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…

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last week we blogged about the opening of LA’s latest vegetarian restaurant, cafe gratitude. well, we finally made it there for a meal over the weekend and we were impressed!

the brand spankin’ new larchmont village eatery is almost entirely vegan (other than one honey-containing drink, according to our server), and has a huge menu full of raw and cooked appetizers, entrees, desserts, smoothies…even beer and wine. from uber-healthy salads, to decadent “cheesy” potatoes and rich desserts, there’s something for everyone at cafe gratitude.

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we are self-proclaimed vegan pizza addicts, and our favorite place to get it at the moment is pizza guru in santa barbara. we love pizza guru so much, in fact, that in january we made the 90 mile drive up the coast just to eat dinner there and celebrate vegan pizza day. thankfully, we found a great table in the corner, made ourselves comfy, and spent a few hours leisurely dining.

veganized garlic bread sticks

considering it was a holiday and all, we decided to go all out. garlic bread, pizza, calzones, and of course, lots of alcohol. we stared with a huge plate of daiya covered bread (pictured above) and a pitcher of firestone union jack (pictured below). the bread was nothing short of phenomenal—moist, spongy, and packed with garlic flavor. just be sure to specify that you want it made vegan, because by default it comes with dairy cheese.

firestone walker on draught never disappoints, and it was perfect for soaking up all the greasy bread. i love that this place does beer by the pitcher…it’s not something i get to enjoy with vegan pizza very often.

next up, THE PIZZA:

medium pizza with daiya cheese, basil, roasted red potatoes, mushroom blend, and vegan garlic cream sauce

good god, this was the most fantastic pizza i’ve ever tasted.

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not every place we review serves the end-all be-all, best vegan food ever. sometimes it’s nice to walk into a “normal” establishment and get a decent cruelty-free meal at a low price.

vege peppersteak sandwich on a sourdough roll with pepperoncini < $6

such is the case with love ‘n haight in san francisco. the unassuming hole-in-the-wall sandwich shop goes out of their way to cater to herbivores, and the food is pretty damn good.

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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…

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mrs. winston’s green grocery is a herbivore’s paradise. the small market has a few locations on LA’s west side, and each one comes equipped with a vegan-friendly salad bar that puts all other los angeles pay-by-weight buffet options to shame. at $7.95 per pound, you have your pick of constantly rotating salads, pastas, vegetable, fake meats, soups, breads, desserts, and more.

all vegan!

we recently checked out the ocean park storefront, and were blown away (AGAIN!) by the vegan selections of the day. as you can see above, EVERYTHING pictured was vegan, and labeled as such. and there was even more…

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you guys already know how much we LOVE gracias madre, san francisco’s entirely vegan mexican restaurant.

welp, we checked them out for a second time over the holidays, and i’m happy to report that our meal was just as epic as on our first visit. here are the pictures to prove it…

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there’s no shortage of delicious vegan food in london, and one place that’s definitely worth a visit is vitao in soho. the small eatery has a sort of hippie vibe, and a very complicated menu depending on the time of day you’re dining.

we checked them out back in late 2010 at around 4:30pm on a weekday, during the tail end of their “asian fusion lunch buffet.”

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los angeles vegans, rejoice! cafe gratitude is opening today in larchmont village!

vegan cheesy potatoes will be there!

the vegetarian restaurant chain (almost entirely vegan, but some menu items contain honey), is already a huge hit in the bay area and we are so happy they’ve decided to set up shop in LA. and in even better news, they’ll be serving some of the menu items from their sister restaurant gracias madre (one of our favorite places EVER)!

lilliam over at mondette stopped by the new cafe gratitude location and swiped a copy of the insane-looking menu. check it out:

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earlier this week, i put the call out for readers to send in photos of veganized recipes from the sriracha cookbook, because we here at QG HQ are obsessed with the cock sauce.

shortly after that, kevin from vegan brew sent us some extremely appetizing photos of his veganized “honey-sriracha glazed buffalo wings.” funny thing is, he made the same recipe that we posted on earlier…but he veganized it in a totally different way, using seitan rather than gardein. check it:

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time for another field report by JL goes vegan. this one comes to us from cafe sunflower all the way over in atlanta, georgia. enjoy!

A few months ago I made reservations for a business trip to Atlanta. I put a call out to my friends on Twitter for dining recommendations and Cafe Sunflower was suggested by many. I now know why.

Cafe Sunflower is located in Buckhead, a short 15 minute cab ride from downtown Atlanta. There is a groovy atmosphere in the restaurant with red walls, large paintings, curtains and mirrors. The host greeted us warmly and the server, Joe, was friendly and fun.

We began with the Butternut Squash Soup…

and Black Bean Chili and Avocado.

Both dishes were on the “Vegan Gourmet Specials” of the day.

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what you sick people come here for.

vegan creme eggs by brittany…

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hey everyone! today’s quick bite comes to us from fred (aka @cycled) who visited maggiemudd, a very vegan-friendly ice cream parlor in san francisco, over presidents day weekend. man, i really wanna go here someday. check it out.

We arrived here on a Sunday afternoon looking to indulge in some tasty treats after withstanding the deluge on Saturday. After staring at the menu board denoting a multitude of variations available to make your ultimate frozen treat, I couldn’t help but feel indecisive.

Mudslide and Birthday Cake, covered with soy whip, sliced almonds, and cookie crumbs. $7

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we bought the sriracha cookbook the day it came out, with hopes of working our way through it and veganizing the recipes. it looks like ryann from my whole deal has beat us to it and already gotten started with sweet-sriracha glazed buffalo tenders.

vegan sweet-sriracha glazed buffalo tenders by mywholedeal.com

check out her blog post to see how she did it, using agave, gardein, and of course…SRIRACHA. have you veganized any recipes from the sriracha cookbook? if so, send me pix and i will post them. i am sriracha obsessed.

since pitfire pizza started carrying daiya cheese about a month ago, it has become one of our favorite places to dine. with their amazingly crispy brick oven baked pies, nice selection of craft beer on tap, fresh healthy salads, and four locations in los angeles, there’s certainly a lot to love about pitfire.

be an artist pizza with daiya cheese, mushrooms, onion. $11.95

recently, i’ve been hitting up the north hollywood restaurant pretty regularly with my omnivore parents and they both agree that this is the best vegan pizza they’ve ever eaten…

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