los angeles vegans, you need to drop whatever you are doing on sunday and get over to the verdugo bar because our favorite catering duo hot knives is taking over the patio again with another epic feast.

we attended both hot knives events at the verdugo in august, and i can honestly say they served some of the best food that i’ve ever eaten. not just that, but the music was good, the patio was relaxing, and the beer was tasty.

this weekend hot knives are coming back to host an “over the oktoberfest” celebration that will feature an arm wrestling competition and vegan german grub. the plan for the menu is vegan soaked in Rausch beer for smokey brats, with veeg sides to choose from. you would be insane to miss this. seriously, how often do we herbivores get to take part in the oktoberfest fun?

here is the press release and more info incase you wanna get involved in the arm wrestling competition:

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vegan tofu scramble + craftsman 1903 lager

a gastropub in los angeles with 25 impressive beers on tap and a delicious vegan option? yep, it’s true. if you wanna get your drink (craftsman-style in my case) and enjoy a two-course vegan brunch, look no further than boho in hollywood.

boho has been open for less than a year, but their beer selection has already made them one of my favorite bars in town. other than blue palms and the verdugo, i can’t think of anywhere with such a great beer selection. plus unlike the two joints i just mentioned, boho has awesome hours and decent parking (they are in the same complex as the archlight theatre, and they validate!).

the rotating beer list that always boasts several international selections would keep me going back time and time again…but as an added bonus, boho also has a vegan option on their sunday brunch menu. while their one vegan item is merely a tofu scramble, it’s a damn good one…and even better when you consider the fact you can eat it while sipping on imported beer for a reasonable price in the heart of hollywood.

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one thing we rarely get to enjoy as vegans is cheap bar snacks…but at tube in portland, we can. the arty hipster haven has a badass happy hour from 5 to 10pm with $2 tall boys and loads of vegan menu items at 3 bucks or under.

we hit up tube at around 7pm, before it got super crowded, and dined out on happy hour specials. they also were offering a full dinner menu with lots of vegan options, but we decided bar snacks would be much more special.

my favorite dish we ordered was the professor nanotear muffin pictured above (a slice of grilled vegan ham and vegan cheese between an english muffin and homemade spicy chipotle veganaise, $3). it was thin and greasy, and not much to look at…but it sure tasted fantastic. the vegan ham/cheese/english muffin was a winning combo…soft, salty, melty and crunchy all at once.

vegan ghost dog with mustard. $2

we also tried the vegan ghost dog, a simple vegan hot dog smothered in spicy mustard. now this is definitely something i could make easily at home—but for just $2 in a cool bar, i’ll take it!

lastly, we shared the vegan taco which was freakin’ huge for 3 bucks. it came filled with tasty tofu scramble, which you can’t see in the picture because it’s covered in fresh lettuce and tomatoes. again, this thing wasn’t spectacular…but it was damn good and after eating it, i wanted another.

vegan taco: homemade spicy tofu scramble in a grilled flour tortilla topped with shredded lettuce and vegan cheese and diced tomatoes. $3

the great thing about tube, on top of the vegan-friendly menu, is the design and atmosphere of the place. the place is super slick and super trashy at the same time. everyone who works there is beyond cool and decked out in the height of fashion, like they just stepped out of the pages of an indie rock magazine. the bar is designed to look like the inside of a television, with a green glow and curved glossy walls…and the place is plastered with cool posters and art.

behind the table we were sitting at, there was a pop art piece on the wall with dozens of little red-eyed bunnies, and the word “fuck” scrawled several times beneath them. i dug it.

fuck bunny

after throwing back too many tall boys and snacking away on bar food, i decided it was time to move on to real booze. luckily, tube had a vegan white russian (my favorite drink) on the menu. i was so fucking excited about this, and i don’t know why. i’ve had thousands of vegan white russians in the comfort of my own home, but here i was with the opportunity to drink one in an ultramodern dive bar in one of the coolest cities i’ve ever visited. of course i indulged.

