we have a winner for the mooi pizza contest! and the prize goes to PETER with:

a variation of a hearty Meatball Pizza called “Mooiball Pizza”:

Mooiballs/Meatballs: (walnuts/cremini mushrooms/nama shoyu/cloves/garlic/ thyme/oregano/crushed red pepper/flax seed oil/sea salt/pepper)

Tomato Sauce: (plum tomatoes/sea salt/pepper/fresh thyme/olive oil marinated sun-dried tomatoes/garlic clove/fresh basil leaves/fresh thyme/dried oregano/ crushed red pepper/sea salt/pepper)

Cheese: (cashews/sea salt/ garlic clove/black pepper/flax seed oil)

And add slices of Fennel and Vidalia Onion.

congratulations, peter! enjoy your complimentary dinner for 2. 🙂

everyone else, be sure to get to mooi for some tasty raw vegan pizza ASAP.

mooi
1700 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

hey, friends! time for yet another vegan field report from barcelona, spain (often referred to as BCN in this post). this comes to us from our resident operative in europe, dadatamonkey. so sit back, relax, and enjoy his review of pizza paco…

Out on a little adventure in Barcelona, my esfuerzos took me to a pizza joint. Having asked at numerous pizza joints in BCN for vegan pizza – and found they all add milk powder to the bread base – I’d given up all hope of finding a half decent pizza to eat in BCN. How wrong can this old man be!! You know those nights where you go with the flow, trust the man, and end up doing something you never expected but will always remember? Yup. Pizza Paco was one of those. A massive thanks to Baba for this blessing. Believe me, it is a blessing. REAL pizza that’s vegan by nature and fucking gorgeous too!

Barcelona always has hidden gems on each turn it seems. This ones a tiny place hidden away in a small square in El Born. But as is so often the case, the tiny ones pack the best punch! I cannot speak highly enough about this place. When we got there (my friend Baba knows the owners, which helps!) I was “no worries I’ll have a BEER.” But… Asked the waiter about the various ingredients.. And yes…vegan was an option without cheese!!. They have one pizza on the menu that is vegan by its very nature, and a couple of others that without the cheese are too. I went inside and had a quick look just to make sure. OMFG. 00 flour. Proper stone oven. OK, lets do it. And… Boy did they do it.

La Marinara: Tomato, oregano, olive oil… AND.. Shedloads of fresh GARLIC! Simples. But the best pizza ever! As it should be. 7Euro for 13inches of heaven!

The first thing I noticed was the only instant vegan pizza on the small menu. The Marinara IS the original pizza. No cheese. But fuck me, this went beyond the normal level. Either they read minds or they love garlic. It was loaded. I am in love with this pizza. The base is perfect (a handmade stone oven at circa 500C really helps too), the sauce was made with fresh tomatoes, the oregano fresh and tasty and the garlic. Well. If you don’t like garlic. You are mad, but avoid this. Seriously. This is my new love.

La Vegetariana: Red Pepper (shush now QG), fresh mushrooms, spinach, onions, roasted baby aubergines with the tomato sauce. 9 Euro

So could the Veggie pizza from the menu be that good too you say? Oh yeah. Oh freakin yeah! To be honest I placed it second. But I’m just an old traditionalist at heart. Suffice to say the veg were cooked to pefection. This is the kind of pizza you can lift a whole slice and it stays as it should. That crust is sooo good. 00 flour and the stone oven work their magic. Also massive respect to chef because its how you work the dough that makes a pizza like this possible.

As ever, we come to my conclusion. Lets just say. Pizza Pan. As in I’m like a kid in a toy shop here… I am now PIzza Paco’d up and will be a fan as long as I live, or they are open, which I suspect will both be a very, very long time. Points out of 10? 00. 😉 Simples. Get yer ass there ass sooon ass possible, you don’t need Daiya or whatever with this quality of pizza. Just a mouth with an ever windening smile. But I’d love to try it with cheese… Let it be so.

Ps They also do a takeaway service for those lazy nights on the sofa… Just sayin..

