To Live and Eat in L.A.

[If you're just now reading this, than you missed it! Did anyone else go? Tell us in the comments how much you loved it!]

Late breaking important news! Breadbar is an omnivorous restaurant in West Hollywood which specializes in “vigorously-crafted breads and pastries”. For the past couple of weeks they’ve been offering a special vegan tasting menu and tonight (Saturday, December 19) is the last night! I was very lucky to get to experience this fantastic food last night and I highly suggest you drop whatever your plans are and do the same… before it’s too late. I usually don’t blog about stuff until I’ve at least had a chance to digest it, but time is of the essence on this one, so as soon as you’re done reading this post, call up Breadbar and make a reservation. This one is seriously not to be missed.

They’re calling this adventure “Vegan Greetings”, a silly name for some very not silly food. From what I understand the recipes were created by Breadbar’s Chef Noriyuki Sugi, in association with Kim Barnouin, co-author of the Skinny Bitch book, and apparently some of these recipes are going to be featured in her new cookbook. This gave me pause as I wondered just how pedestrian the food might be considering some of what’s in the first Skinny Bitch cookbook, but I was more than pleasantly surprised by the exquisite meal that awaited me.

The menu isn’t very large, and you can either order the items individually or go for the “Set Menu” which consists of your choice of 4 dishes (bento style) for $25 or you can order the “Omakase” featuring 8 dishes of the chef’s selection for $50. I and my fellow foodeating adventurers, Miss Alix and Studiodrome opted to get the 4 piece sets, and at the wise suggestion of the host, all ordered a sampling of different things so that we could share and each get to try as much as possible. That turned out to be an excellent idea.

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Rejoice! A tasty vegan specialty is back on the scene in Silver Lake with the re-opening of Vietnamese Soy Cafe. Known for their tasty vegan options and weird hours, the Soy Cafe had closed it’s doors a while back, leaving those of us craving vegan bahn mi sandwiches on the east side in a lurch. Thankfully those days of being left wanting are over, as not only is the shop open once again, but they’re keeping much more normal hours now too.

Located on in a teeny, tiny hole in the wall on Hyperion Ave., the Vietnamese Soy Cafe has no sign (other than a cool yet hard-to-see converted drum in the window) and is practically hidden by a big tree in between shops and residences… blink and you’ll miss it. Their menu is a scaled down version of what they used to offer (R.I.P. soy nugs), somewhat limited in vegan options but with enough to get you good and full, and pleasantly satisfied. For now there are really only two entirely vegan items to get, so of course I got them both.

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This is not the post I was planning on writing tonight. I was planning to tell you all about my groovy post-Thanksgiving dinner party, but in the process of writing that and editing all the tasty pictures to go with it, well… I got hungry. While trying to figure out what to eat I came up with what seemed like a brilliant plan to make use of some party leftovers, and this is what I came up with:

I’m calling these ‘Thanksgiving Handhelds‘. They’re basically a bunch of yummy Thanksgiving flavors made into a handy little package you can pick up and daintily eat or just go ahead and shove the whole thing in your mouth. I had no idea if they would turn out as tasty as I was imagining them in my mind or if they’d be an epic failure. I’m pleased to report that full awesomeness was achieved. Below is the basic recipe which you can modify in every which way to use up whatever you’ve got on hand…

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We interrupt this program to bring you some startling news: sometimes what qualifies as “vegan food” is just lame. I’m spoiled living in Los Angeles where practically every neighborhood has a multitude of awe inspiring delicious vegan food options. Every once in a while though you happen upon a clunker… and boy did I.

It all started when I scored some free tickets to go see the excellent movie Vicktory To The Underdog at The Egyptian Theater in Hollywood as part of the Artivist Film Festival dedicated to addressing Human Rights, Children’s Advocacy, Environmental Preservation, and Animal Rights. Later on the same night as this screening was the event’s closing ceremonies, “followed by an exquisite Vegan Dinner Reception and Musical Performances. This year’s Organic Vegan Feast is specially prepared by renowned Chef Mark Kearney of the Mark Kearney Group.”

That last bit about the vegan feast got my attention, then I noticed the cost was $50. Alas, too rich for my wallet today. As my friend and I who were already both rather hungry were leaving the theater, we couldn’t help but notice a large food area set up outside, vending what we were stoked to discover was an all vegan menu by none other than the same chef catering the event. Nothing fancy on offer, but still, how often do you randomly walk into a vegan food station at your local movie theater? Here’s the menu:

Vegan Hot Dogs?!! With VEGAN CHILI?!!! Well of course I want one! Dogs ordered, the guy serving them up tells us (in what I realized after the fact was a somewhat apologetic tone) that it’s not exactly like real chili, more like their own special white bean concoction. Hmmmm, well ok… the sign says chili dog and all, but we were willing to give it a try. Forking over $5 per “chili dog”, here’s what we received:
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[Update 2/2010: Sadly Weird Fish has removed most of these delicious vegan options from their menu... which sucks. I'll leave this up for historical purposes so that we can all recall sadly what we're missing.]

Let’s head back up north to check out another delicious meal I had on my recent visit to San Francisco. I’d heard quite a bit about Weird Fish, a restaurant in the Mission District that along with serving the real deal, also offers a delicious version of vegan fish & chips, along with many other vegan specialties.

I was eager to try this place… I loved fish & chips as a kid so if they could pull off a reasonable vegan facsimile I would be very pleased.

They did, and I was.

Before we get to the fish, let’s have a gander at this gorgeous appetizer I shared with my buddy, The Buffalo Girls: seitan with buffalo sauce & vegan ranch dressing. I wasn’t quite prepared for how awesome these faux-wings turned out to be…

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This was my first time making scones and I couldn’t have hoped for better results, these are so totally delicious. The recipe is in Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s Vegan Brunch book and they were so easy to make that even a caveman could do it. Drop what you’re doing and go make these immediately, seriously.

p.s. I ate the first one on behalf of @saratea, the second one was all me.

My delicious all vegan Thanksgiving meal, featuring the AMAZING “Hazelnut cranberry roast en croute” by Field Roast. So delicious!