To Live and Eat in L.A.

We’ve been eagerly anticipating the arrival of New York City’s fabled vegan bakery, Babycakes, here in L.A. and our patience has finally paid off! The brand new Los Angeles location of Babycakes opens this Sunday (January 3rd)! They even made a super cute video about it… check it out below:

In their own words: “BabyCakes offers all-natural, organic and delicious alternatives free from the common allergens: wheat, gluten, dairy, casein and eggs. Rest assured, all sweeteners have been chosen responsibly and used sparingly. White sugar will never be found in our bakery, nor will we ever use toxic chemical sweeteners. Instead, most products are sweetened with agave nectar—a natural syrup from a cactus which is low on the glycemia index and often a safe alternative to most non-insulin dependant diabetics. Occasionally, unprocessed and unrefined sugar is used in certain goods, although sparingly.”

Babycakes makes all kinds of goodies, including cupcakes, loaves, cookies & cookie sandwiches, crumb cakes, muffins, skinny bunnys, cinnamon & sugar toasties (what’s that? I want one!) spelt tea cakes, brownies, macaroons, scones, savory items, apple pie and more. And the best news I’ve heard all day? THEY WILL ALSO HAVE DONUTS!!!

The grand opening is Sunday, January 3rd at 10am. If you’re one of those who will be waking up early to push your way past all the other bloggers trying to be the first to eat there, feel free to come back and leave a comment telling us what you thought!

Find the brand spankin’ new Babycakes Los Angeles in Downtown at:
130 East 6th Street (between Main St. & Los Angeles St, near Cole’s Buffet)
Los Angeles, CA 90014
(213) 623-5555
www.babycakesnyc.com
www.twitter.com/babycakesnyc

Did you know Babycakes also put out a cookbook?

BabyCakes: Vegan, (Mostly) Gluten-Free, and (Mostly) Sugar-Free Recipes from New York’s Most Talked-About Bakery
By Erin McKenna

Publishers description: Simply, BabyCakes is your key to an enlightened, indulgent, sweets-filled future. This is important news not only for parents whose children have allergies, for vegans, and for others who struggle with food sensitivities, but also for all you sugar-loving traditionalists. The recipes in these pages prove that there is a healthy alternative to recklessly made desserts, one that doesn’t sacrifice taste or texture.

Having experimented endlessly with alternative, health-conscious sweeteners, flours, and thickeners, Erin McKenna, the proprietress of beloved bakery BabyCakes NYC, developed these recipes–most are gluten-free, all are without refined sugar–in hopes of combating her own wheat, dairy, and sugar sensitivities. In BabyCakes, she shares detailed information about the ingredients she uses (coconut flour, xanthan gum, and agave nectar, for example) and how to substitute them properly for common ones–all the while guiding you safely through techniques she’s spent years perfecting.

For confectionists of all kinds, delicious alternatives lie within: Red Velvet Cupcakes, Chocolate Shortbread Scones with Caramelized Bananas, Strawberry Shortcake, and BabyCakes NYC’s celebrated frosting (so delicious it has fans tipping back frosting shots!), to name just a few. Finally, Erin’s blissful desserts are yours for the baking!
For more info or to order your copy, click here.

See you at Babycakes! Please save me a donut…

[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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Hugo’s fans take note: both the restaurant and the taco stand have new specials going at the moment, and both are as expected, delicious.

Hugo’s Restaurant has currently got this Happy Happy Holiday Feast: Two ‘New American’ veggie patties with our vegan, gluten-free gravy. Served with mixed seasonal vegetables, cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes. Vegans, you MUST specify that you want to substitute either rice or roasted potatoes since the mashed potatoes are not vegan.

This is really nice, their veggie patties are always good, great texture, flavor and crunch- but what makes this dish awesome is the gravy. It’s thick & creamy with a full-bodied flavor of mushrooms & rosemary. While I wish they’d just make their mashed potatoes vegan so I could eat this yummy gravy slathered all over them, it’s really good with the roasted potatoes too. The cranberry sauce was delicious as well, more like a compote with full plump berries in juice… I don’t have a picture of it for you because they forgot to bring it at first and I had to ask for it, by then I’d already started eating this lovely plate of food you see before you.

If you prefer you could also order this special with their grilled tofu instead of the patties, their tofu is really good too, but I say stick with the patties because they rule. They’ll also make it with chicken breast, but that’s just gnarly gross so we’re not even gonna go there.