Paco Pizza
Allada Vermell, 11, Barcelona, 08003
Open: 13:00 a 03:00
Metro: L4 Jaume I
Tel@ 93 268 2514

Like most places here, no website!

hey everyone, i’ve got some pretty exciting news! starting next week (probably on wednesday), mooi in echo park will be offering 4 flavors of raw vegan pizza. the restaurant has featured pizza as a special before, and it was so popular that they decided to add it to the regular menu.

the best part about all this though, is that mooi wants YOU to come up with their newest pizza flavor. all you gotta do is leave a comment with the type of raw vegan pizza you’d like to see at the restaurant. the winner will get a complimentary dinner for two at mooi, as well as their pizza choice added to the menu! neato, huh?

but first, let me tell you about the fantastic pizzas mooi is gonna start carrying next week. i got a sneak peak at these babies and i was completely blown away.

margherita: sweet chunky marinara, olive oil, macadamia mozzarella, fesh basil leaves & sliced tomato.

the margherita was my favorite—simple flavors, but perfectly executed. it came with chunky marinara, oilve oil, macadamia mozzarella, fresh basil, and sliced tomato. i gotta admit, i am a huge fan of cooked pizza, and this thing still won me over big time. the “bread” crust was ridiculously convincing, and the macadamia cheese was TO DIE FOR. i am really beginning to think nut-based cheese is the best tasting vegan cheese there is. i was seriously shocked by how good this pizza was, maybe it’s because i didn’t know quite what to expect.

hawaiian style: BBQ sauce, eggplant bacon, carmelized onions & pineapple.

next up, i tried the hawaiian style pizza with bbq sauce, eggplant bacon, caramelized onions, and pineapple. i am usually not a fan of this pizza flavor, but i quite enjoyed the raw version. the insanely delicious eggplant bacon and onions are what did it for me. that bacon is just ridiculous. this pizza was pretty crunchy with a great texture, and a wonderful combination of salty and sweet flavors.

red pepper and sundried tomato: red pepper and sundried tomato sauce, anise & fennel italian walnut sausage, macadamia cheese & kalamata olives.

there was also a red pepper and sundried tomato pizza, with anise and fennel italian walnut sausage, macadamia cheese, and kalamata olives. honestly, i didn’t even try this one because i hate bell peppers. it sure was pretty though, and i tasted a bit of the walnut sausage, which was excellent.

lemon basil pesto and garlic aioli: lemon basil pesto sauce, garlic aioli, mixed greens (mustard, kale), fresh basil leaves & marinated shiitake mushrooms.

lastly, there was the lemon basil pesto and garlic aioli pizza—a basil garlic sauce topped with mixed greens, basil leaves, and marinated shiitake mushrooms. like the others, this pizza was extremely tasty. nice fresh ingredients with a rich pesto sauce…what’s not to like?!

now that you’ve seen and heard about all these pizzas, you gotta get over to mooi next week and try them. even if raw pizza sounds a bit strange to you, i think these will knock your socks off. i have tried a couple different raw pizzas before, and these are definitely the BEST, and the only ones that come close to resembling “the real thing.” the crust really tastes like crust, the cheese really tastes like cheese, etc. seriously, i fell in love with just one bite.

oh, now about that contest. you wanna make up your own pizza flavor and win a dinner for two at mooi?!?! details after the jump.

CONTEST —> —–> —–>

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pizza cookery in woodland hills has been on our radar since way back in november when we learned that they had a separate vegan menu. however, we resisted making the trek out to the valley just to eat there for quite some time, because the restaurant was using follow your heart vegan cheese. i’m not a huge fan of that product, and with all the vegan pizza available much closer to my house, i just couldn’t justify the trip. anyways, those days are over now because pizza cookery now offers both follow your heart AND daiya…so everyone can enjoy some vegan pizza! we finally hit up pizza cookery recently, and found their vegan food to be absolutely fantastic—this place is definitely one of my new favorite spots.

an amazing vegan pizza

pizza cookery is your normal old school pizza joint in almost every way. they’ve been around since the 70s, with their sawdust-covered floors, pitchers of tap beer, huge private booths, and delicious food at a good value. the fact that a place like this is catering to vegans (and also gluten-free diners), is almost unbelievable.

