oh man, i really wish i was eligible to win my own contests! LA’s newest upscale vegan restaurant, seed bistro, is giving away a dinner for 2 at chef eric’s tasting table to one lucky quarrygirl commenter.

the prize includes a six course dinner prepared by chef eric on seed bistro’s opening night—monday, august 29th at 8pm. the value of the dinner is $60 per person, but seed will comp the winners up to $75 per person to include alcohol. that’s a $150 value! epic! please note that gratuity is not included…so if you win, tip and tip well.

the chef’s tasting table is a “sushi bar-esque” raised counter that only has room for 6 guests at any given time, so to occupy 1/3 of it on opening night would be quite an honor!

here’s how to enter…

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if you live in los angeles, you’ve probably heard of the counter, a super popular burger joint with several locations and loads of quality beer on tap.

lucky for us herbivore folks, the veggie burger patty at the counter is vegan…and even though the buns are not, you can opt for your burger in a bowl atop a salad. normally, we wouldn’t be thrilled by this option, but the killer draught list inspired us to check the counter out.

we hit up the brand new wilshire location over the weekend and were pleasantly surprised…

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i’m typically not a salad person, but lately i can’t get enough of mixt greens on wilshire.

the fast-casual eatery is kind of like the chipotle of salad bars—you order at the counter and choose your ingredients one by one, then watch them get all mixed up in a bowl before your eyes. everything at mixt greens is super high quality. we are talking fresh, organic, locally sourced, and seasonal. the best of the best, and you can taste the difference.

lots of nice things to choose from!

the vegan options at mixt greens are plentiful…naturally they have tons of vegetables to choose from, as well as nuts, beans, quinoa, tofu and soba noodles…

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living in a household that is 1/2 english and 1/2 southern californian, it is a common debate which is better: curry or mexican? they are the two great take-out foods of our respective nations, and we can never settle on just one….and now with cowboys and turbans, we don’t have to.

cowboys and turbans has two locations in LA (one in silverlake and one on wilshire), and they specialize in “indian mexican street food,” meaning they shove curry into awesome vessels such as burritos and tacos, and offer tikka masala without a south of the border flare. yep, this is pretty much my favorite combo ever. i went all out on my recent order from the silverlake location with burritos, tacos, and tikka galore!

spinach tofu burrito with spanish rice, lettuce, tomato, cilantro, tamarind chutney, mint chutney and crispy chick pea strips wrapped in a soft grilled flour tortilla. $8

the tofu burrito was MASSIVE and came wrapped in thin white paper (as any self-respecting street burrito does). it also was accompanied by a huge portion of mexic-indian chips that were somewhere between flavorful flat bread and tortilla crisps. they were so fucking good; i ate them before i could photograph them. oops.

inside the burrito, was a mixture of rice, indian spices, tofu and spinach, and crispy chick pea strips. i am a traditional burrito lover, but this was a very welcome change. if you are a fan of both indian and mexican food, you are gonna go nuts for this thing. and just to put your little vegan minds to rest, i did double check that the tortilla was vegan as well.

spinach tikka masala: spinach and tofu in a red non-dairy curry sauce with a side of basmati rice. $8

another good option at cowboys and turbans is the tikka masala. both the spinach and spinach tofu varieties are vegan, and they are delicious. huge chunks of cubed tofu mixed up with a vegan red sauce and served with the perfect portion of basmati rice.

now let me tell you about a little mistake i made with cowboys and turbans, which is actually quite embarrassing…

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more SAD SAD SAD news as yet another vegan restaurant closes its doors.

smac-n-cheese: gluten-free rice elbow pasta with a creamy cheesy sauce. i will miss you 🙁

our beloved cafe flourish will be going out of business early next month. it started a few weeks ago when they shortened their business hours, and now it looks as though they’ve declared defeat. hear it in their own words:

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cafe flourish, an awesome little vegan restaurant in the miracle mile district of los angeles, has recently added some new stuff to their sandwiches menu. now in addition to their reuben (one of LA’s best), BLTA, and soy hot dogs, they also have a vegan burger and grilled cheese!

of course, i had to try both and these things did not disappoint.

flourish burger: our house-made southwest style veggie burger. slightly spicy, completely delicious! lettuce, tomato and a creamy "cheesy" sauce on a multi-grain bun. $9.75

first up, the flourish burger. it’s my belief that any restaurant worth its salt should offer a vegan burger. thankfully, now cafe flourish does… and it’s a damn good one. it’s thick and hearty, with a zesty homemade patty that’s packed with vegetables and covered in rich creamy vegan cheese. it’s pretty spicy and really flavorful, and with a side salad of your choice, it’s a good deal for under ten bucks.