Next up, check out what they’ve got going on over at Hugo’s Tacos…
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Earlier this year I introduced you to the outstanding Homegirl Cafe, the restaurant downtown that’s run by reformed L.A. gang members. At that time they were only open for breakfast and lunch, but they’ve recently expanded their hours and their menu, and now we get to enjoy their unique take on authentic Mexican & Latin American food for dinner! Care to join me?

While Homegirl is not exclusively a vegetarian restaurant, they are very vegan friendly and have created specialty items for their menu which are clearly marked as vegan… and they’re wonderful.

The few times I’ve been there they’ve always brought over an appetizer as soon as seating me. Last time it was freshly made tortilla chips & salsa, on my recent dinner visit it was these scrumptious spicy roasted chickpeas with lime. Crunchy and warm, they totally do the trick of getting your appetite rip, roaring & ready to go.
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When I first introduced you to Shojin last year, the vegan Japanese restaurant downtown, I had no idea this restaurant would quickly become not only one of my personal favorites, but also one of Los Angeles’ best overall Japanese restaurants, vegetarian or otherwise. One of the most impressive things about Shojin is that they’re not content with just having a set menu, they’re always adding new items from fancy new desserts to adventurous entrees that I’m practically powerless to resist. Their menu is constantly growing and there are usually always a number of specials on offer that go even above and beyond their regular selection.

After having not visited Shojin for far too long I ended up recently getting to eat there twice in one week, much to my delight. For the first occasion I took myself there on a date as my reward for having survived 2 1/2 weeks of hell, aka, jury duty. The second trip was for my best girlfriend Michelle’s birthday dinner. If I had my druthers I would happily eat at Shojin seven days a week… I could never get tired of this food.

I’m combining both these meals for the sake of this blog post and will show you all the appetizers, main courses and dessert together so it doesn’t get too confusing. Put on your bib, this might make you drool a little bit…
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Bah! It was bound to happen, it’s been a while since I was given incorrect information at a restaurant but sure enough it’s come to pass. Unfortunately in my last post on Atch-Kotch I raved about my favorite vegan items, including their Miso Soup… however thanks to some investigative reporting by VeganInLA I’ve since been informed that the miso is indeed made with fish broth. DISGUSTING!

What the hell restaurant people… listen up:
FISH JUICE IS NOT VEGAN- IT DOES NOT COME FROM A VEGETABLE!

My sincere apologies if you’ve had this soup due to my post, I’m terribly sorry and was just passing along to you what I had been told. I’m pretty pissed about this myself as I’ve been enjoying this soup for a long time, having been specifically told it was vegan. From what I understand the tofu dish that my post spotlighted is still actually vegan and safe for you to eat (as are a lot of the other items there). Just please, ask first. As well intentioned as I am about this stuff, you see I don’t always get it right, especially when I’m not told the truth.

Damn, when things like this happen I get very frustrated about all restaurants. No matter how nice or knowledgeable a restaurant staff is (especially at places that aren’t exclusively vegetarian/vegan), no one is ever going to take your dietary requirements & issues as seriously as you are when cooking your own food. It’s always a risk when eating out and not having full control over how your food is prepared, and it’s always a serious bummer when you learn your trust has been violated and you’ve been fed something revolting. I’m updating my original post to reflect this info… sorry again. I still encourage you to eat at Atch-Kotch (I still love this place!) especially the Spicy Garlic Tofu, but I know that the next time I go there I will be grilling them intently on each item before it goes in my mouth.

I’ve been holding out on you. Even though I’ve been letting you in on all my favorite vegan & vegetarian foods in L.A for a few years now, I’ve neglected to tell you about one of my most treasured of all dishes. I haven’t exactly been keeping it a secret, but it’s about time you know… it’s about time for what I’m about to let you in on to officially be known as one of the tastiest things you’ll ever eat. Since you are the best blog readers in the world, consider this information my gift to you and your taste buds.

Atch-Kotch is an unassuming Japanese food restaurant centrally located in Hollywood at Fountain & Vine, in the middle of a strip mall of popular ethnic foods. It’s not a vegetarian restaurant but there’s an abundance of vegetarian options and plenty for vegans to enjoy.

None of the many other things they offer matter right now for the sake of this discussion, that’s not what we’re here to discuss. But I’m still not there yet, let’s not rush things… first some appetizers to whet our appetites.
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