the moment we were seated, we were presented with both “normal” and vegan menus, and a plate of complimentary rolls were placed on our table. we asked if they were vegan, and our waitress apologized that they weren’t…and offered to make us a dairy-free batch. we took her up on it, and i’m so glad we did. wowza.

the piping hot rolls arrived in one huge clump at our table about ten minutes later, and they were visually stunning. gooey vegan cheese was bubbling out of them and glistening in the light, i don’t think i’ve ever seen such beauty. shockingly, they tasted even better than they looked. they were filled up with melty follow your heart cheese, which actually worked well, and brushed with a thin coat of oil. if you go to pizza cookery, you GOTTA REQUEST the free vegan rolls! they will blow your mind to bits.

we also ordered a small salad as an appetizer–the caesar with vegan dressing and daiya cheese. we loved it!

vegan caesar salad. $8.35

i’m glad we ended up going with the small, because the salad was huge! the large would probably be enough for several people. plus with all those rich rolls, we barely had any room for pizza. we ordered a small 11″ pie to share with daiya cheese, tomatoes and mushrooms, and it was more than enough. in addition to loads of vegetable toppings, pizza cookery offers vegan pepperoni and chicken as well–both of which i’m looking forward to trying. please note, if you order vegan pizza at this place it comes with follow your heart by default. daiya lovers (like myself) need to specify.

the pizza itself was exceptional—by far some of the best vegan pizza in LA. super top notch crust, flavorful sauce, nicely melted cheese, and fresh vegetables. basically, it was everything a pizza should be and more. it would have been PERFECT, but they slice it up strangely at pizza cookery, so it was a little difficult to eat. (i like my pizza slices shaped like triangles, thank you!) but anyways, that’s a small complaint considering how incredible the pizza was.

pizza cookery also serves wine, and has beer on tap…which is very important. the selection isn’t great, but it sure hits the spot. everything is pretty cheap too—we had 2 drinks, salad, and pizza for around 25 bucks!

when you visit pizza cookery, and i really hope you do, be sure to wander around and check out all the relics scattered around the restaurant. they’ve got some really neat stuff in there like vintage soda machines…

gumball dispensers (remember those?)…

and even a cigarette machine advertising the vegan menu. lol!

i seriously love pizza cookery so much. the atmosphere, the food, the prices…everything there is wonderful. and i will be dreaming about those damn vegan bread rolls for months!

pizza cookery
6209 topanga canyon blvd.
woodland hills CA 91367
(818) 887-4770

PS: there are a couple other pizza cookery locations in the valley, but they are not affiliated with this one, and don’t have vegan options. so beware.

PPS: has anyone ever been to earth, wind, and flour in santa monica?!?! it is SO MUCH like pizza cookery on the inside (right down to the playing cards glued to the ceiling), and the pizza tastes very similar. i can’t find any tie between the 2 pizzerias online, but i’m just throwin’ that out there.

WANT VEGAN PIZZA NEAR YOU?!?! here’s how…

maybe we are idealists, or maybe we are just crazy…but we think that with your help, we can bring vegan pizza to the masses. and by vegan pizza, i mean pizza with actual VEGAN CHEESE (none of this cheeseless nonsense).

when we started this blog, vegan pizza in los angeles was a joke. there was damiano’s which was hugely expensive and decent at best…then after a while purgatory pizza popped up, and cruzer (which subsequently turned into an all vegan pizzeria!), followed by national chains like zpizza and pizza fusion, and now tons of little guys including lenzini’s, deano’s, and masa (of chicago deep dish fame).

this past year has been one huge and incredible vegan pizza explosion—but we aren’t satisfied yet. let’s take this shit to the next level. even though i just named a slew of vegan-friendly places, i bet that most of you have multiple pizzerias more conveniently located near your home or work that don’t have a dairy-free cheese offering. how great would it be if they did? that’s where this nifty form comes in.

fill it out, sign your name, and drop it off or mail it to all the pizzerias you’d like to be able to eat at. copy the text, and email it as well…let’s hit them up from all sides. SERIOUSLY, this stuff works. LA distributors are already carrying vegan cheese, restaurants just need to know that there’s a demand. and there IS A DEMAND…RIGHT?!?! right!

