the newest addition to los angeles’ rapidly growing vegan scene, locali conscious convenience, is a one stop shop on franklin avenue for all your animal-free needs. the small store puts an emphasis on health-conscious and eco-friendly items, and sells loads of vegan ready-to-eat meals, faux meats, and frozen products. locali’s selection is also awesome because it consists of really unique and organic products from several local and sustainable suppliers…stuff you won’t always get at, say, whole foods. seriously, this place is too good to be true, and exactly what this city needed.

on thursday, locali opened with a soft-launch and started selling all their vegan goodies along with fresh bakery items and hearty soups. by next week, they will be launching a full deli with sandwiches and salads, some of which will hopefully be vegan.

here are just a few of the things that caught my eye at locali today, stuff you can’t find anywhere else (that i’m aware of) in los angeles.

taste of life ready-to-eat meals. that’s right, our favorite vegan soul food restaurant has tons of little items packaged up on the shelf at locali. i’ve seen their stuff before at other health food stores, but locali definitely has the best selection. there was even a taste of life hoagie on sale that looked delicious. vegan hoagies?!?! what will taste of life think of next? i can’t even keep track of their menu…!

sheese vegan cheese. you may remember sheese from our vegan pizza challenge…it’s a very hard to find vegan cheese that comes all the way from scotland. i’ve never seen it for sale in los angeles, and locali offers it in several different flavors.

tons of goods from the sensitive baker, la’s only gluten-free bakery. locali carries a large assortment of bagels, breads and muffins at the counter…plus vegan pizzas, bread sticks and cookie dough in the freezer for you to take home and bake yourself.

vegan condoms. yes, for all you party people, vegan condoms. i didn’t get any, so you will have to try them out and let me know how they hold up. here’s a pic i snapped with my iphone…it may be a little blurry because i was giggling too much to steady it.

do it for the animals.

those are just a few of the really special things locali has to offer. they also your typical items like tofurky, soy bleu feta, and  tons of other ready-to-eat meals from local vegan restaurants (including some mouth-watering ethiopian wraps from rahel’s). it’s quite incredible.

in addition to being all around awesome and having enough vegan products to make me want to eat there all day, locali has some the sweetest, friendliest staff around. the minute we walked in, they greeted us with a complimentary re-usable bag and thanked us for visiting. the dude behind the counter was able to answer all our questions about vegan products, and even offered us samples and a free bagel. and the cool thing is, they had no idea i was going to blog about them or anything, they were just plain nice for no reason. they really care about customer satisfaction and make you feel welcome in their wonderful little store.

so that’s it, locali conscious convenience is definitely worth a visit if you are a vegan who cares about the environment. it’s a great addition to our little vegan community here in los angeles, and i think they’re doing a super job. i wish them much success—in a world of 711’s and circle k’s, locali is a breath of fresh, clean, unpolluted air.

locali conscious convenience
5825 franklin avenue
los angeles ca 90028
323-466-1360

open 7 days a week
7am – 11pm

nite moon cafe is a 100% vegetarian, organic and vegan-friendly cafe located in the golden bridge yoga center in the heart of hollywood. the menu is light and nutritious, a health-conscious vegan’s dream, consisting of sandwiches, wraps, tempeh burgers, soups and a large build-you-own salad bar. oh oh oh, and plenty of vegan desserts and smoothies!

i checked out nite moon the other day with a friend, and we were both blown away by the quality of the food and the pleasant and relaxing dining atmosphere.

i ordered the bridge burger, which i assumed would be pretty basic, and was extremely impressed with its originality and tasty-ness.

the bridge burger: tempeh patty with lettuce, tomato, avocado with thousand island dressing on organic whole wheat bun. served with an organic house salad. $10.75

the tempeh patty was out of this world—chewy, tasty and firm all at once. the vegetables were fresh and organic, and the vegan thousand island was way better than the real thing. plus, nite moon really took it up a notch with the side salad…it was piled high with vegetables and seeds, covered in a delicious vegan dressing. everything tasted really superb. 

my friend went with the club sandwich, which i tried, and it was excellent as well. three thick slices of chewy rye bread stacked with first-rate vegetables and luscious tempeh bacon. mmm.

