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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the other day i hit up doomie’s with my better half to prove to him that i wasn’t lying about the insane vegan big mac on the secret menu. thankfully the restaurant is still serving up the double decker sandwiches to customers in the know, and we were able to score one…

vegan big mac with fries. $10.95

my second vegan big mac experience was just as good as the first, and i feel the need to re-iterate that i think this is the best fast food style burger by far in LA, and maybe even the whole world. i’ve never had anything like it. the combination of the fat soy beefy patties and doomie’s homemade cheddar-style cheese is a beautiful one. plus they have all the big mac details down, from the shredded lettuce to the diced onions to the sesame seed bun and the flavors in the sauce.

we also grabbed a philly cheesesteak sandwich (without bell peppers)…

vegan philly cheesesteak: strips of beef smothered in homemade vegan cheese with grilled onions, peppers, and mushrooms. $8.95

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okay, so recently shojin (downtown LA’s premiere vegan spot) introduced a new sushi menu. naturally, i had to check it out. last week i hit up the little tokyo restaurant armed with only an iphone and my pals from clara’s cakes for a light dinner of rolls split between the table. the food was fantastic, the service was friendly, and the all around experience was perfect.

rock mountain roll: tempura shiitake mushrooms and green onions in a vegetable roll, served with wasabi mayo and soy sauce. $10.95

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you guys are in luck! today we have a guest post from the sexy vegan, with an outtake recipe from his upcoming cookbook that deals with one of our favoritest foods ever: JACKFRUIT! if you live in LA, you’re probably mourning the loss of pure luck’s insane bbq jackfruit sandwich, so i highly suggest you give this one a shot. you can get canned jackfruit at indian or asian markets, as well as a grocery warehouse on the east side and figgy prod in highland park. enjoy!

During my extensive search of the elusive jackfruit for a recipe for my upcoming cookbook The Sexy Vegan Cookbook: Extraordinary Food from an Ordinary Dude (thought I’d get the shameless plugging out of the way early), I found myself – as I often do – at my favorite Indian market/eatery, Samosa House in Culver City. When I walked in, I spotted an Indian woman talking to another woman, and they were gesturing to an object that I was pretty sure was a jackfruit. It seemed the Indian woman was schooling the other woman on everything about the fruit. I was very much interested in what she was saying, but I didn’t want to interrupt, so I figured I’d do my shopping first, and when they were done, would ask the Indian woman all about it. After about 5 minutes or so, the other woman walked away, and I approached the Indian woman. She explained to me that it was indeed a jackfruit, and proceeded to tell me all about it. Where it grows. How to break one down. How the ripe ones bear a sweet fruit, while you can cook the “meat” of an un-ripened, or “green” one to achieve the texture of pulled pork (which is why I was interested in it). She spent 7 or 8 minutes politely educating me, and answering all my questions. When we were about done, and I was ready to go to her manager and tell him how helpful she had been, I finally asked her how often they get them in. She said, “I don’t know. I don’t work here, I’m just buying vegetables.” Oops…I think I was profiling at the Indian market. My bad. She was super nice and helpful though. I’m sure she’s great at whatever job she does.

I did not, however purchase that one, as it was already ripened and sweet. And while I was able to finally find a source for the jackfruit, I ultimately decided that the it was too difficult to come by, and therefore not ready to be in the book. But if you can find some, here’s a little something I’ve come up with. Enjoy!…

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it was a sad day as we learned one of our favorite vegan products is no more: the vegan mozzarella teese sticks by chicago soydairy have officially been discontinued. their run was short lived, but i speak from personal experience when i say these things were AMAZING. they were my favorite discovery at expo west earlier this year, and i was lucky enough to enjoy a whole bag of them at home. if you live in LA, you may have tried them at tony’s darts away, or grabbed them at viva la vegan in rancho cucamonga. wherever you obtained them from, if you ate these things, consider yourself lucky.

fried up and crispy with melty stretchy vegan cheese inside, these were some of the best snack foods i’ve ever eaten. they were too good for this world!

on the happy news front, it appears chicago soydairy is expanding their business like never before…and now teese is even available at whole foods on the west coast. if you haven’t tried teese yet, track it down. it’s definitely one of (if not the) best vegan cheeses available in america.

let this serve as a reminder to you all: buy vegan products like they’re going out of style, stock pile them, and freeze them for the apocalypse…or the sad day they get discontinued.

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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don’t miss this! for a limited time, madeleine bistro is selling coupons to get $20 worth of food for ten bucks! the restaurant is now open on saturday and sunday evenings as well as sunday for brunch…and if you haven’t tried it yet, now’s your chance! we’re approaching the holiday season, which means they’re starting to roll out thanksgiving menu specials!

get your coupon here, and if you ever see the thanksgiving sandwich on the menu (herbed seitan, cranberry mayo, caramelized onions, gravy), ORDER IT!

as you probably know, we’ve been tracking the culinary adventures of the band silver snakes as they tour around the western US. band member alex has been texting me all kinds of delicious looking snapshots of life on the road from restaurants in california, nevada, idaho, washington, and oregon. the silver snakes tour wraps up sunday in los angeles with a CD release party at amplyfi at 7pm, and i implore all of you local readers to come show some support and rock out.

back to the food…alex ran into some phone trouble on tour, and was unable to text me photos of his bay area meals, but sent me the following text:

Eating alone at Souley Vegan. It’s too good. I’m going to die. Just fried tofu, mac, and greens. But I already had a stomach ache. FML. Come to the LA show!

the picture above is from a meal i ate a while ago back at souley, but you get the idea. anyways, let’s all show up at the silver snakes show on sunday. again, that’s 10/23 at 7pm (the band will prob go on a couple hours later) at amplyfi. it’s super close to astro burger, so we can get dinner after. sound good?

today’s field report is by christina, who recently went on a european trip and stopped off in rome, italy for some vegan gelato. i’m jealous!

