vegan field report time! this one comes to us again from kris of veganscraps. she’s done us the favor of reviewing yet another awesome NYC vegan find, v-note. enjoy!

So, today I made my way over to 1st avenue on the Upper East Side to try a new vegan restaurant called “V-Note“, which is partly owned by the same owner as the Blossom restaurants (Cafe Blossom UWS/Blossom Chelsea). I love the Blossom restaurants so I had to try this one and review it.

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worried about getting all the nutrients you need as a vegan? here is a handy food pyramid you can follow. 😉

vegan food pyramid

i saw this over on vegan in america’s dairyland and had to share it with you guys because i am somewhat obsessed with sriracha.

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as vegan pizza day rapidly approaches, it’s important that i blog about as much vegan pizza as possible.

i have raved about the vegan ny-style pizza by the slice from hard times in silverlake before, and after sharing some pies with a group of friends, i’m an even bigger fan. not only did the pizza taste terrific, but it was enormous and moderately priced.

yes, hard times has beer as well!

we hit them up on a thursday lunch time and pretty much had the place to ourselves. there were 6 of us dining together, so we called in two large 18″ vegan pizzas to share–one cheese and mushroom (pictured above), and one plain cheese…

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Back in the early 80s I lived in Camden Town, North London. It was a wonderful place to be. I could (and did) pop to the Camden Palais to see The Smiths perform. I nightclubbed there with Blondie, Ringo Starr and even Iggy Pop (but I don’t recall much of that evening…).

Camden is known mainly for its street market which, back then, was only open on Sundays. Unless you were visiting specifically for the market it was best to avoid the whole area, as thousands of Londoners and tourists would descend, rendering it impassable for everybody else. Nowadays, the laws of supply and demand have prevailed and Camden Market has expanded to about two square miles with hundreds of stalls and FIVE dedicated food areas. The market is also open seven days a week, and now sells everything from boots to boiled bagels.

Sometimes when we visit London, we stay in Camden – it’s convenient for getting around and the late night scene (although no longer at the now-defunct Camden Palais) means that there are plenty of bars and clubs open to the wee hours. One of our favorite places to chill is in the Hawley Arms, the world-famous watering hole oft-frequented by Amy Winehouse, Blur, Oasis (of course, never at the same time) and Alice Cooper, to name but a few.

Steps away from the Hawley Arms is the northern part of the market which is built under old railway arches and a train repair shop right by the canal. The place is beautiful, and really worth a trip when you go. We visited a few vegan places there last autumn, but none was more memorable (in the worst way possible) than Ha Ha Veggie Bar.

Ha Ha Veggie Bar is the stand on the right, with the menu written in green

We showed up mid-morning just as the market was getting going for the day and were greeted in a somewhat sullen manner by the lady serving at the counter. After establishing that nearly everything was vegan (other than the real cheese option), we ordered the Garlic Home Made Veggie Burger, which she prepared on a hot grill inside the stand right in front of us using fresh ingredients. After a wait of about 10 minutes we were handed a plump, juicy burger with grilled onions, crunchy lettuce and wonderful vegan garlic mayo. I’m glad we ordered only one to share, because it was way too big for one person to eat alone.

Vegan Burger with Garlic Mayo, Lettuce and Onion. ₤3

After we finished the burger, I returned to the stand to thank the server and take a couple of pictures (from a distance) ready to blog my guts out about how wonderful the experience had been…

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i am always a huge fan of the monthly specials at hugo’s restaurant, and this month is no different. you must (MUST!) get over there and try out the roasted vegetable enchilada burrito before january ends.

Roasted Vegetable Enchilada Burrito (vegan): A blend of diced roasted vegetables (butternut squash, carrots, broccoli, potato, onion), chopped spinach, brown rice, a black bean cake and avocado. Rolled in an organic whole wheat tortilla and topped with enchilada sauce, Daiya vegan cheese and cilantro. Served with slow cooked organic black beans in a roasted tomato-chipotle sauce and garnished with a lime cabbage-vegetable slaw. $12.50

first off, this thing is a beast. it’s huge and stuffed with so much good stuff, you won’t be able to eat it one sitting.