club sandwich: lettuce, tomato, avocado, cucumber, carrot, veganaise and tempeh bacon on 3 slices of organic rye bread. $10.75

needless to say, we both ate EVERYTHING on our plates…the food was so freaking good. what’s awesome though, is that we didn’t feel full or bloated. even after a large meal, we practically floated out of the place. i seriously can’t wait to go back—there are so many things on the menu i want to try, especially the vegan desserts and the huge, appetizing salad bar. have a look at the menu…doesn’t it all look incredible?

i must admit, even though i work in hollywood about 5 minutes from nite moon, i was hesitant to try it out. being located inside a yoga center, it seemed kinda intimidating. i imagined it would be like eating in a gym cafe, with lots of athletic types milling about in between yoga classes—i couldn’t have been more wrong! nite moon is located in what golden bridge yoga dubs a “spiritual village,” a tranquil and colorful area decorated with tibetan prayer flags. you order your food at the counter and find a seat at the long, wooden communal table while you wait for the friendly staff to serve you your meal. to the right of the cafe, there’s a huge commerce area with books, magazines, yoga supplies and clothing. the clientele is mixed, new age types, pregnant ladies, kids, young and old adults. it really is a beautiful, peaceful and welcoming place to enjoy a fabulous lunch.

nite moon is located right behind the arclight cinemas at vine and de longpre, and they validate parking for the structure ($2/2 hours). head over and check it out as soon as you have a chance; i know i shall be lunching there very often.

nite moon cafe at golden bridge
6322 de longpre ave
hollywood, ca 90028
323-988-4052

open monday – thursday 10 am – 9 pm
friday & saturday 10 am – 4 pm
closed on sundays

as of yesterday, there’s one more reason to love cafe muse in hollywood. not only do they have breakfast daily, a great vegan selection of wraps, delicious sandwiches and huge, hearty build-your-own salads; but now they sell no whey VEGAN CUPCAKES! i don’t know of anywhere else in hollywood i can get vegan cupcakes, and this place happens to be like 5 feet from my work. 

chocolate and vanilla vegan cupcakes. $3.25 each.

cafe muse sells both chocolate and vanilla cupcakes, and both flavors are out of this world. i bought one for my omnivorous friend, and she just couldn’t believe they were vegan. she said the actual cake bit tasted way better than any she’d ever tried before, and the frosting was just as rich and creamy as on other cupcakes.

i would have to agree with her. these cupcakes were just as good as the ones i used to get from leda’s bakeshop in the valley, which has closed to the public and is only taking special orders. it’s so great to have top notch vegan cupcakes again, and right here in hollywood!

no whey, the vegan baking company that makes these cupcakes, is owned by jenn shaggy, the maker of the famous los angeles vegan twinkies. her twinkies have gained a lot of local press, and i can say her cupcakes are just as good.

so hollywood vegans, rejoice! cafe muse has super awesome vegan cupcakes. go check out this cafe if you haven’t already. they have a ton of great food and now some really tasty desserts.

UPDATED 2011: this place is now closed. RIP vegan burgers and beer.

recently, i joined fellow la blogger and chef extraordinaire jenn shaggy for a fantastic vegan lunch as she introduced me to the local 8 oz. burger bar on melrose. apparently jenn doesn’t just write about vegan food and make fabulous cruelty-free twinkies; she can also drop knowledge on new vegan-friendly los angeles eats and thirst-quenching watering holes. 8 oz. burger bar turned out to be a both: a chill restaurant offering one of the best meatless burgers in town, and also boasting a large selection of beers on tap. the perfect place for two alchie vegan girls to get their eat and drink on.

8 oz. veggie burger: sunflower sprouts, wild arugula and avocado. with roasted mushrooms and hot sauce. $10

you see, 8 oz. burger is one of those joints that serves vegan food but advertises it nowhere on their menu. to many melrose-shopping la peeps passing through, the word “vegan” probably means “healthy-and-bland-beyond-belief,” and makes hip meat-eaters recoil in horror. 8 oz. is smarter than that, they avoid the v-word entirely. they simply list the ingredients of their veggie burger on the menu and and also offer a wide array of sauces and condiments that are almost entirely vegan. if you have any doubts, the knowledgeable staff will let you know exactly what is animal-free. for instance, even THE ONION RINGS ARE VEGAN…they aren’t fried along in the same fryer with dead creature bits and god knows what else. i can’t wait to go back and try them out.

