• November 1st, 2011quarrygirlhamburger hamlet, hugo's tacos, LA restaurants, two boots

    today is world vegan day, and to celebrate, a few places of town are offering up vegan specials! i’ll list the ones i know about, and if i miss anything, please leave it in the comments.

    hugo’s tacos is offering 20% off select items all day including burritos w/ soy chorizo or mixed vegetables, green tamales plain or w/ mixed veg topping or soy chorizo, salad, and frozato.

    two boots in echo park has launched a new v for vegan pizza, which comes with daiya cheese, artichokes, shiitakes, red onions, and basil & red pepper pesto.

    most surprisingly of all, hamburger hamlet is unveiling two new vegan options today: a portobello mushroom burger with all the fixins, along with ratatouille and basmati rice.

    so, game plan: breakfast burrito at hugo’s tacos, lunch at hamburger hamlet, pizza for dinner at two boots.

    let me know if i’m missing anything.

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  • October 28th, 2011quarrygirlLA restaurants, mohawk bend

    stoked! now mohawk bend, the massive beer bar and vegan-friendly restaurant in echo park, is now open at noon on saturdays & sundays for lunch. if you’ve been to mohawk, you probably know that it can get crazy busy at night (think 1-3 hour wait times!), but we checked the bar out last weekend at noonish and it had a much more chilled out and relaxed vibe. plus, a new vegan lunch option: bangers and mash!

    vegan sausage & mash, cabbage and potato, barney flats stout gravy, mustards. $14

    lemme preface this by saying, i love vegan bangers and mash. i have eaten it all around london, but i’ve never had a version of it here in LA…

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  • August 11th, 2011quarrygirlLA restaurants, mohawk bend

    since mohawk bend opened up in echo park about a week and a half ago, we’ve spent several evenings there. whether it has been quick drinks and a snack at the bar, or a full on meal in the gorgeous ramona room, each visit to the restaurant has been very enjoyable.

    mohawk is still riding high on the hype surrounding its much anticipated opening, so by 7pm there can often be an hour and a half wait for a table! my advice is to arrive early at around 5pm, and they should have no problem seating you. here are some pictures of the food we’ve been digging at mohawk over the past week…

    herbed flatbread with spicy white beans. $6

    the herbed flatbread is remarkable. i tried this on my first visit to mohawk at their press event, and have ordered it a couple times since. the bread is made in house and served with your choice of spreads—most of which are vegan. you can get bread and 1 spread for 6 bucks, or 3 spreads for $12. my favorite is the spicy white bean spread, it’s chunky and packed with tangy lemon flavor.

    vegan fun guy: roast mushrooms, shallots, herbs, vegan cheese, truffle salt. $14

    mohawk also has a large selection of vegan-friendly thin crust pizzas made with californian 00 flour and organic tomato sauce…

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  • August 5th, 2011quarrygirlLA restaurants, mohawk bend

    not sure if you guys are aware, but today is international beer day!

    i don’t give a damn about religious holidays or federal holidays…but i can definitely get behind an unofficial beer holiday. let’s celebrate! today we’re drinking at newly opened mohawk bend, the latest and greatest watering hole in LA…

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  • August 1st, 2011quarrygirlLA restaurants, mohawk bend

    UPDATE 8/12: the s’mores mohawk are now vegan! they make the graham crackers in house w/o honey. eat it up.

    UPDATE 8/2: turns out the graham crackers that come with the s’mores contain honey, but mohawk is seeking a vegan alternative. GRRRRRR.

    today is the day we’ve all been waiting for: mohawk bend in echo park is opening this evening! since the restaurant/bar announced that they’d have over 70 craft beers on tap and a 60% vegan menu, we’ve been tracking their progress with eager anticipation.