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holy shit guys, the vegan pizza revolution is underway! the other day i was getting ready for vegan pizza day and browsing their website for pizzerias that sell vegan pie. i coudn’t believe my eyes when i clicked on the valencia tab and saw that red brick pizza (the huge chain) is now offering daiya.

please note: this is not a red brick pizza, it's a daiya publicity photo

in disbelief, i picked up the phone and called the red brick pizza on copper hill in santa clarita. sure enough the dude on the phone confirmed that they had just started carrying daiya, and that both the standard crust and sauce were vegan. i hung up and called the pasadena location. they had daiya as well. i hung up and called the long beach location. they were out of daiya, but would be getting more soon.

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this is just a heads up to let everyone know that the carvel ice cream in beverly hills makes make vegan versions of old school ice cream cakes, including the cookie puss! it’s seriously too good to be true…their cake page is insane, and they can all be veganized. i have never had a vegan ice cream cake, but i’m freaking dying to try one. all i need is 14 friends to help me eat it. :/

this is a vegan classic cookie puss that carolyn from the healthy voyager got for her birthday. i’m totally jealous.

vegan ice cream cakes are available from the beverly hills location only, so give them a call or send them an email to order your cake. they responded to my email almost immediately!

carvel 90210
421 N. Rodeo Dr.
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
310-278-5411
carvel90210@me.com

if you aren’t already hip to figueroa produce in highland park, you need to get over there. the neighborhood grocery store is super vegan-friendly and has more cutting edge products than anywhere else in los angeles.

insane vegan meats

when i popped by over the weekend for one of the epic deli sandwiches, they were handing out samples of vegan meat by a company called fry’s that totally blew my mind…

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As a London-resident lacto-ovo vegetarian for decades, I’d always enjoy a trip to Pizza Express. The stone cold marble tables, tiled floor and dim halogen lighting set an urban chic vibe alongside some amazing pizza offerings, many of which are vegetarian. Re-visiting Pizza Express, though, as a vegan required some reorientation with both the the menu and ordering tradition.

Pizza Express uses a brick oven and hand creates all its dough from scratch daily, as well as preparing fresh ingredients for all the pizzas. The menu often changes, but there is a common core of excellent pizzas, and many of the famous stables (like my old favorite, the Fiorentina) are vegetarian. As any vegan knows, it’s MUCH easier to engineer vegan options from a strongly lacto-ovo menu than it is to try and eke out a vegan existence in a very meat-friendly establishment.

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wanna get the green truck’s famous mother trucker burger for just ONE DOLLAR on groundhog day?! if 1,000 people rsvp and say they want it by the end of the january, it’s game on.

the mother trucker: signature vegan burger made in house and topped with heirloom tomato, sprouts or mixed greens, topped with trucker sauce. normally $7....GET IT FOR A BUCK!

the green truck’s vegan burger is epic. not only is it massive, but it’s stacked with scrumptious vegetables and the most delicious sauce. i’ve heard people call it the best veggie burger in los angeles, and i’d say it’s definitely a front-runner. it usually clocks in at $7, so you are not gonna want to miss this chance to get it for a buck…

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los angeles! what are you doing this friday night?! i’ll tell you what you are doing! you’re heading over to doomie’s to meet melisser elliot, author of the vegan girl’s guide to life!

you guys probably already know melisser from her blog the urban housewife, but now she’s gone and gotten all legit with her own book and everything…

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we will miss you, garden blend!

this is sad news indeed! after a trial run period that lasted about 8 months, we’ve heard that chipotle has decided to pull the plug on gardein and stop offering the vegan garden blend option at most of its LA locations.

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well we can’t say we’re too surprised (especially after being fed items full of egg and dairy that were clearly marked as vegan on the menu), but mani’s on maple has decided to call it quits for good less than 3 months after moving to their new beverly hills location.

unaware of the closure, one quarrygirl.com reader wrote to mani’s customer service about their reduced hours. here’s the rude response she received from the restaurant:

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i haven’t seen anything this awesome in awhile. apparently this chicago-based missed connections ad was inspired by one of our favorite vegan products and sponsors of vegan pizza day, teese by chicago soydairy.

heyo!

“If you want to get together sometime before Monday and drink PBR and make vegan grilled cheese, we’re in if you are.”

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the best indian pizza (vegan): Topped with Spinach, Egg Plant, Cauliflower, Ginger, Garlic, Green Onions, Cilantro. $23.99

i spent new years weekend in san francisco. if that wasn’t awesome to begin with, my group of friends’ new years eve plans involved dinner at zante pizza. the option of having dinner at zante’s was presented to me over IM:

“hey, how does vegan indian pizza and $5 pitchers of beer on nye sound?”
“UM, AMAZING”

and so it was decided.

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