that being said, all i had this time was the veggie burger with roasted mushrooms and hot sauce. the patty was absolutely delicious. a blend of grains, vegetables and total awesomeness; it was thick, juicy and filling. so many places offer a soy protein vegan burger that obviously comes out of a box in the freezer. not this badass, it was cleary homemade and not even trying to emulate meat. the mushrooms were a great addition to the avocado and wild arugula, and the hot sauce was spicy and tangy as ever. jenn ordered the same but with purple mustard and heirloom tomato ketchup, which i tried and were both out of this world.

so in the end, while  8 oz. burger doesn’t have what i would call a huge vegan selection, it does offer one kick ass veggie burger. they also have tons of vegan additions, condiments, side dishes and starters. i figure one burger can go a long way, and i have loads of meals to eat at 8 oz. before i get bored. it’s a great place to saddle up, grab a bite, drink a few good beers and spend the afternoon.

PLUS…8 oz. burger bar is an awesome place to hang out with your meat-eating, beer-drinking hollywood friends when they want a “gourmet burger”.

UPDATE: since writing this post, i have found out that the soy cheese and fake bacon at the waffle are NOT VEGAN, although the menu advertises them as vegan. this is very fucking upsetting, and i suggest you don’t eat at the waffle. if you must, avoid the veggie bacon and soy cheese. ugh. original post below.

the waffle in hollywood is swanky little hipster diner on sunset and vine that serves up comfort food and breakfast fare from the early, early morning to the wee hours of the night. they have huge home-cookin’-style portions, snazzy decor, and super-trendy clientele—it’s a little bit of an a-hole fest. however, i have been intrigued and anxious to try the waffle because i heard that they were pretty vegetarian-friendly.

turns out the waffle dedicates a whole section of its extensive menu to vegetarian items, many of which even have the word “vegan” in their title. hell yeah, i was super stoked. because i have a hard time dragging my husband to any fast food/guilty-tasting restaurants other than the amazing vegan spot, i set up a lunch date to check out the waffle with my mom. it is located right next to my work after all…how convenient.

we both ate vegan (thanks for being such a sport, mama!), and i opted for the vegan cobb.

vegan cobb salad: faux-fowl, avocado, fakin' bacon, baby tomatoes, red onions, chick peas, peppers, lettuce and soy cheese. $12

the vegan cobb was pretty big…but don’t let the picture fool you. 70% of the huge bowl was lettuce. there wasn’t really much faux-fowl, and the vegetables were eaten up pretty quick. people always rave about the vegan cobb over at swingers, and i’ve never had it…but i gotta imagine it was better than this. it just didn’t feel right forking over 12 bucks for a huge bowl of lettuce with some shredded tofurkey. don’t get me wrong, i really applaud the waffle for even catering to us vegans at all, but this is definitely nothing to get excited about.

my mom, being from the south ‘n shit, of course went with the waffle’s take on vegan chili: the vegan bowl of red. not bad at all!

vegan bowl of red: vegan style chili served with side of onions and your choice of cheese. $9

the chili didn’t arrive with onions, as the menu advertised, but a pot of jalapenos instead. whatevs, we were flexible. the vegan bowl of red was pretty tasty…it tasted exactly like the trader joe’s vegan chili they sell by the can. i think morningstar farms has a brand as well that is also comparable. so again, like the cobb, her meal was pretty good…but $9?!?!?!!? for real? this was a six buck meal at the most…especially considering it almost certainly came from a can.

the service at the waffle was also lacking. our waitress was nice, but the food took forever to arrive and when it did, they’d FORGOTTEN our order of waffle fries. instead of spending 2 hours trying to flag down a server, we let it slide…but they still tried to charge us for the fries anyways. bastards! at the end of the day it all worked out, we didn’t get charged and we had enough to eat…but still. not great service on their part.

the waffle also offers vegan milkshakes which i was super pumped to try…until i found out they were $6.50! for realz? if john travolta can be shocked by a five dollar milkshake, i can be straight-up pissed about one that costs $6.50. and it’s not even like they charge extra for the vegan version—the regular milkshakes are $6.50 as well! jeeeez! i wanted to keep the meal under $30, so decided to pass on the shake. i’m sure it would have been awesome though. i just can’t justify spending almost seven bucks on some soy ice cream that’s been through a blender. please.

so overall, the waffle wasn’t bad. it was just really freaking expensive and had crap service. plus, seriously, the food is nothing to bust a nut over. if you have to go to lunch with a bunch of omnivores in hollywood, the waffle is PERFECT! you will be grateful to see a whole safe section of the menu you can order from. but if you are scouring the city for good vegan food and wanna get as tasty as possible, put the waffle way down at the bottom of your list. i guess what i’m sayin’ is, it’ll do in a pinch.