vegan white russian

tube’s vegan white russian was awesome and the bartender gave me a great pour. it would be SO DAMN EASY for all bars to offer this drink…all they need to do is stock some soy creamer behind the bar. until that day, i guess i will just dream of far away places like tube.

so if you like dive bars, modern bars, cool design, hispters, cheap food, or good drinks…be sure to make a stop at tube when you are in portland. you will definitely have a memorable experience.

i fucking love this place.

tube
18 NW Third Ave
Portland, OR 97209
(503) 241-8823
open 7 days at 5pm

just when i thought it was safe to return to the verdugo bar to get my drink on, without tempting vegan food vying for valuable stomach space, mandoline grill had to show up and ruin it.

you see, verdugo bar has long been a favorite spot of ours, what with arguably the best beer selection in los angeles and a great atmosphere. but for the 2nd and 3rd sunday in august, the culinary geniuses known as hot knives took over the verdugo patio and transformed the place from an dark and cold foodless bar into the ultimate summer hang-out, complete with an all vegan menu, tons of board games, and a stellar music playlist. after two weekends of fun, the hot knives packed up their bags and i figured that for me the verdugo was back to normal—back to being a bar where beer reigned supreme without distraction.

then mandoline grill had to come along and prove me wrong. last sunday the soon-to-be regularly operating vietnamese food truck set up shop on the patio and served a delicious lunch in the heat. while their menu wasn’t entirely vegan, they did have some animal-free options that were really fucking tasty.

vegan lemongrass tofu banh mi. $5

the first was a lemongrass tofu banh mi. i am a pretty big banh mi fan in general anyway, and i can tell you that this was a really good one. the tofu tasted like it had been marinated for a long time, its flavors were intense and went all the way to the middle. the vegetables were fresh, and the french baguette was perfectly crunchy. plus, mandoline grill added a healthy amount of vegenaise to make the sandwich nice and creamy.

vegan cha gio. $3.50

they also offered vegan cha gio, fried spring rolls filled with faux meat. the rolls were pretty hearty and cost $2 each, or 2 for $3.50…definitely a decent price. the cha gio was rich, oily, and really delicious—it tasted like what i remember egg rolls tasting like but without the weird aftertaste. i would definitely order these little suckers again.

i’m pretty sure this was the mandoline grill’s first time serving food to the public, so they seemed a little stressed out and there were a couple delays. however, what they lacked in smoothness, they made up for with absolutely delicious vegan food. another great thing about mandoline grill is that they were pretty knowledgeable about veganism. they stressed to me that even the bread was vegan, and that everything was cooked separately and with different utensils. awesome. i can’t wait until they get there food truck up and running—i know i’ll be one of the first customers in line.

so let’s hope the verdugo continues to be awesome and host patio events that serve vegan food. it’s strange that my favorite bar in town is slowly becoming one of my favorite places to eat as well, but hey i’m not complaining.

for more info, follow @verdugobar and @mandolinegrill on twitter

a 100% vegan pub. i still can’t really wrap my mind around it. since i’m a huge fan of both good beer and vegan food, for me the bye and bye in portland is a dream come true. quality brews on tap, a laid back bar atmosphere, and a menu from which i can order anything. holy hell, i thought i was in heaven this year when i visited an all vegetarian pub…the fact that i now have been to an all vegan pub is almost too awesome for me to handle.

meatball sub: fresh baguette with veggie meatballs, marinara, and melted cheese with choice of side. $8

the bye and bye’s menu is a slight diversion from your standard pub grub of burgers and chips. they focus more on hearty down-home style entrees, with a healthy twist. you’ll find things like a bbq brussel bowl with tofu, sprouts and rice…or a braised tofu sandwich with a side of black-eyed peas. i ordered the meatball sub because i’d heard great things about it, and man oh man, all the positive reviews were true. the sandwich came on a huge fresh baguette of the highest quality and was packed with loads of thick meatballs and tasty, chunky marinara sauce. the vegan cheese wasn’t really melted as the menu suggested, whatever dude, it tasted good all the same. not since doomie’s (rest in peace) have i had a vegan meatball sub this incredible. for a side dish, i went a bowl of collard greens to round out the home-cookin’ feel, and they were excellent.