next up is the cheese louise, cafe flourish’s take on a classic grilled cheese sandwich. this has been a special on flourish’s menu for awhile, but now it looks like it has earned a permanent spot.

cheese louise: our stuffed grilled cheese. incredibly melty and delicious daiya cheese, caramelized onions and guacamole on french white bread grilled to perfection. $9

this thing is stuffed with cheddar and italian daiya (the best vegan cheese ever), as well as caramelized onions and guacamole. i’ve never had guacamole in a grilled cheese sandwich, but wow, brilliant! the two flavors of daiya mixed with sweet onions and creamy avocado was definitely a winning combo. it comes with a side salad, and i got the quinoa which is incredible. i really loved this sandwich, but my only complaint is that $9 is a lot to pay for a grilled cheese. oh well.

so head over to cafe flourish and check out their new menu items ASAP. i love this restaurant more and more every time i go. yum time.

cafe flourish
5406 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 939-3932

after my recent sandwich obsession post about the tempeh reuben at flore in silverlake, a bunch of vegans started chiming in with suggestions of other restaurants where i could find awesome reubens. one name that kept coming up was cafe flourish, and commenter AWk even went as far as to call it “the best vegan reuben in los angeles.” oh REALLY? naturally i had to head to flourish right away and check out this sandwich.

Love Reuben: Savory marinated tempeh with house-made Swiss, sauerkraut & avocado with Russian dressing on rye. $11.95

while i can’t confirm this is the best vegan reuben in town, because i haven’t tasted all of the contenders, i can tell you that it’s the best sandwich i’ve eaten in a long, long time. at first i thought it was pretty pricey at nearly 12 bucks for just a sandwich, but when i saw how massive and stuffed this thing was, i knew it was a good value. seriously, there must have been an entire package-worth of tempeh in there, and about half a cup of creamy thousand island dressing.

everything in this sandwich was delicious, i can definitely see why y’all were raving about it in the comments section. the tempeh was flavorful and the block of house-made swiss was absolutely fantastic…i would love to know how they do it. i love the fact that there was a huge slice of avocado in it as well, you don’t see that very often in reubens and it’s a damn shame. the only downside of this beautiful sandwich was that it was so packed with tempeh, sauerkraut and dressing that it was difficult to eat with out spilling it. i couldn’t even finish the thing, so i wrapped up half of it and the leftovers were enough for another entire meal. booya.

so whether or not this is the best vegan reuben in LA, i dunno. but i know it’s a fucking awesome reuben and i will be ordering it again. one of these days i will have to drag myself to the valley and hit up follow your heart for what To Live and Eat in LA calls “the world’s best vegan reuben sandwich”. the follow your heart reuben has also gotten a strong endorsement from Sick of Lettuce, so i am pretty interested to see how it holds up against flourish’s masterful sandwich.

i’m starting to see why vegans have this crazy obsession with reuben sandwiches. i’m hooked, and i am gonna try as many as i can. stay tuned.

one of los angeles’ newest vegan restaurants, cafe flourish, is quickly becoming one of my favorites. i have had the chance to try numerous different dishes at the small mid-wilshire eatery, and never once have i been disappointed. since my first review, i have been back to cafe flourish and i think it’s safe to say the food keeps getting better and better.

french dip, merci: porcini & shitake mushrooms with caramelized onions on french bread with a rich mushroom au jus. $10.25

on a recent visit to cafe flourish, i tried out their french dip which comes with caramelized onions and two types of mushrooms on a thick roll. at first i thought it was bit expensive at $10.25, considering their was no meat substitute in the sandwich, but the price tag was quickly justified when i tasted the delicate and exquisite mushrooms. the caramelized onions were tender and slightly sweet, cooked up just perfectly, and much better than i could make at home. with all the awesome flavors that were goin’ on in this sandwich, it didn’t even need to substitute the beef that you would normally find in a ‘real’ french dip. the hearty sandwich also came with a side salad (not pictured). i went with the quinoa; it’s the only side i’ve ever ordered at cafe flourish, and it’s so damn good i can’t bring myself to try anything else.

smac-n-cheese: gluten-free rice elbow pasta with a creamy cheesy sauce. served with a house salad. $9.95

in addition to all the normal menu items, cafe flourish also has a white board full of specials you can order. so far my favorite dish ever at flourish has been the smac ‘n cheese special, gluten free pasta in a really rich, creamy and spicy melted cheese sauce. this vegan version of macaroni and cheese is so incredible, it gives all the other mac in this town a run for its money. maybe it’s the zesty hot cheese they mix it with, or the fact it gets so perfectly melty with chewy edges. rumor is, cafe flourish will be adding it to the regular menu soon. i’m so relieved, because i never wanna see this special go away.