My three favorite things in the world are Music, Beer and Vegan Food – in pretty much that order. Now, if you take one of LA’s top music venues, the Fonda Theater, add in LA’s top ale house and a damn good vegan entreé, you have me SOLD. I will go there as often as I can, sometimes several times a week.

The Fonda Theater in Hollywood, as any music nut knows, hosts The Music Box, an eclectic live music venue for reasonably popular acts. Recent appearances include MGMT, Rancid, Tegan and Sara, The Arctic Monkeys and Conor Oberst…. I’ll be there in a couple of weeks to see the Kaiser Chiefs from my homeland.

Some bright spark had the idea of converting the awful Blue Palms Lounge, which I had frequented on occasion to consume over-priced martinis and bottled Heineken, into an absolute mecca for beer lovers in LA. Blue Palms has undoubtedly the best beer selection south of San Francisco, including several rapidly rotating taps and a single cask ale pump. In addition, you’ll find knowledgeable staff and even a video/audio feed from the stage so you can continue to enjoy your favorite act while you pop into the bar for a quick one.

On the food front, they have only one vegan selection, but it stands head and shoulders above what you’d typically get in a brewhouse: Blackened Tofu. This dish is perfectly prepared firm tofu, blackened in a pan and served with steamed spinach and a selection of delicious grilled vegetables. It’s absolutely vegan, as the chef knows what vegan means, and even prepares it separately from non-vegan dishes. That’s really cool, if you ask me.

But, for me, the best part is the beer selection — especially the cask ale which reminds me so much of rainy England.

Here’s a sneaky pic I took recently when the bar staff (and owner/leaseholder) were huffing and puffing to change a cask. You can clearly see the zillions of beer taps, along with the cask beer engine in the middle:

I think, on that visit, I was drinking a Porter from Craftsman, perfectly pulled into an English-style glass. Oh boy, it was quite a night. In fact, I absolutely refuse to drive when visiting Blue Palms, except on the odd occasion that I find myself wandering on Hollywood Blvd. after some event where I’ve drank a bottle or two of way-too-cold-American-Beer and absolutely, without a doubt need to wash my mouth out with something like this:

Alternatively, if you’re not completely sold on the whole cask ale thing (and it’s not for everybody, I can admit), the other two dozen or so beers on tap will, without a doubt, whet your whistle.

For those rare beer lovers who are also vegans, the blackened tofu is really a treat. Here’s a close-up so you can get excited about it:

So, if you’re looking for good music, great beer and above-average vegan food (for a bar, goddamit!), please visit the Blue Palms. You will get a warm welcome, a cold beer and a very soothing environment to imbibe. Highly recommended!

i have long been a fan of the vegan house in silverlake on sunset. it’s been a staple of my diet for years as a quick, cheapish meal before countless late night gigs at spaceland. they have genuinely good vegan thai vegan food, quick service, a large menu, and low prices. so, of course, i was beyond stoked when via some random googling, i realized they’d opened a second location much closer to my own hood: a vegan house 2 on wilcox near hollywood blvd. yipeeeeee! i had to try it out.

after some hardcore drinking at the blue palms ale house (our new favorite bar), we skipped down the lane to vegan house and continued home with 3 steamy boxes to go.

bbq tofu appetizer: $4.99

grilled soy chicken salad: with garlic, cilantro and liquid aminos. $5.99

pepper garlic entree: sautéed roasted garlic cilantro with your choice serve with steamed mixes vegetables (broccoli, carrot, cabbage) $6.99

vegan house 2 aka hollywood vegan house is just as groovy as its cousin over in silverlake, perhaps even groovier. they have the same menu, plus some additional delights…and a much more welcoming atmosphere. the vegan house in silverlake is filled with awesome food, but it’s kinda dingy and i think they have an air conditioning problem. every time i’ve eaten there, whether it be june or january, i’ve always been shivery-cold. seriously, i know i live in southern california, but that doesn’t mean i want to feel like i’m dining at the north pole. additionally, the east-side location is pretty dimly lit and a tad depressing. sparse tables, located right underneath a comfort inn in a strip mall, no frills. the wilcox location, on the other hand, looks like a hip little sushi bar that has been converted to a vegan restaurant. bright colors, a sweet comfy bar with counter-top grills and stools, and tables that line the window. super-pleasant. i’m really looking forward to dining in sometime.