eastern bowl: spicy asian tofu, brown rice, and broccoli served with peanut sauce. $8

my husband got the eastern bowl, a mix of tofu, rice and vegetables all smothered in peanut sauce. i had a few bites of this thing and it was damn good as well—the crusted asian tofu and crunchy fresh broccoli was just perfect mixed up in the tangy sauce. normally not a peanut fan, my husband completely polished it off. everything in the bowl was perfectly cooked and seasoned, from the flavorful tofu, to the delicate rice, to the amazing gooey sauce.

on top of the excellent food, the bye and bye also has a great beer selection—better than most los angeles bars, for sure.

add to all that a slick, comfortable interior and extremely friendly service (the vegan bartender was super nice and gave us the rundown on the pdx vegan scene), and you have quite possibly the best pub in the world.

don’t miss this place when you are in portland. the bye and bye is the intersection of good beer and tasty vegan food…my two favorite things.

bye and bye
1011 NE Alberta St
Portland, OR 97211
Hours: Sunday 12pm-2:30am, Mon-Thurs 4pm-2:30am, Friday 2pm-2:30am, Saturday 12pm-2:30am.

As a globe trotting vegetarian, I recall attending many cheese and wine parties all over the world. I’ve eaten Brie atop the Eiffel Tower, Feigenbergkäse in the caves of the Black Forest, Gouda on a barge in Amsterdam and Formaggio Branzi while listening to the Pope recite Easter mass in The Vatican. For me, a combination of cheese, crackers, fruit and good wine or beer is the epitome of cosmopolitan Hors d’œuvre the world over. As vegans, though, we can’t eat the cheese, and the crackers are usually full of whey, butter and cheese so they are off limits too.

Given the lack of any vegan cheese and wine party invites, we decided to host our own, with ourselves as guests. We visited Whole Foods beforehand to stock up on vegan organic wine, my favorite bottled beer (Chimay) and some organic, vegan crackers, assorted fruits and a smidgen of vegan chocolate, all to be enjoyed with the incredible Dr. Cow vegan cheese.

We’re not talking about Daiya-style melty cheese that you’d put on a pizza or in a toasted sandwich, but a direct replacement for those expensive, tasty and pungent cheeses that go so well on a cracker with a bite of fruit, washed down with fine wine or beer.

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UPDATE sunday 4:30pm: HOT KNIVES RAN OUT OF FOOD! the BBQ is over. it was so fucking good, consider yourself lucky if you got to eat there.

los angeles vegans, drop whatever you are doing today and head over the the verdugo bar where hot knives is throwing an all vegan bbq from 2 – 7pm.

on the menu, you’ll find pulled “pork” bbq sandwiches, curried seitan banh mi, seeded cole slaw, hand cut chips, and frozen lambic popsicles.

we went to the verdugo hot knives bbq last weekend, and i can tell you it was the best food i’ve had in a long, long time. for our full review and pictures of every menu item, check out this post.

don’t miss this event today, or you will be sorry.

Curried Seitan Bahn Mi.

Curried Seitan Bahn Mi.

Forty years ago this weekend, The Beatles walked across a pedestrian crossing outside Abbey Road Studios, London and signaled the end of the Swinging Sixties. Their iconic, final Abbey Road album was about bringing things together – after all, it begins with John Lennon’s anthem for togetherness, “Come Together”, and ends with Paul McCartney’s appropriately titled “The End”. Sometimes, the best things in life mean so much more when brought together than enjoyed on their own, just like the final recording sessions of The Beatles.

Take my favorite things: vegan food, awesome music, special beer and good friends. Bring them together, give them to me in abundance and I’ll be as sound as a pound.

I write this post replete from all of the above, following this afternoon’s visit to what is arguably LA’s best bar, The Verdugo in Glassel Park. The Verdugo is usually a late-night haunt for us, it being dark, candle-lit and having an innovative beer menu. Today, though, we were spoiled with not only some amazing beers, but the a visit from Hot Knives, the “out there” vegetarian bloggers, chefs, beer experts and all-around-cool-dudes who had brought along a streamlined, but very effective vegan food menu. They called it the Gnosh Pit, and oh boy, did we GNOSH!

