• July 16th, 2010brittanyLA restaurants, nature's grill

    a couple weeks ago two of my good friends got married (yay!), and to celebrate they planned a beach camping trip out in oxnard. camping for me means i’m stuck eating snacky things like chips and peanut butter pretzels because i’m not going to cook a veggie dog on a grill that’s covered in meat residue and i don’t have the foresight to bring, say, a sandwich. i’m good at being prepared like that.

    so after a night of shoving my face full of tortilla chips and salsa, the next morning when one of my friends suggested we go in to ventura to check out the thrift stores i was all for it, hoping to find some real food.

    we came across nature’s grill on main street, walked up to the counter and checked out the menu. honestly i saw the word “tempeh tacos” and didn’t really look at anything else.

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  • May 21st, 2010mr meanerLA restaurants, mary's secret garden

    UPDATE! Please check out this forum post, following a comment we received below.

    When I arrived in the USA from the UK some years ago, I immediately latched on to Costco as one of the most wonderful places on earth. There I could buy all the toilet paper, Kleenex, USB hard drives and Boca burgers I needed to survive. Costco even had 16-pack of vegan burger buns which I’d stash in the freezer along with the Boca patties so I could prepare myself a hearty snack any time I wanted. When hungry, I’d microwave the whole thing: Boca in first, then the bread bun, and I’d garnish with Vegenaise, some soy “cheese” and whatever fixings I had in the kitchen (usually tomatoes, onions and lettuce).

    I loved my Costco burger invention as it had a lot going for it: Vegan, quick to make, somewhat tasty, low in fat, highly predictable and VERY inexpensive. In fact, I used to boast to my omni friends that my burger cost around 60 cents to prepare, so it became known as a “60 Cent Burger”, and I was frequently called upon to prepare loads of them for late night after-party munchies. Anyway, more on the 60 Cent burger later, after the matters at hand.

    It’s no secret that I’m a HUGE fan of the Pacific Coast: I live in Los Angeles where I can drive up PCH or the 101 any time I like to Ventura or Santa Barbara. Although the coastal route is sparsely populated with restaurants, vegan and vegetarian friends have been telling me for years that I need to check out Mary’s Secret Garden in Ventura as they have some of the “best food anywhere”. So, last weekend, I resolutely drove directly from Hollywood to Mary’s Secret Garden for lunch. And, boy, was the place a letdown.

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