PLUS…as far as take-out, vegan house on wilcox has it nailed. the food was ready in record time, the counter man was smiley, and the the tasty factor was pretty high for a vegan thai place. you gotta realize going into these places, you are gonna get canned faux-meat from chinatown, serrated cucumbers in your salad and more tahini dressing than you could ever eat. i mean, i don’t know why all these thai-vegan places in los angeles have the same handbook, or why they are on every corner…but the food is mad decent (albeit super similar), so i gotta love ’em.

let’s start with our appetizer…the bbq tofu. to be honest, although this was mighty good, it wasn’t what i expected. i had high hopes for some fancy bbq tofu a la a taste of life, but this was just a simple sliced variety with some sugary southern sauce drizzled on top. the tofu was well cooked…slightly crispy on the outside, spongey on the inside. but it wasn’t quite integrated with the sauce, which was kind of an afterthought and a tad to sweet. that being said, we wolfed the appetizer down anyway. for a vegan fix within walking distance from hollywood blvd. (aka tourist central), i really cannot complain.

next up, and much more to our delight, we had the grilled soy chicken salad. this is one of the premium “grilled meat” salads at the vegan house and it’s totally worth it. between two people it was more than enough! the vegetables were fresh and crisp, the tahini was tangy, and the soy chicken was beyond succulent. i mean look at this stuff. do you ever wanna eat meat again?!?!? i didn’t FUCKING THINK SO!

lastly, as an entree, we went with the thai mainstay of the quarrygirl household: pepper garlic with pepper steak.

this was pretty good, but like certain other thai places, the pepper steak was way too sweet. they shared the same sugary taste as the pepper steak down the road at truly vegan. if i wanted a sweet meat, i’d search for a faux slice of honey-baked-ham, not steak. i dunno. the fresh vegetables were absolutely superb, but all that sugary meat was kind of a let-down. i don’t hold it against the vegan house though, it’s probably just that one soy meat that isn’t to my liking. the same dish prepared with grilled tofu or soy chicken would have been divine. shame on me for ordering fake steak, when i know half of these vegan thai places opt for the sugary brand. overall, it was still beyond edible. not a MORSEL was discarded, no matter how much i bitch!

so…a couple of legitimate downsides about the vegan house in hollywood. well, they aren’t always open when they say they will be. the hours on their site are a great guideline; but if you are driving from far or just want to be sure, call ahead. if they don’t pick up, they prolly aren’t around. ALSO, for take-out peeps like me, there is SO MUCH AWESOME FOOD that isn’t even advertised on their website. only if you go there and eat off the in house menu will you see all the magical offerings! i mean, just ask my fellow vegan blogger foodeater! she went there and ate some awesome food, all of which is not represented on their internet menu. i’m totally jealous. just keep that in mind.

overall, the vegan house rocks. hit it up in hollywood or silverlake when you are looking for one of the better los angeles vegan thai places, with the word vegan in its title! it’s cheap, cozy, and delish. stick to the asian dishes, and you can’t go wrong!

louis xiv live at the avalon

it takes A LOT of work to see a band in LA these days. you have to order your tickets in advance online, pay exorbitant processing fees, spend ages looking for a parking spot that winds up being miles from the venue, and wait through numerous supporting acts in hopes that the band you paid to go see hits the stage sometime before midnight. it’s a nightmare.

what you don’t need on a hellacious night like this is for a snobby bartender to charge you $8 to pour a warm bottled beer into a plastic cup, without giving you eye-contact. and that’s exactly what you’ll get at the avalon.

the service is crappy, the selection is poor, and the prices are unreasonable. it’s one of the worst venues i’ve been to in LA, as far as beer goes. if a band you love happens to be at the avalon, i recommend you go see them…just be sure to hit up a bar in advance.

on a side note, if you ever have the chance, i definitely suggest you see louis xiv. i’ve seen them 4 times and each show has been an absolute treat. not only are they great performers and incredible musicians, but as an added bonus you get to play the game, “what will jason hill be drinking on stage tonight?”! last night he was swigging straight from a bottle of hennessy, the time before that it was a bottle of chianti (basket and all), and before that it was a martini in a proper glass. i don’t know where he can possibly go from here. absinthe maybe?

here’s an mp3 from their latest album. enjoy. it sounded just as good in person.

01-theres-a-traitor-in-this-room