The bad news is that Hot Knives has a very limited engagement with Verdugo – only two days. The good news is that you can catch all this again NEXT Sunday 16th (although the menu items may vary from what we describe here).

Let’s talk about the food. First, they approached the occasion from a tangent, offering five menu items – two entrées, two sides and a dessert. With two entrées, the good news is that you’re going to eat not one, but two signature dishes:

Vegan BBQ Bun.

The “BBQ Bun” was a force to be reckoned with – Oyster mushrooms roasted twice and soaked in sweet vinegar spiked BBQ sauce, served between a soft, seasme-seeded bun.

Curried Seitan Bahn Mi with Seeded Cole Slaw.

The “Bahn Mi” was ready to kick you in the fucking face (time and time again) with fresh green chilies, cilantro, spicy curry seitan (the best I’ve had in a long time) and crusty bread. It was HOT, TASTY, CRUNCHY and so amazing that I ate two and wished I’d taken another home for dinner.

Fresh Chips.

Yeah, and the sides were also out of this world. Taking potato chips and making them special is rather tricky, but the Hot Knives dudes made it happen. The chips were sliced thin, fried hot and fast and served with kim chi dipping sauce. They vaporized from the table in about eight seconds, if that’s any evidence of the their delectability.

The cole slaw (pictured above with the bahn mi) had purple cabbage, green cabbage and some other stuff, all served in a tangy sauce with the perfect combination of crunch and mush. These guys know how to make a coleslaw hater become a coleslaw lover.

Lambic Pop. (That's what she said!)

On to the end, the desert was out of this world. Frankly, Lambic is not to everybody’s taste – it’s like a cross between raspberry daiquiri and a hard beer. The Lambic Pops (ignoring the phallic representation) could have been a meal in and of themselves. What an amazing idea?!

The Hot Knives Dudes making our epic feast

The Hot Knives folks were so nice — after every visit (and there were many) to the food area we were served politely, told to “tell our friends” and given food and a friendly attitude to die for. I’d do this every weekend (or every day) if my work schedule and liver allowed it.

Ah, the food. Well, that’s just one item of convergence we’re talking about here – the next is music. Talking of The Beatles, as we sat down to enjoy our Fresh Chips, George Harrison came over the PA system with his eponymous “For You Blue” from the album recorded a few months before Abbey Road. Yeah, he probably wasn’t singing about the erect, blue Lambic Pops, but the music was great and the pops were cold, so who gives a shit? The Beatles were followed by Dandy Warhols, Velvet Underground and many of my favorite bands in tight rotation.

Ok, we have food and music, let’s talk about beer. In fact, after several Pliny The Elders (strangely the very first post on this site), I’m not going to talk very much about the beer, except to say that with 20+ beers on tap you can find one of LA’s best beer selections at your beck and call. Just show up at Verdudo, read the beer menu and let your designated driver take you home. Enough Said. Remember to check in advance, though, which beers are vegan. Most of the craft brews served here are, but better to be safe than carnivorous.

Outdoor Patio at Verdugo Bar

Food, music, beer, FRIENDS – yeah, what was originally a 45 minute stop over on the way somewhere became a 2+ hour chillin’ session when we ran into the awesome Foodeater of To Live and Eat in LA . We talked about friends, food, beer, and stuff we wouldn’t post in a family oriented blog (I’m serious). Upon leaving, our perspective of what’s important in life was firmly reinforced: Awesome food, great music, special beer and good friends.

For more updates about what’s going on at Verdugo Bar, follow them on twitter…. @verdugobar

here at quarrygirl.com, we do our best to scour the los angeles restaurant scene and report back on all the vegan pizza that’s available. recently, one of our secret operatives was relocated to las vegas for a couple months, and within the first 4 hours of his arrival, he sent us evidence of vegan pizza in the desert.

it turns out the massive vegan-friendly whole foods on la vegas blvd is serving up vegan pizza in their prepared food section. and like a handful of whole foods stores in southern california, the vegas location is now using stretchy, melty daiya vegan cheese to cover their pies. if ronald’s donuts wasn’t enough, it looks like there is another amazing cruelty-free option in sin city. seriously, if you haven’t had daiya yet, you need to try it and see what all the fuss is about.