    72 craft beers to choose from.

    a couple weeks ago, we attended a press event to scope out the mohawk’s epic restored restaurant space and to whet our appetite for their local and seasonal cuisine…and a few days after that, we got the chance to sample even more vegan items from the menu. we’ve been waiting to share our second meal with you until mohawk announced an opening date, and fortunately they’ve decided to open tonight! here’s a look at some of the great dishes you can expect to find at echo park’s new vegan hot spot:

    tony’s favorite casserole: polenta, leeks, broccoli, vegan cheese

    i can see why this casserole is tony’s favorite—filled up with creamy polenta, roasted vegetables, and two types of vegan cheese, it’s served piping hot and is absolutely delicious.

    the vegan burger at mohawk is one of the best in town…

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  • July 19th, 2011quarrygirlLA restaurants, mohawk bend

    Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months, you’re probably aware of the hoopla about the new Echo Park pub and restaurant: Mohawk Bend. Just like Sunset Boulevard, the street upon which it sits, Mohawk Bend has gone through many twists and turns as it wound its way through the acquisition, planning, construction and then opening processes – something that the City of LA makes as arduous as possible for small businesses.  The good news is: Mohawk is now scheduled to open next week, and as far as we’re concerned it will be the best place to eat and drink in Los Angeles.

    So, what IS Mohawk Bend, and why has it garnered such intense interest? For one, the back-story is intriguing. Owner Tony Yanow (yes, that Tony) took a century-old theater which has been derelict for almost 30 years, and transformed it into one of the most astounding eating and drinking spaces in all of LA, if not the West Coast. It’s got 72 taps of craft beer (including two cask systems), an incredible food menu of locally-sourced ingredients (yeah, 60% of the food menu, and almost all beers are vegan: how about that?), with several distinct dining/drinking areas each of which has subtly different vibes. As Tony put it: “We wanted to create not just a place in Echo Park, but THE place in Echo Park”. There’s not a soul who would argue that he didn’t do just exactly that.

    We were lucky to be invited to the pre-opening press/blogger event and from the moment we walked into the front patio area we felt comfortable, welcome and at ease. That’s the way Tony wants it to be, and he’s magically captured the neighborhood pub feel of Tony’s Darts Away while scaling it up massively and successfully into a veritable theme park of craft beer and gourmet food.

    From its inception, the menu at Mohawk was designed to be extremely vegan-friendly. It’s a collaboration between two chefs—one of whom is a vegan herself, so as you can imagine, we’re well looked after. They’ve taken care of every last detail, down to separate fryers, utensils, and cooking preparation areas. The restaurant has succeeded in creating classic pub fare that everyone loves, with a vegan twist that’s extremely impressive.

    Chickpea Beer Nuts

    Upon arrival, we immediately started munching on bar snacks—almonds, pistachios, and absolutely amazing chickpea “beer nuts”. Although Mohawk had several appetizing cocktails on offer, we stuck to beer. A couple of Bootleggers Old World Hefes and a sampling of the appetizer selections really hit the spot.

    Bootleggers Old World Hefe with a plate of housebaked bread and dipping sauces.

    The bread and dipping sauces were ridiculously good! I’m telling you, freshly baked bread really does make a huge difference.

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  • June 16th, 2011quarrygirlLA restaurants, mohawk bend

    photo by kat nguyen

    aw shucks! recently we blogged that the much anticipated mohawk bend would be opening its doors on june 28th. unfortunately, the gastropub has been delayed until further notice. lemme tell you, i got a personal tour of the mohawk space over the weekend and it is INSANE. i think it’s gonna be the best place to eat and drink in town, especially for vegans! there are like 8 million beer taps, two cask pumps, a dedicated vegan fryer, and a gigantic dedicated vegan pizza oven! gaaaaaah, i have never been so excited about a place opening before! here’s the official/unofficial word from team mohawk:

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  • June 16th, 2011quarrygirlLA restaurants, sage vegan bistro

    lately the vegan restaurant scene in los angeles has been in a constant state of change. pure luck closed down, doomie’s moved from downtown to hollywood, native foods replaced m cafe in culver city, veggie grills are popping up in every part of town at an alarming rate…and with madeleine bistro’s fate looking uncertain at best, for a moment it seemed like we were losing our one meatless fine dining option in the city. enter sage vegan bistro.