CLICK IMAGE to download the vegan pizza PDF

please note: on this form, i suggested daiya and teese as options for pizzerias to stock, because those are the only vegan cheeses available in LA that i actually like. if you don’t agree, feel free to edit the form to add or delete products as you see fit. hey, here’s a word document to make it super easy.

are you guys on board?! i seriously think if we do this, the vegan pizza choices in LA could take a massive upturn. supposedly this blog has a lot of readers—i don’t know who you people are, but i think you can help out in making vegan options more prevalent in our fair city. worth a shot? YES!

please comment below with any stories about your vegan pizza outreach and success. we are curious to see how many people actually take the time to do this…and even more curious to see what the results are as far as vegan pizza options are concerned!

btw: BY ALL MEANS, PLEASE use this form even if you don’t live in LA. everywhere needs more vegan pizza!

we are ALWAYS on the lookout for vegan pizza in los angeles, so we were super excited when a quarrygirl forums user called “cakebite” posted this entry about deano’s a few months ago. the gourmet pizzeria is located in the old farmers market near the grove on 3rd and fairfax, it carries daiya cheese, and has loads of vegan options. not to mention gluten free menu items, and whole wheat crust as well! of course we had to check it out.

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YES! THEY ARE HERE! i blogged about these babies last month and told you they would be available at ralphs soon. well we waited and waited through delay after delay, and the vegan frozen pizzas never hit the grocery store shelves. but today we can finally say, “ralphs?! fuck that shit! these pizzas are AVAILABLE AT LOCALI!”

locali may be a bit overpriced and not entirely vegan, but they always get the cool vegan products before anyone else. they were the first in LA to carry amy’s vegan mac and cheese, and now they have the brand new tofurky pizzas with daiya cheese! GO GET SOME NOW. they are really good. read my old review if you wanna know more of my thoughts on these pizzas.

FINALLY it’s here! if you want authentic, vegan, amazingly delicious chicago-style deep dish pizza in los angeles…look no further than masa of echo park. the restaurant has offered vegan pizza for awhile, but as of a few days ago, they have perfected the art of the animal-free deep dish using the new and improved stretchy teese from chicago soydairy.

i want to start by saying, this pizza is a million times better than any other deep dish we’ve covered on this blog. when i say it’s “authentic” chicago-style, i mean it…and that’s something that masa takes very seriously. in a letter on the restaurant’s website, owner rob rowe explains that he was born and raised in chicago, has worked in chicago pizzerias, and is passionate about making chicago pizza. each pie consists of a 2 inch deep cornmeal crust, filled with whole pear tomatoes, chunky garlic, and cheese underneath the sauce.

to say this pizza is incredible would be a gross understatement. it’s perfect in every way from the extremely flavorful sauce, to the melty-ness of the teese, to the soft cornmeal crust that basically melts in your mouth. the crust is the most amazing pizza crust i’ve ever tasted, in fact.

masa also serves tap beer and wine, which is good news, because their authentic deep dish pizzas take about 40 minutes to bake. this is definitely a great place to come and unwind, have a few drinks, and wait patiently for pizza perfection to emerge from the oven. if you don’t want to wait though, you can always call and order your pizza ahead of time.

please take my advice, and check out masa as soon as you possibly can. order the deep dish with the new stretchy teese, and enjoy what will be without a doubt some of the best vegan pizza you’ve ever eaten.

Masa of Echo Park
1800 West Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(213) 989-1558

PS: masa butters the crust of their deep dish pizzas, but when you order vegan cheese they instead use olive oil. i’m just letting you know, because you may wanna remind them NOT to butter your crust…even though it’s policy not to. i’m just paranoid like that.

Back when I was a vegetarian living in London, I used to visit Chicago frequently. On my trips I would only eat two kinds of food: Mexican (as there is no Mexican food to speak of in the UK) and Chicago Pizza (same issue). Now that I’m a vegan living in LA there’s an abundance of incredible Mexican food to satiate my love of things from south of the border, but I really do miss the tastes and textures of a thick, cheese filled Chicago pizza that’s so humongously large that it has to be eaten with a knife and fork.