12 inch vegan pizza with daiya, tomato, basil and fresh garlic. $8.99

of course our operative ordered the vegan pizza and sent us his findings, as well as all the awesome photos throughout this post. here is some of the vital information we gathered from his report.

– the girl making pizza was super nice and friendly.
– operative questioned the employee about the brand of cheese. she said it was new and went to get the box. she returned to the counter with a “big ass box” of daiya cheese.
– vegas whole foods offers a large pizza, as well as 12″ and 8″ versions
– operative was told the large pizza “would take about 30-35 minutes because they had to clean the oven because of not having over spill from normal pizzas infect the vegan pizza” but the 8 or 12 inch are quicker because “they put it on a pizza pan and they don’t have to clean the oven because the pizza cooks on the pan.”
– operative ordered the 12″ which cost $8.99.
– toppings ordered were daiya, tomato, basil and fresh garlic. the cloves of garlic were so huge, they looked like pearl onions, but were not over powering on any level.
– the vegan pizza is available on white or wheat crust. operative chose wheat. “delicious.”
– the pizza crust was more than satisfactory, operative could not tell that the pizza was cooked on a pan, described it as “super crispy, yet chewy in the middle, not to thin not to thick.”
– PBR tall boys are $1.99 at whole foods, and go great with pizza.

vegan pizza and PBR tall boy ($1.99)

so next time you find yourself in vegas, be sure to get off the strip for some high-quality vegan pizza. this whole does a great job at making tasty pizzas, as well as putting time and care into cleaning/separating vegan cooking utensils. and of course, most importantly, they have daiya cheese! special thanks to our secret operative for sending us these great pictures and info. hopefully he will find many more tasty things during his stay in las vegas.

whole foods
6689 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV 89119-3215
(702) 589-7711‎

for vegans in los angeles, m cafe is definitely one of the best places to grab a bite to eat. the macrobiotic eatery has 3 locations around town (melrose, beverly hills, and culver city), and is almost entirely vegan, other than menu items clearly containing fish. i’ve always loved m cafe’s meals, but recently the culver city restaurant gave me two more reasons to dine there—they added a beer and tapas menu.

organic beer. $5

i hit up m cafe on the west side with fellow vegan blogger happy herbivore and her husband, and everyone was delighted with the alcohol and food options. there was organic beer and wine to choose from, and we settled on a few bottles from the north coast brewing company. i went with the cru d’or, a belgian style dubble, which was pretty strong with a good flavor.

crispy asparagus: fresh asparagus spears lightly breaded and fried, served with homemade spicy yuzu vegenaise. $5.25

we also shared the crispy asparagus from the tapas menu, which was tasty albeit a little too fried for us. i mean, it tasted really good, but it probably wasn’t good for me. the vegenaise it came with was on point, super creamy with just enough spice to give it a kick, yet not be overwhelming. other vegan tapas options included hummus crudite as well as seitan bruschetta.

for my main course, i ordered the panino margarita, a pressed sandwich filled with pesto, soy cheese and sliced tomatoes. this thing was definitely tasty, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the big macro or bi bim bop. the pesto was delicious, but vegan cheese wasn’t quite melted. for my side, i ordered the white bean salad which was excellent and i highly recommend. it was delicious and filling with loads of creamy beans, huge tomato chunks, and fresh basil leaves.

panino margarita: fresh tomato, soy mozzarella & basil-almond pesto on our house-baked focaccia, grilled hot & crisp to order. $11.45 served with a white bean deli salad.

so if you like beer, macrobiotic food and vegan tapas, give the m cafe in culver city a try. as of now, only the west side location is offering alcohol and appetizers, but hopefully the other locations will start serving this stuff as well.

