollywood eatery: the impressive beer list, the crispy potato pals, the deep fried pickle chips, and most of all….the jackfruit.

Todd's BBQ Sandwich: BBQ Jackfruit “pulled-pork” with pickles, onions and vegan mayo on a rustic roll.

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UPDATE 5/16/11: although the waffle cones are vegan at the moment, be sure to check before you eat them because hugo’s may switch brands. thanks to amy for the info!

YES, IT’S TRUE!!! hugo’s tacos in studio city now has vegan soft serve…and….wait for it…VEGAN WAFFLE CONES. excuse me while i drool on my keyboard.

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usually quick bites are submitted by readers, but today i have one of my own. friday was the six year anniversary of my husband and i’s first date…and we decided to celebrate in true QG style: by hitting up a bar and a restaurant. we started off at our favorite local pub, the surly goat, and then took a 15 minute stroll down the road to hugo’s for some eats. i’m happy to report that everything was lovely.

New American Veggie Burger: an outstanding combination of organic sprouted mung beans, organic brown rice, assorted fresh vegetables, mushrooms, pumpkin & sunflower seeds, herbs and spices fried crispy. Served with onion, lettuce, tomato, Vegenaise and your choice of any burger toppings. $12.60

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i know i’m like a decade late to this craze, but lately i have been totally obsessed with nutritional yeast based cheese sauces. they’re healthier than processed vegan cheese, and pack a ton of flavor without any kind of weird texture or chemical aftertaste. where has this stuff been all my life? i can’t get ’nuff of the nooch!

my most recent nut-yeast addiction comes in the form of mozzarella chreese by road’s end organics…

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UPDATE: hummus king in thee valley has closed down, but they are offering catering and free delivery until they hopefully re-open in silverlake!

somebody make it stop! i can’t handle any more bad news. first madeleine bistro, then pure luck, and now word on the street is that our beloved hummus king has thrown in the towel. where am i gonna get my vegan shwarama from now?!

so sad!

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it’s sad that we live in a society that actually cares what such vacuous actors have to say. in the following clip, the once vocal animal rights activist ginnifer goodwin does her best to shit all over veganism on national television.

i get it: celebs are fickle. they go vegan and then give up, they pretend to be vegan and then get drunk and eat cheese, whatever. what ginnifer goodwin did was far worse. not only did neglect her cruelty-free lifestyle, but she sat by and chuckled as the host made fun of veganism in general.

here ya go. it gets going at around 35 seconds in, and remains vile right until the end.

in case you don’t want to watch the whole clip, here are the highlights:

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great news, everybody! the much anticipated new and official happycow iphone app has hit the itunes store even sooner than expected. you can get it NOW, and i swear, it’ll change your vegan-restaurant-finding life.

happycow iphone app now available!

i was fortunate enough to test drive the new happycow iphone app for a couple weeks before the launch, and i must say i’m obsessed…

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