Madeleine Bistro in Tarzana is an upscale vegan restaurant that serves organic, seasonal, “pan-ethnic dishes with a decidedly French influence”. I had always wanted to go there, so I was happy to accept an invite by Vegyogini to join her there in attending a local vegan meet-up for brunch. This coincided with my one year vegan anniversary (way to go, me!), so what better way to celebrate it than at one of the fanciest vegan restaurant in town.

First we were all treated to “Beignets with Seasonal Fruit Compote”. I’ve never had beignets before so I have nothing to compare these to, but I can tell you they were really good, tasting to me like a cross between a sugary churro and an apple fritter.

For my meal I ordered “The Skillet”- Scrambled tofu, seasonal vegetables, farmers cheese and home fries. I thought about getting something a bit more decadent, but along with trying to be good by avoiding off-the-hook sort of stuff like french toast, I also figured that at a gourmet restaurant, a simple dish like tofu scramble would probably turn out pretty special.

And yes, it was awfully good. The tofu had a very close-to-the-real-thing scrambled egg consistency and the seasonings were just right. From what I could taste and see, I believe it included some asparagus, shitake mushrooms, sun-dried tomato, tempeh bacon… I could be making some of those up and/or leaving something else out, but whatever, you get the idea- it was delicious. You can see that the home fries were nice, crispy chunks of little potatoes, served with THEIR OWN HOMEMADE KETCHUP.

This brunch was great but apparently their dinner service is where Madeleine Bistro really shines, so I hope to try that out someday too. The vegan meet-up was a nice time, not something I’ve done before so I’m glad I went. I even got to meet some readers of my blog which I didn’t even know I had! (Hi!) There were a lot of us there, 30, maybe 40 people… I don’t think the organizers of the meet-up were expecting a show of more than 20 people at most, but the restaurant staff did a flawless job of accomdating us all.

We got a nice introduction to the owners, Chef David Anderson and his wife Molly Anderson, the general manager. They both come from extensive and impressive backgrounds, including David’s time as Sous Chef at the Inn of the Seventh Ray and Executive Chef at Real Food Daily. They’re both really dedicated to good quality food and veganism, and their excitement and dedication to it is obvious and refreshing. Before going there I’d heard nothing but raving reviews about Madeleine Bistro, now that I’ve been, I can vouch for their good reputation being well deserved.