    the small echo park eatery shares the bottom corner of the jensen rec center on sunset with kindkreme (a raw and dairy-free ice cream parlor) and has been open for a little over 3 months. the menu is ambitious to say the least, with a slew of lunch items (served all day), gourmet dinner fare (served after 5pm), and brunch on the weekends from 9am-4pm. the offerings are pretty creative as well—items such as banh mi spring rolls, almond crusted fried cheese, and white bean french cassoulet all sound incredible.

    i’d dined at sage once before, for brunch, and quite enjoyed it…so i was anxious to try them out for dinner. we stopped by over the weekend with our friends jen & jen, and i’m happy to report that our meal was excellent.

    polenta galettes topped with sauteed leeks and a raisin date spread.

    upon arrival, we were presented with lots of menus! the dinner menu, the lunch menu, and the kindkreme dessert menu…and everything on them was ours for the taking. there was even a “specials” menu written on a chalkboard hanging in the restaurant. we were a bit overwhelmed by the amount of choice, but i think we managed to get at least one thing off every menu.

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  • April 15th, 2011quarrygirlLA restaurants, sage vegan bistro

    hiya peeps! time for another edition of quick bites, a series of short reviews sent in by readers. this one covers sage vegan bistro in echo park and comes to us from my buddy patricia (who is also a bad ass massage therapist and yoga instructor). check it out:

    on a relaxing night in echo park i was enjoying some beers at my favorite bar, 1642 (on temple). imagine my delight when i returned from the bathroom and my 3 omnivore friends had come up with the plan to have dinner at sage vegan bistro. although i have heard some mixed reviews and experiences about the restaurant i was incredibly curious to try it for myself.

    the overwhelming response from the our group was “amazing!!!”

    at 830 on a weekday evening the place was busy, but not packed. our food arrived quickly and still hot from the kitchen. the only detail that could have been improved was that our appetizer came at the same time as the food. however, we did not particularly mind. everything was so tasty we ended up dining family style and sharing all the plates.

    trio of buffalo croquettes

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  • March 22nd, 2011quarrygirlLA restaurants, sage vegan bistro

    another day, another vegan restaurant opens in LA. that’s what it feels like sometimes, doesn’t it? we are spoiled for choice here in los angeles, and now we can add sage vegan bistro in echo park to our long list of local animal-free eateries.

    the newly opened cafe occupies the former mooi space (so sad they closed down!) on sunset, and serves a wide variety of vegan cuisine with a creative twist–stuff like samosa burgers, french grain bowls, plantain sandwiches, seitan salads, and jackfruit tacos. i checked out sage this weekend for brunch with fellow quarrygirl staffer brittany, and our meal was ace!

    the brunch menu is served on saturdays and sundays from 9am to 5pm, and it’s loaded with crazy-sounding menu items. in fact, we had a really hard time deciding what to order. after seriously considering the frittata, potato lattkes, and walnut sausage croissant (i need to go back and try that last one), i decided on the jackfruit chorizo burrito…

    jackfruit chorizon burrito: smoked spicy jackfruit, roasted potato, tofu egg, gazpacho and avocado wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla served with a side of rice and beans and adobo chili sauce. $8.25

    this thing was a monster and puts most vegan burritos i’ve eaten in my life to shame. it was giant and shoved full of all kinds of tasty ingredients. the menu description doesn’t do it justice—there was jackfruit, scrambled tofu, roasted potatoes, white sauce, black beans, salsa, guacamole, and fresh jalapenos all rolled up together. it came with a side of rice and beans, as well as some extra spicy hot sauce. i gotta admit, this thing was so full of food that i had to eat it with a knife and fork. it looks all neat and innocent in the photo, but believe me, i made a mess of it. this thing had everything i look for in a burrito—it was enormous, the ingredients were fresh, and there was a lot of variety. from the crisp vegetables, to the creamy sauces, to sausagy jackfruit and the chunky nutritional yeasty tofu, this burrito had me covered. i would definitely order it again.

    brittany’s meal was quite impressive as well…

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  • March 4th, 2011quarrygirlkindkreme, LA restaurants, vegan events

    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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  • vegan pizza day is on january 29th, and it’s getting SO CLOSE, I CAN FEEL IT! there are lots of awesome pizza deals and specials happening in LA next saturday to commemorate the occasion, and we are gonna do our best to blog about each one.

    brace yourselves for vegan pizza day!

    we’ll start off with the official los angeles vegan pizza day meetup: hosted by vegan drinks, this shindig will take place at masa of echo park and will no doubt be EPIC.

