• April 19th, 2011quarrygirllas vegas, more restaurants (not LA)

    UPDATE 9/5/11: before dining at the wynn, please check your restaurant’s dress code. i’ve heard some horror stories of nice vegans being turned away for not being fancy enough. boo! just a heads up!

    this is great news! a couple of months ago it was announced that gardein’s mascot was teaming up with steve wynn to revamp the menus at the mogul’s las vegas casino. apparently, tal’s been busy because la cave at the wynn is already offering gardein! score! this is a huge step up from when we visited vegas in late 2010, and most of the wynn restaurants only offered salad or boring pasta dishes on their vegan menus.

    a QG reader named mark sent us a snap shot of his gardein la cave meal, which he described as “awesome”!

    gardein "chicken", celery root puree, lemon caper sauce. $14

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  • June 24th, 2010quarrygirlvegan events

    last night, i was fortunate enough to attend the “meat is for pussies” release party, with food provided by david anderson and tal ronnen. i was already super excited about john joseph’s latest book, so when i heard that two of the best vegan chefs in the world would be catering the event, i knew i had to be there.

    here’s a re-cap of the night.

    finger foods were being served all evening, and while it was impossible to keep track of (or even taste) every dish, all the ones i tried were spectacular. my friends and i stood gathered around a table savoring the appetizers as they were brought out, and trying to figure out whether each one was created by tal or dave. there was an incredible mini-pancake/mushroom appetizer topped with some sort of cream (pictured above), as well as crackers topped with vegan cheese…

    little jacket potatoes…

    some kind of insanely tasty pot pie thing (i have no clue what was in it, but it ruled)…

    sushi…

    bigger maque SLIDERS!!!!!!! (these alone were worth the drive to downtown)…

    cheesecake tarts…and several other desserts i don’t have pix of!

    there was a very good crowd in attendance as well…

    vegans

    it was bustling, but not uncomfortably crowded…

    more vegans

    a nice intimate group.

    john joseph was wandering around, mingling with folks and chatting with fans. we snapped a pic of him with molly from madeleine bistro.

    john joseph and molly anderson

    moby was even there! and boy, was he shocked to see me!

    moby

    later in the evening, chefs david anderson and tal ronnen took the stage to introduce john joseph…

    chefs david anderson and tal ronnen

    of course the crowd went nuts cheering the chefs, because their food was so awesome.

    john joseph treated us to a brief talk on veganism and a reading from his book, “meat is for pussies.” john’s presence on stage was awesome and his words were beyond compelling. his no-nonsense style was motivating and i could tell that meat is for pussies would be both an entertaining and informative read.

    overall, the party was fantastic, and i’m so glad i went! incredible food, great company, inspiring words, and a worthwhile cause. just another night in the life of a vegan!

    be sure to pick 2 copies of “meat is for pussies”—one for yourself, and one for your favorite omnivore. also, buy tal ronnen’s cookbook, and eat at madeleine bistro as often as possible!

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