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UPDATE 07/20/10: since the time i ate at red dog, chickette has changed their recipe and is no longer vegan. 🙁 red dog carries GARDEIN now though, so ask for that if you want a vegan option. also, someone left a comment saying the buffalo sauce is not vegan. i don’t know if they changed that as well, but double check and ask to see the ingredients.

red dog saloon. beer, bar food, and the best vegan pizza i’ve ever eaten.

a couple months ago, i was hanging in norfolk virginia and scoping out the meatless offerings. you wouldn’t think that such a small town would be so vegan-friendly, but i must say norfolk holds its own against other massive cities i’ve visited. the main stretch of restaurants i’d wanna visit runs along colley avenue, and within walking distance i found vegan sushi, vegan middle eastern food, 3 spots for vegan pizza, 2 vegan-friendly bars, and vegan tex mex. i can honestly say i’ve never seen so many options in such a small radius…it even rivaled the vegan strip mall.

today though, i’m here to talk about red dog saloon. located on colley avenue, it has a huge tap beer selection, comfy seating, good music, and most importantly an impressive vegan menu. there is nothing pretentious about this place, and it’s definitely the most “normal” bar that i’ve ever eaten vegan food at…maybe that’s why i love it so much. there is absolutely nowhere like red dog in LA: a typical bar where shit gets rowdy at night and locals hang out for hours, plus a wide selection of delicious vegan food that is readily available.

i spent less than a week in norfolk, but i wound up eating (and drinking) at red dog twice. both times i was kicking it with my friend and fellow vegan blogger sunny, and although we had complaints about some dishes, overall we agreed that red dog was super awesome.

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just last week i was complaining about the fact that there’s nowhere to get a vegan deep dish pizza in los angeles, when this @ reply magically showed up in my twitter feed. lo and behold, fresh brothers makes a daiya-filled deep dish, and it is bloody fantastic!

naturally we rushed out the minute we could and hit up the marina del rey fresh brothers location over the weekend. we ordered a medium (the smallest size available) vegan deep dish to share, and it was waaaaaay too much food for the two of us to eat…

we went for the “create your own” option with daiya cheese, tomatoes, mushrooms, and pepperoncinis. this is not the cheapest way to order a pie (it would probably be more cost-effective to veganize an existing menu option), and our pizza wound up being about $20. that’s okay though, because it was ENORMOUS and fed us for 3 meals…

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a couple days ago, i got an email from a vegan who lives in eagle rock telling me i had to check out corner pizzeria. he said they’d just started carrying daiya cheese and vegan sausage, and that the pizza was amazing. sure enough i headed out to corner over the weekend, and was delighted as i approached the building and saw a sign advertising vegan pizza.

but there was a catch…

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after a nice relaxing day on sanibel island, my folks and i stopped at pizza fusion in fort myers for some grub. my adorable mom was really excited to take me there, telling me during several conversations over the last few months there was a new pizza place with vegan pizza.

i’ve been to pizza fusion here in LA, so i was interested to see how the fort myers location compared.

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vegans! a couple days ago we reported that our favorite santa barbara restaurant, pizza guru, had temporarily closed down due to some….um…legal issues.

thankfully…they have re-opened as of today, and our friend melisser from the urban housewife was even there to try the pizza on their first day back in business.

she sent us this picture, and said the pizza was delicious. whew, glad to hear they are back in action. pizza guru also posted the following message on their facebook page this morning…

let’s hope they stay open for good this time, and that all the shady issues are behind them. i don’t know about you, but i am booking a trip to santa barbara to eat at pizza guru ASAP. don’t take the fact that there is pizza this awesome just a couple hours away for granted. GO, while you still can!

pizza guru
3534 State St
Santa Barbara, CA 93105
(805) 563-3250

UPDATE 6/19/20: pizza guru has re-opened as of today!

we just received a dose of WTF news from a santa barbara tipster, alerting us to the fact that our favorite pizzeria ever, pizza guru, has been raided and shut down by the police. whaaaaaat?!

scandal after the jump…

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