another special worth trying, and one that would be especially good for the kids, is ‘sausage fest’, flourish’s take on the classic pigs in a blanket. the dish comes with 2 standard yves or smart dog type links wrapped in a thick doughy bread with sauces and condiments. while the hot dogs themselves aren’t anything amazing, the puffy soft blanket is really damn tasty. the soy meat gains a whole new life when slathered in vegan mayo and mustard, all enveloped in the fluffy roll. i loved it. if i had a child, i would order them this. it totally reminded me of being 10 years old.

sausage fest: 2 soy hotdogs wrapped in a blanket with dijon, ketchup, mayo and relish. served with a caesar salad. $6.50

so if you haven’t been to cafe flourish yet, what are you waitin’ for? they haven’t let me down once. i am so glad we have yet another vegan restaurant right in the middle of town. los angeles is gettin’ better all the time.

cafe flourish
5406 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 939-3932
Mon-Sat. 11:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.

i know that only yesterday we broke the news of a brand new vegan restaurant in los angeles. well, today we have one more recently-opened, cruelty-free eatery to report: cafe flourish located on wilshire at cloverdale. hell yeah, miracle mile finally has it’s own 100% vegan establishment, and it has officially come out of the gates swingin. i got a tip about cafe flourish from a reader called “mc”, and naturally i dragged one of my co-workers there to check it out immediately. although the cafe has just been in business a couple of weeks old and only offers a ‘limited opening menu,’ there was a buzzing lunch crowd when we visited, and the food was pretty impressive.

flourish plate: southern macro plate. pinto beans, long-grain brown rice & sauteed kale with a delicious creamy sauce & a gluten-free corn muffin. $9.95

for just a soft opening menu, cafe flourish sure offers a ton of mouth-watering selections, and i had a tough time deciding what to order. from a rueben, to a quesadilla, to a french dip, to a burrito, to jackfruit tacos, and assorted pizzas, there was more than enough food to choose from. i settled on the “flourish plate” because it sound soul foodish, yet light at the same time. boy, was i spot on!—i’m very happy with my decision, because the flourish plate had that traditional home-cookin’ feel, yet without all the oil or heaviness. the only thing decadent about it was the creamy-cheese-style-sauce. the plate consisted of a huge guilt-free portion of greens, some light but well-seasoned rice, and whole beans covered in the most amazing white sauce mixture. the gluten-free cornbread was also quite tasty: light, moist, and squishy…and not nearly as greasy as the cornbread i am used to eating. this is definitely a way to get a southern fix without feeling like you are about to give birth to a food baby.

my omnivorous friend ordered the BLT&A (which i took a large portion of), and both of us were quite pleased with it.

although it may look a bit simple, the sandwich was quite exceptional with delicately toasted bread, creamy vegenaise, fresh vegetables, soft avocado, and moist flavorful tempeh. the fact that both a meat eater and herbivore were in love with this sandwich speaks volumes. oh, and it came with a choice of side salad. she got the quinoa, which turned out to be the best thing at the table! she even went back in and got her own side order to take home. m cafe and its deli case have got nothin on this, baby.

BLT&A: smoky tempeh bacon, red-leaf lettuce, ripe roma tomatoes, avocado & spicy mayo on half-toasted white bread. with a side of quinoa. $8.50

of course, we couldn’t leave this new found vegan paradise without ordering dessert. although the glass case of cakes was pretty appetizing, we decided to splurge in a small way and split a minty-chocolate-chip cookie. damn, fucking incredible! fluffy and soft with huge, melty chunks of minty chocolate…i defy you to find me a vegetarian cookie as good (and healthy) as this.

vegan chocolate chip mint cookie. $2.25

even though the place has been around just a couple weeks, cafe flourish truly has its shit together. the tiny take-out stlye eatery was crowded when we were there, the service was friendly, the wait was minimal, and the food was excellent. what more do i require? plus, mid-wilshire has been begging for a vegan restaurant for quite a while. this would be the perfect place to grab dinner before a show at the el rey, or to pick up take-out to eat at the little bar.

from cafe flourish’s menu: “we are committed to sustainable food practices; we use organic whenever possible, we don’t use animal products, we compost for low waste, and our food is lovingly prepared, embedded with positive intentions. your choice to eat here today is a contribution toward the planet, your community and your health. we thank you, and may your flourish!” …..in other words…..“nom!!!!!”

hope you all enjoy this place as much as i did. thanks again to my reader mc for sending this in.

cafe flourish
5406 wilshire blvd.
los angeles ca 90036
323-939-3932
monday-saturday 11am-10pm