To Live and Eat in L.A. – A Vegan Food Photo Blog

Last weekend I had a fun food & foodie filled adventure. First I went to check out the Food Fight documentary, knowing I’d be meeting up with the one & only Teenage Glutster but also pleased to make the acquaintance of Pat from Eating L.A. as an extra added bonus. It was a unique experience to view this food centric film as part of a Los Angeles foodblogger trifecta, each of us with our very different approaches to food and this fine city we enjoy eating it in.

By the time the movie was over The Glutster and I were feeling famished. There was some yummy looking stuff in the film (it was the pomegranite salsa that got me) and my taste buds were ready for action. After a bit of deliberation we decided to go to Cru, the vegan raw food restaurant in Silver Lake. Neither of us had eaten there before though we’d both been wanting to. Perfect! This was the night of the big rally/protest/march againt Prop 8 at the Sunset Junction (basically right near the restaurant), so I wasn’t sure we’d even be able to get there, but the street had only just begun to fill up with protestors when we arrived so there was no crisis to avert. The scene was rather festive, the vibe friendly and vibrant… it was exciting to see so many people come together to fight for what is right. We however were not there to protest, we were there to eat!

Now before I go any further, I must tell you that it’s very dark inside of Cru… very low ambient lighting and candles. It’s quite lovely in there, not at all too dark to see by, but certainly too dark to take good pictures in without flash. Not only that but my battery was dying too. That said, I did my best as this wonderful meal deserved to be shared.

Being the hardcore food-loving gluttons that we are, we without hesitation started off with not one, but two appetizers. The first was The Mezze Platter: cucumber tzatzizki, beet & apple salad, fig pate, cashew cheese, flax crackers and garlicky rubbed kale. Everything was delicious, the cashew cheese was rich, thick and creamy, not really tasting like cashews or cheese, but of something better than both. The fig pate was really something special, not as sweet as you would expect figs to be and I noticed a deep, almost fermented touch to it, as if it had been steeped in wine… exquisite. Everything else on the plate was just as excellent, right down to the perfectly brined olives. I think it’s fair to say we were both equally impressed.

We also had the Kim-chi Noodle Salad, which I mistakenly imagined would consist of noodles made from kim-chi, but that was not the case. Basically it was kelp noodles on top of a salad of greens, all topped with a healthy portion of kim-chi (I told you the photos were going to be craptastic). This was an odd combo for me, I do like all of the ingredients but I’m not sure I’d think to put them together that way. Plus the kelp noodles were just plain, I’m used to the delicious way they gussy them up in the Kelp Noodle Salad at Hugo’s or how I cook them at home. I didn’t hate it, I certainly ate quite a bit of it, but I’m not sure I’d order it again.

For my main course I got the Pizza Duo: one slice of mushroom pizza and one slice of pesto vegetable pizza (that’s a salad in the back). These were both so delicious. The one on the left is the mushroom pizza featuring a gorgeous heap of shitake mushrooms. I wish I could tell you what all the other ingredients were but I’m just not sure. I think there might be dried tomatoes on there, those green leaves might well be basil, and a most delicious creamy sauce on the crust that was kind of sweet, which may or may not have been made of cashews. The crust itself is made from kambucha squash. I have no idea how they do it, but… wow. It’s soft and chewy, yet firm enough to withstand being picked up and eaten like a normal slice of pizza.

The slice on the right has some glorious pesto sauce on the bottom, thinly sliced zucchini, tomatoes, radishes, and more of those awesome olives. This was a great example of pure food simply prepared and transformed into something spectacular. The vegetables were so fresh and all the flavors came together so well that each one of them ends up being seen in a whole new light. This was very different from the raw pizza at Blossoming Lotus that I got to try on my visit to Portland. That pizza was also really good too, so it’s interesting to see how different raw chefs interpret their versions of the same thing.

When raw food is done well, as it most definitely is at Cru, you really start to understand what the fuss is all about. I doubt I will ever become a raw foodie but the skilled staff at Cru really know how to work some serious alchemy in their kitchen. Another thing I really liked is that the prices at Cru are not outrageous like they are at some of the other raw places in town. That beautiful Mezze Platter was only $11, and it was big. Both of us were still picking at it until the end of the meal.

They also serve a number of cooked dishes at Cru. The Glutster had a lovely cooked meal of a mushroom quinoia rissotto which was also really, really good. I’ll leave it to him to tell you about that one of these days. I can’t wait to go back there to try more of both their cooked and raw foods.

But don’t think the food adventure ended there. No my friends, for even though Cru is known for their Chocolate Truffle Cake and Chocolate Brownie a la mode, we couldn’t resist the lure of the vegan Twinkies that we knew were right up the street at The Vegan Spot. I was concerned they’d be out of them at this late stage in the game, so imagine our delight when we walked in and saw exactly two beautiful golden Twinkies sitting there in the display case, waiting for us, almost as if they’d known we were coming and had saved themselves just for us. Oh joy! The best part was that not only had The Glutster not yet tried one of these vegan Twinkies, but… get this… he’s never even had a real Twinkie before! Not ever! Hopefully he won’t mind that I just outed him from the Twinkie closet, but the cool thing is that his reaction to it and the way he described the Twinkie while eating it was exactly how I described it the first time I had it. Even though he didn’t have any reference to compare it to, he immediately picked up on the awesome dense and cake-like consistency and thick creaminess of the filling. In other words, he noticed all the things that make JennShaggy’s vegan Twinkies so great in comparison to the far inferior Hostess originals.

Let me tell you that when at days end you’re burping up kim-chi, pesto and Twinkies, you know it has been a good day indeed.
www.crusilverlake.com

1. Kelp noodle salad with grilled tofu
2. Delicious vegan breakfast at Real Food Daily
3. Another raw food adventure at Leaf Cuisine
4. Delicious vegan cactus jerky!
5. Vegan Food Tour San Francisco: Party Sushi

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