m cafe de chaya
9343 Culver Boulevard
Culver City, CA 90232

Sunday thru Thursday
9:00 am – 9:00 pm
Friday & Saturday
9:00 am – 10:00 pm
(the tapas are served from 4pm until close.)

it was a super eco-friendly day in los angeles as hippies, vegans and all around earth lovers gathered to partake in worldfest, “a solar-powered celebration of music, the environment, animals and humanity.” basically a big grassy field in the valley was fenced off and people were charged 7 bucks (+ $5 for parking) to hear to jam bands, listen to animal activist speakers, and have the opportunity to purchase a wide variety of all vegan food and alcohol. i went for a couple hours today and didn’t spend much time with the speakers or the music…i did get my fill of food though, and that’s what i’m here to tell ya about.

wordfest vegan corn dog. $3.50

between the two of us, my husband and i murdered a lot of vegan goodies. one of my favorites was a corn dog offered up by a stand selling field roast sausages, tofurky links, curly fries and vegan burgers. the corn dog was a standard veggie dog turned spectacular with corn batter and a deep fryer. this was nothing like your out-of-the-freezer family meal corn dogs…this thing was just like the old school hot dog on a stick meals i used to get at my local mall. the batter formed a crispy and almost burnt layer on the outside which surrounded fluffy moist corn bread and finally a plump and juicy soy dog. this totally brought back childhood memories.

we also tried the vegan chicken curry from the bodhi tree stand, which was excellent. the bodhi tree is a vegetarian restaurant located in huntington beach, and after eating their curry, i know i will be making a trip there very soon. the sauce was sweet with a perfectly subtle spiciness, and the soy meat was thick and juicy. all the vegetables were fresh and well-prepared as well, and they had so many other appetizing dishes i didn’t even get to try.

bodhi tree vegan curry chicken. $7

the chicken sandwich from follow your heart was another high point of the festival—at only 5 bucks it was a total steal, considering it was huge and came with a side of greens and potato salad. we interrogated the booth about the ingredients in the bun (normal follow your heart buns contain honey), and they ensured us that not only were these special vegan buns ordered just for worldfest, but that their restaurant buns may soon no longer contain honey either! (we will try to keep you posted on that.) aside from the bun, the sandwich was awesome and extremely well priced. the bbq sauce was mild and tangy, not overwhelmingly sweet, and the slices of soy meat were thick and hearty. the potato salad was on point as well: soft and creamy yet not too full of vegenaise. total perfection.

follow your heart vegan chicken bbq sandwich with potato salad. $5

for dessert, we rounded off the feasting with some maggie mudd ice cream all the way from san francisco. they offered a whopping bowl filled up with ice cream, chocolate sauce, nuts, sprinkles and whipped cream (ALL VEGAN) for just $7. it came with the choice of three flavors, but i stuck to two: memphis mudd pie (coffee flavor with chocolate cookies, fudge swirl and whiskey) and tarmack (chocolate peanut butter flavor with chocolate cookies and peanut butter swirl). the ice cream itself was extremely decadent, and it came with the most amazing toppings….this has to be the best old-fashioned dessert i’ve had since i was a child. no vegan ice cream has anything on maggie mudd; this stuff was so good, i’m considering a move to SF.

big bowl: tarmack and memphis mudd ice cream topped with whipped cream, nuts, chocolate sauce and sprinkles

to top it all off, worldfest had a bad ass beer garden serving up $5 pints of lagunitas ipa and $10 bottles of double ipa. that made coachella’s beer garden look like a total shithole. i’m telling you, this beer was off the chain. not only was it well priced, this stuff was hoppy and flavorful as hell…i’d be stoked to get brew this good in a bar, so imagine how thrilled i was to drink it at a sweaty festival in the valley.

lagunitas double ipa

although i did try a lot of great stuff at worldfest this year, i can only eat so much…so naturally i missed out on tons of vendors. i wanna give some shout outs to places that looked delicious, yet i was way too stuffed to try. to name a few: luscious organic desserts, c’est la v bakeshop, friedel caribbean cuisine and sunpower cafe. the frankenstand was also supposed to make an appearance, but to everyone’s dismay, ended up cancelling. basically what i am trying to say is, even with all the ridiculously tasty vegan food i got to eat today, it was still just the tip of the iceberg. worldfest is apparently THE PLACE to get your vegan eats on—i’m talking several entirely animal-free stands with stuff ranging from salads, to burgers, to fried foods, to desserts including ice cream, cookies, funnel cakes, and cobbler.