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  • October 28th, 2010quarrygirlLA restaurants, mooi

    heads up: mooi in echo park isn’t open during normal hours anymore. here is a quick message from the owner, stephen hauptfuhr:

    currently we have been operating under non-regular hours, meaning we are not open for regular dinner service on a daily basis as before, we are open every Friday for a set prix fixe 5-7 course menu that changes each week from stephen hauptfuhr and occasional collaborations with guest chefs… if you would like to be made aware of these dinners and any other times we will be open, please email stephen@mooifood.com with the subject heading ’email list request’ and you will be added to his private list to receive these messages.. or you can join our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter to be notified.. we will continue to operate on these hours through the holidays as we are doing a lot of catering.. you may also email us with any special orders for cakes, ice creams or any regular menu items you would like and we will get back to you the same day..

    below the menu for the dinner this friday! while we are definitely sad to see mooi scale back its hours, these new dinners look incredible. take advantage!

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  • September 11th, 2010quarrygirlLA restaurants, mooi

    this is GREAT NEWS. mooi, one of the best places to get raw food in los angeles, is now offering a full sunday brunch menu with both raw and cooked items! i can’t think of anywhere else to get vegan brunch in echo park…so eastsiders, get on this.

    brunch will be offered every sunday at mooi from 10am to 3pm, and you can check out the menu here. i don’t know about you, but the “lenti, spinach, walnut & seared shiitake mushroom terrine” is calling my name!

    stephen hauptfuhr (the owner and chef at mooi) was kind enough to send me some snap shots of the brunch items for your enjoyment. so get over there and check them out this sunday!

    raw rosemary cashew cheese, anise walnut sausage, peas and greens in a coconut mango crepe.

    MORE PIX after the jump —>

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  • August 31st, 2010quarrygirlLA restaurants, masa of echo park

    guys, i cannot get enough of the vegan deep dish pizza at masa of echo park.

    vegan chicago deep dish pizza with teese, spinach, and mushrooms.

    since they first started serving up vegan chicago-style deep dish with the new teese a couple months ago, i’ve been addicted. and it seems like the pizza just keeps getting better and better. i went recently with a friend and we got a build-your-own large with spinach and mushrooms that was to die for. i couldn’t believe how big it was—enough to feed 4 people probably—but that’s the way to go at masa, because then you have tons of leftovers.

    i’ve never had a “real,” dairy-filled chicago deep dish, but people i know who have swear that masa’s vegan version tastes authentic…and better than all the others. the delicate crispy cornmeal crust is topped with a layer of stretchy teese and thick sauce filled with garlic and whole tomatoes. you have to eat it with a fork and knife, like a piece of pie, and one or two slices is enough to fill you up.

    one fun tip, since the pizza takes 50 minutes to bake (it’s worth the wait!), is to start your evening off across the street at el prado. the small bar always has good stuff on tap, and it opens daily at 6pm. so you can pop in, have a few beers, order your deep dish over the phone, then arrive at masa to eat shortly before it comes out of the oven. good times!

    beer at el prado

    if you haven’t been to masa yet for a vegan deep dish, stop messing around, and get over there! honestly, it’s by far the best vegan pizza in LA, and one the most special vegan dishes i’ve ever eaten. there’s no excuse not to try it!

    masa of echo park
    1800 West Sunset Blvd.
    Los Angeles, CA 90026
    (213) 989-1558

    oh and here is the el prado info, should you take my advice!

    el prado
    1805 West Sunset Boulevard
    Los Angeles, CA 90026-3226
    (213) 484-6079

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