casa de tree is a newish japanese/french organic bakery and vegan deli that’s sprouted up near the venice area of los angeles. they used to have a location in torrance with a full-on menu, but for now the los angeles storefront just offers a few specials and a long pay-by-weight vegan buffet. my husband and i checked them out a few weeks ago and filled up on loads scrumptious vegan goodness. buffet, entrees, sides, we got it all.

casa de tree buffet with vegetables, tofu, crispy seitan, dumplings and other tasty things. $8.99 per pound.

my husband made his rounds through the deli, gathering tons of appetizing vegetables, savory tofu, crispy seitan and steamed dumplings. i helped myself to his plate and everything was amazing. strangely, the large trays of buffet food that lined the walls of casa de tree were completely unlabeled, however the woman behind the cash register was more than happy to explain each dish in detail. there was so much to choose from, and it was all delicious and completely vegan—the food was much higher quality than that in the standard whole foods pay-by-weight buffet of the same price.

i decided to go with the special of the day from the blackboard above the buffet, two crunchy tacos. they were very tasty, and came with a bunch of stuff that looked familiar from my husband’s buffet selections.

casa de tree tacos with seitan, vegetables, soy sour cream and side salads. $9.75

i thought the tacos were incredible. the breaded seitan katsu was perfectly cooked, the organic corn shells were light and crunchy, and both side salads were superb. the soy sour cream was sinfully good as well. my only complaint about my meal is that it took ages to arrive, and since my husband went with the deli option, he was done eating long before my food was served.

casa de tree also offers a counter full of ready-made items and take-away bento boxes that looked very appetizing, and wide array of mouth-watering desserts. my husband and i split the tofu quiche, which turned out to be the highlight of the meal.

vegan tofu quiche. $1.75

i have had a few vegan quiches in my time, and this was the best one ever. it was warm with fluffy tofu and spinach on the inside, and slightly burned and crunchy on top. quiche perfection.

so overall, i had a pretty good experience at casa de tree. the food was not only tasty, it was all organic, vegan and nutritious. the recipes were creative as well, i loved the blending of japanese and french styles—the dishes really reminded me of stuff you’d find at m cafe, minus the dead fish. i just hope casa de tree gets a proper menu at some point in the near future. while the deli/salad bar option would be great for grabbing stuff to go, i’d rather have more choices for a dine-in experience. plus, i prefer my food to be fresh and warm as can be.

if you want a quick bite on the west side, check out casa de tree. and eat some dessert for me, because i didn’t get a chance to try any!

casa de tree
3741 motor ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90034
310.784.0455

on my recent trip to florida, i ate at a ton of cool veg restaurants, but none of them compared to the vegan perfection i would find at SUBLIME. actually, nowhere i’ve ever been compares to sublime, a high-class vegan eatery in ft. lauderdale, florida that boasts numerous celebrity patrons, including paul mccartney. i can safely say it is there that i ate the best meal i’ve ever had, and the owner wasn’t lying when she stopped by our table and assured us, “there’s nowhere like sublime in the entire united states.”

i could tell the moment i walked into the entirely vegan restaurant and saw the fancy interior complete with waterfalls, the neatly dressed staff and enormous bar that i was somewhere special. i would have to treat myself to a full on slap-up meal consisting of an aperitif, an appetizer, two entrees (to be shared by me & my husband), and dessert. so that’s just what i did.

(i apologize in advance for the dark photos in this post. sublime is a classy joint with dim lights, not ideal for taking pix that are up to snuff. you will have to believe me when i say these snapshots don’t do the food justice.)

before we even ordered, our fabulous waiter showed up at our table with a small plate of complimentary pesto polenta. i knew we were off to a good start. it, of course, was delicious.

pesto polenta, on the house!

for my pre-meal cocktail, i ordered a mojito—this is florida, after all, and drinking anything else would be a crime. it was cool and refreshing. sweet and minty. ahh.

minty-licious mojito $8

now, let’s get TASTY. sublime offers a pretty big appetizer menu and all of it sounds good, but one dish in particular caught my attention: sublime sliders.