word to the wise: save up for worldfest 2010. the amazing food will make all the bitchy fees and unhealthy calories worth it. i’ve never seen so much food i can eat in one place, it made me feel like an omnivore…in a good way!

if you follow this blog, you probably read about the vegan dramz that occurred a few weeks ago in regards to the kogi taco truck. the korean/mexican-style bbq is definitely the latest food fad to hit los angeles, and there can be up to two hour waits and a shortage of grub wherever the trucks decide to make an appearance. i queued up for like 45 minutes just to get a tofu taco which i assumed was vegan, only to find out that it almost was….other than “traces of lard” in the corn tortilla…after i’d already eaten it.

i wrote a post about my kogi experience, which kicked up a minor stir…but it didn’t stop the la vegan drinks crew from organizing a meetup at the alibi room in culver city, the new brick and mortar home to the kogi taco truck cuisine. vegan drinks were arranged for saturday, march 28, with the selling point being that the word “vegan” is in fact on the kogi menu at the alibi (they offer a vegan taco wrapped in a leaf), plus the chef promised to create a “vegan special” just to appease our crew. i gotta admit, it was a pretty ballsy move on the part of vegan drinks. afterall, “kogi” means “meat” in korean and this is a place that has been known to have conflicting stories about the contents of their food. on the other hand, kogi is the latest culinary craze sweeping the town…why shouldn’t we vegans get to enjoy it as well? plus the alibi room is a hip bar with tons of vegan beer and a parking lot. having the vegan drinks meetup revolve around this controversial cuisine was obviously a good idea, because like 80 fucking vegans showed up!

the place was jam packed, with vegans and meat-eaters alike…you could tell the alibi must fill to capacity even without a huge vegan party taking over the place. when we left, there was seriously a wait to get in. what is it with la and these bloody fads…once la foodies get wind of one, there really is no stopping them! anyways, on to the food!

vegan sesame leaf tacos with tofu and asian pear. $5

we started with the one and only main dish on kogi’s alibi menu that comes vegan as is: the vegan sesame leaf tacos. these tacos aren’t listed on the mobile kogi taco truck menu…but who knows, maybe they could make them for you if you ask. either way, they are always available at the alibi. they tasted pretty similar to the normal tofu tacos wrapped in lard, except these were wrapped in a delicate shiso leaf instead. the insides were a little bit sweeter than the normal tacos, and there was just a hint of hot sauce. they were pretty tasty, i just gotta admit i’m not a huge fan of eating tacos or burritos wrapped in leaves. i would have much preferred these to come in vegan corn tortillas, but oh well.

vegan special of the night and tofu burrito after the jump.

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I’ll admit it. I have something of a reputation in SoCal for consuming beer and vegan food. Other than geeky Internet stuff, that’s pretty much all I do. I like to drink before I eat, because I have to consume less alcohol to get a buzz, and can sober up before driving home (I never break my “one beer per hour before I drive rule” that’s served me well since the early 80s).

As there are so few bars that serve good vegan food, I usually lean toward good bars within a very short walk of decent vegan restaurants – an intersection of possibilities that’s remote to say the least.

Last summer, this blog reported on Vegan Plate, an above average Thai-style vegan restaurant in Studio City. Now, “above average” for the aforementioned stereotype is hardly an accolade of note, but – in a push – vegan Pad Thai with Seitan is nicer than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, and a good deal better than just about any vegan offering in a bar (contaminated French fries included). So, we have the restaurant part down but what about the bar? Well, in October 2008 the Laurel Tavern opened its doors which are, quite literally, across the street from Vegan Plate:

Any bar with the word “Tavern” in its name usually implies sticky carpets and flat Bud Lite on tap, but fortunately (as you can see from the exterior photo above) not in this case. In fact, the Laurel Tavern is a polar opposite of what you’d expect from both its name and location right on Ventura close to the intersection with Laurel Canyon. The inside is hip and cool without making an old man like me feel uncomfortable, and the bar staff are absolutely delightful – polite, efficient and very friendly.