Just a short walk from the beautiful Trevi Fountain is Gelateria Valentino, one of my first stops every time I go to Rome. It’s true that all throughout Italy you can get vegan sorbet, (though you always have to ask which sorbets don’t contain milk–many flavors do, and it varies by establishment.) but it’s very rare to find a soy gelato, which makes it creamier and comes in non-fruit flavors.

Valentino’s always has two soy (or soia as it’s called in Italy) flavors, and often there is a rich chocolate flavor that doesn’t contain soy or milk. I have spoken with the owner, Valentino on several occasions and he understands the needs of the vegan customer and neither he nor his staff will steer you wrong. The best part, though, is that the gelato is delicious! Creamy, refreshing–a truly artisan delight. One of the places in L.A. boasting vegan offerings is icy and I can tell they haven’t mastered the art of making an amazing vegan offering. Not so with Valentino’s. Not to mention, for a location so near the Trevi, the price is very reasonable. (About $3 US for two scoops.)

Via del Lavatore, 96
Tel +39 06.6783219
Website: http://www.gelateriavalentino.it

it’s vegan field report time! this one comes to us from fellow vegan blogger jessica of bein’ green savin’ green, and today she reviews a meal with her family at life alive in cambridge, MA. check it out, and bookmark this in case you’re ever in mass.

On my most recent trip to Boston, I dined at a fairly new vegetarian restaurant called Life Alive, in Cambridge. Located halfway between Harvard and MIT, the hipster café has both a spiritual and intellectual vibe served with a side of healthy, delicious food. The café interior is both relaxing and invigorating, which works perfectly with the energizing meals. There are even motivating phrases painted on the wall.

At first glance, the menu sounded rather dull. It was merely a mix of various vegetables, some that didn’t even seem like they would go well together. I am so glad I gave this place a chance. It truly proved that just because something is healthy, doesn’t mean it’s tasteless.

My dad ordered a bowl of chili…

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the silver snakes tour is wrapping up this weekend, but we’re still on the road with the dudes as they make their way down to los angeles. yesterday they were still in oregon, and sent me a day full of vegan updates via text message from band member alex. check it out:

Morning Glory Cafe in Eugene, OR

Morning glory cafe, Eugene OR. Vegan biscuits n’ gravy and a blueberry hazelnut smoothie. This was awesome and under 10 bucks! Eugene is such a beautiful town.

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hey guys! i know this blog is mainly about vegan food, but we are huge beer fans as well, so i wanted to let you know about the 3rd annual LA beer week beer fest that’s going down this sunday at union station from noon – 4pm.

we attended the fest last year, and it was fantastic! so much craft beer from all over the world (over 70 breweries!), plus various lectures and events that you can attend throughout the day. on top of it being a lot of fun, it was super well organized with no long lines. on top of all that, it’s held at a train station, which means super easy to get to and no need to drink and drive. get tickets here!

full disclosure: the food trucks at the fest this year aren’t looking very vegan-friendly (grill ’em all, flatiron, crazy creole and cheeseball wagon), so i suggest you hit up shojin beforehand (and after!) and try out their new menu.

tony yanow—the vegan behind 2 of our favorite establishments, tony’s darts away and mohawk bend—has been working hard this year. in between running his popular burbank bar and opening a massive gastro pub in echo park, he’s assembled an all star beer team (meg gill of speakeasy and oskar blues as the co-owner, jon carpenter of dogfishead as the brewmaster) and in less than 5 months has launched golden road brewery. we attended the grand opening of the massive atwater village compound on sunday and had a blast.

not only did we sample what golden road has been brewing (their signature hefe, point the way IPA, and burning bush smoked IPA were all awesome!), we also got a sneak peek at the brewery’s pub/restaurant that’s slated to open later this year, and got our fill of vegan food prepared by their chef randal st. clair. check it out…

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yep! we’re still on tour with the band silver snakes, and today they’re hitting the vegan capital of america: portand, oregon. here’s what they’ve eaten so far, as texted to me by band member alex.

Sizzle Pie in Portland

Sizzle pie. Portland, OR. Special veggie slice of the day and “half” a slice of the “spinal tap” (no cheese, carmelized onion spread and nutritional yeast) the crust is amazing. Super glad we checked this place out!

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the much anticipated long beach vegan eatery opened its doors to the public the other day, and we haven’t had a chance to get down there yet! we posted the menu yesterday, and now we’ve got a full on field report sent in by sasha. i’m hoping that because she visited on the first day, LBVE is still working out some of the kinks. i think i’ll give them some time to fix the glitches, and hit them up in a few weeks. check it out:

my boyfriend and I ordered the tots, a chicken sando, the bbq drumsticks, and a whoopie pie.

drumstick style chick'n basked in sweet and our or bbq sauce. served with one choice of side and a roll. $9.95

the drumsticks tasted great, but they were still cold in the middle! any they weren’t anything i couldn’t have made easily at home.

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