sublime sliders: cheddar, seitan steak, onion, romaine, gherkin, special sauce. $12

i see people chomping on these mini burgers in bars all the time—a common happy hour food, most weekends i find myself 3 stools away from a plate of sliders and an endless stream of bud light. being super into vegan burgers, i’ve daydreamed from time to time about creating my own cruelty-free slider recipe. unfortunately, it all falls apart when i think about forming and baking miniature buns, or getting the itsy-bitsy patties just right. luckily for me, sublime took care of all that for me. i finally know what it’s like to eat a slider…fucking awesome. if there was a vegan heaven, god would serve sublime’s sliders nightly hourly.

after devouring my shameless, hamburger-emulating appetizer, i knew sublime was ready to bring it—i had to order some entrees that would be difficult to veganize; stuff normally reserved for omnivores. after those sliders, i had a feeling sublime would be up for the challenge.

what better way to start than with a quiche? upon googling a quiche recipe, the first result i found called for 4 eggs, 1 cup of half & half, 1/2 cup of real mayonnaise, and 8 ounces of cheddar cheese. yep, it could skate by as vegetarian, but the quiche contains all the vegan’s worst enemies. how could any fine restaurant possibly create one that i could actually eat? i dunno. but sublime sure as fuck did.

tuscan quiche: tofu, “mozzarella”, roasted shallots, wood-fired artichokes, braised spinach, roasted red bliss potatoes, seasonal vegetables. $16

this quiche was off the chain: delicious, soft, melty and moist. each bite was an explosion of creamy flavor. the order also came complete with sinful oily leafy greens and perfectly grilled potatoes. i’ve never had such a perfect replication of cheese, milk and eggs all in one. this tasted REAL, sans the cruelty and dead shit. give me any omnivore, and i guarantee they would believe they were eating the bloody puss-filled dairy products they are used to. i mean this all in a good way. there is NO reason not to be vegan.

next up, the even bigger test…PIZZA. other than tomato joe’s, nobody has made a vegan pizza that i’m totally impressed with. i knew that if sublime was on point, they’d be able to pull a out a decent vegan pizza. of course, they did.

margherita classico: tomato, fresh basil, soy mozzarella. $12

sublime’s vegan pizza is unique, because it doesn’t contain the crappy over-used follow your heart cheese that runs rampant here in los angeles. being a vegan cheese fanatic, i can swear that sublime’s cheese substitute tastes just like TEESE…a tasty brand that doesn’t get nearly enough attention. beyond taste, the sublime pizza’s cheese had an ever-so-slight pinkish tinge to it, another teese characteristic. of course, it was delectable. it’s so refreshing to eat vegan pizza in a restaurant, free of follow your heart’s impudent and never-melting fake cheese. this stuff was gooey and stringy, melty-licious and unruly…almost just like real cheese. a definite winner. cooked more like a fancy italian restaurant pizza, this isn’t your huge take-out, tv dinner pie. instead, sublime serves their dusty pizza on a thinner crust, with decorative garnishes and fresh light ingredients. the presentation, exquisite taste and top-notch fake cheese make this pizza an A+++++++++++++.

after eating away and sipping cocktails into oblivion, my husband and i agreed that this was, without a doubt, the best dinner ever. sublime was truly the most special, wonderful, magical place that we’d ever eaten. there is absolutely no way we could pass up on dessert. it just wouldn’t be right, to us, and ESPECIALLY to you!

being a choc-o-holic, i chose the chocolate nirvana cake with ice cream on the side. never before has being a vegan felt so decadent and delicious.

chocolate nirvana: milk chocolate, kahlua butter creme, dark chocolate ganache. $11

this cake was better than any crappy vegetarian cake i’ve ever eaten. i think whoever made it possesses secret powers. seriously, it was soooo luscious. the frosting was rich and creamy, the cake itself was moist, and it came with a huge piece of chocolate candy that was sumptuous. it totally had me scraping the plate and licking the fork. even my husband, mr. “i don’t like sweet stuff” was all over it. best dessert ever. wow.

my experience proves that only one word can describe sublime: perfect. this place is amazing, and the only thing i hate about it is that it’s located so far away from me. it’s absolutely superb—i recommend if you visit florida, or any of the surrounding states for that matter, you do whatever it takes to have dinner at sublime. it will be worth your while. i’m looking into booking another trip to florida ASAP just to eat there again.

best food. killer atmosphere. huge selection. what more do we vegans require? plus, the rock star on my banner eats there. go there. it will be so fucking tasty!