Also, the beer selection is a superb offering of local and national microbrews including the venerable Craftsman ales from Pasadena (including 1903) which are also served cross-town at Pure Luck and have passed the vegan test time and again. Also, at $6 for 16 Oz, they’re a little on the high side for 818-land, but about the same price that us westsiders are used to paying for a brew.

craftsman 1903: $6 per 16 oz. pint.

So, after a few beers one is likely to be hungry. I won’t even mention the food at Laurel Tavern as it’s gratuitously meaty and there’s nothing remotely vegan on the menu (including the Steak Fries, which are (and I quote) “drizzled with pork fat”). But, to us vegans, a 25 second walk from the Laurel Tavern puts us inside Vegan Plate.

I find that the strip mall ambience of Vegan Plate is a little much after such a nice drinking experience so I usually call and order when I’m half way through my last drink then walk over, grab the food and high tail it away from the fluorescent lighting to home, where I gleefully throw a bunch of stuff into a bowl, and wolf it down.

chinese broccoli: stir-fried chinese broccoli with garlic sauce. $8.95

As you can see from the picture, the dish is relatively uninspiring visually but actually tastes better than it looks because everything is cooked to order and very, very fresh.

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I am known to frequent The Grove on a regular basis, usually at the weekend and usually to eat and drink rather than just to shop. While there are some very nice mid-tier restaurants there, I usually sneak 100 yards west to the Farmer’s Market and head over to Unit 326, where the creatively-named 326 Bar is located in all its glory.

326 Bar is sandwiched in between a mexican food stand and a candle shop, which means the ambient smell is a confusing cross between fried beef and Hillary Clinton’s neckerchief. Why, you ask is it like a dive bar? Well, the Mr. Meaner Checklist of bar dive-ness rate card shows as follows:

Dirty [✔], Cash Only [✔], Smoke-filled [✔], No food served [✔], People eating at the bar [✔], At least two senile old ladies drinking rosé wine [✔], Plastic cups instead of glasses [✔], Plastic pitchers [✔], Serves PBR [✔], Has Coors Lite as a “premium” beer [✔], Has at least one person drinking who has less than three teeth in their head [✔], Has a bartender with visible injury [✔], Keeps the kegs in fridges under the bar [✔], Has illegible beer list on a chalk board [✔], Serves wine from a box [✔], Random kids wander through on occasion [✔], Restrooms less than satisfactory [✔], TV with dirty glass shows sports programs on mute [✔], Strange sticky substance in random places on the bar [✔]

Yes, indeed, 326 Bar has it all — and then some! But where in LA can you get a pitcher of Bud Lite for $13, have the bartender happy that you tip $2, and get to people watch the entire Farmer’s Market from the comfort of your barstool? Nowhere, that’s where.
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I’ve been to Yard House outlets in Long Beach, Pasadena and Palm Desert, although there quite a few in the chain. What I like best is the selection of beers on tap (usually over 100) and a very nicely prepared vegan option on the menu. What better way to enjoy four beers than by ordering two half-yards of beer (or one yard if you’re feeling rather adventurous and have strong biceps).

Sitting at the bar (and this is a real bar: black granite and stainless steel with cared-for keg pumps by the polytope, and nice seats to boot) one can choose from by far the best selection of beers in any bar probably anywhere.

I usually order Young’s Double Chocolate Stout which is also served from a keg back home so tastes almost the same as in the White Hart (incidentally a pub that Roger Waters can often be found drinking in).

Oh yes, a Yard House is a GREAT way to drink away the afternoon with nice beer and chilled edamame served just right. Do it. Do it now. You know it makes sense. And, there’s a Yard House under construction at LA Live right now, due to open at the end of the year so we Los Angelinos will have less distance to travel.

See the rest of this post for more pictures…

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