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

Just when you thought you’d heard the last of my birthday for the year, it resurfaces it’s jolly head with another tale of celebratory feasting. I somehow managed to stretch my birthday for all of May, and then a little into June. This time around I was privileged to enjoy a lovely afternoon brunch with the masterminds behind Quarrygirl.com at Inn of the Seventh Ray. You can read their own account of the adventure right over here.

Known as an upscale restaurant that attracts both hippies and new agers alike, Inn of the Seventh Ray is an enchanting break from the norm hidden away in the hills of the Santa Monica mountains, deep in the heart of Topanga Canyon. It lives up to the stereotype while winning you over with it’s charm at the same time.

Inn of the Seventh Ray isn’t a vegetarian restaurant, and they don’t offer too many vegan options on their regular menus; where they shine is with their Sunday vegetarian brunch buffet service. But first the setting.

The restaurant is both quaint and lavish at the same time. It’s set into the curve of a lovely creek, and if you’re lucky like we were, they might seat you right at the waters edge surround by the tranquil stream on one side and a waterfall grotto on the other. A grotto!

Regardless of where you sit, you’ll be surrounded by trees, white canopies and white table cloths- you’ll feel like you walked into some storybook village set somewhere out of time, but with attentive service. At night the place totally transforms with candlelight and white twinkly lights providing most of the illumination… it’s super romantic, the perfect place for those magical moments. I know I sound like a Hallmark card but trust me, this place is special.

Ok now the food. The all-you-can eat brunch buffet comes in a vegetarian version, and it ain’t cheap at $31 a pop. If your aim however is to indulge the hell out of yourself or impress the hell out of someone else, it’s money well spent. The vegetarian options are not all vegan but there is so much that is vegan that it’s not even a concern.
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Vegan Brunch: Homestyle Recipes Worth Waking Up For-From Asparagus Omelets to Strawberry Pancakes
by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

You already know Isa because she’s written many of your most used cookbooks: the Veganomicon, Vegan with a Vengeance and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. She’s also the mastermind behind the Post Punk Kitchen and is an all around bad-ass vegan superstar chick who we all want to be when we grow up. Or marry.

And now she’s back to blow our minds with yet another book all about everyone’s favorite meal of the day, Brunch! Here’s the description:

Omelets. French toast. Bacon. Brunch has always been about comfort, calories- and for vegans everywhere, a feast of foods they can’t touch. Until now! Bestselling vegan chef Isa Chandra Moskowitz unleashes her signature flair and ingenuity to give readers breakfast they won’t find anywhere else, whether welcoming you from a late night on the town or waking you up for a meal you won’t want to forget.

Recipes range from the classic (Pancakes and Waffles) to the inspired (Banana Rabanada) to the decadent (Pain au Chocolat) to the essential (Bloody Marys).

The book also includes gluten-free and soy-free recipes. With over 75 recipes suitable for one or to wow a crowd, and gorgeous color photos throughout, Vegan Brunch is the ultimate cookbook for the most important meal of the day.

You know you can’t live without it, so get a headstart by ordering it now and Amazon will deliver it to you as soon as it’s released on May 25th.

Click here to pre-order Vegan Brunch…

Vegan Soul Kitchen:
Fresh, Healthy, and Creative African-American Cuisine
by Bryant Terry

Here’s one I’m besides myself with excitment about and I think you will be too. Here’s the description:

This is the forthcoming book by Oakland-based eco chef, food justice activist, and author Bryant Terry. In this deeply personal and cutting-edge cookbook, Terry revisits his Southern roots and offers innovative, animal-free recipes mostly inspired by African American and Southern cooking. The recipes use fresh, whole, best-quality, healthy ingredients and cooking techniques with an eye on local, seasonal, sustainably grown food. Reinterpreting popular dishes from African and Caribbean countries as well as his favorite childhood dishes, Terry reinvents African American and Southern cuisine- capitalizing on the complex flavors of the tradition, without the animal products.

Includes recipes for: Black-Eyed Pea Fritters with Hot Pepper Sauce; Double Mustard Greens & Roasted Yam Soup; Cajun-Creole-Spiced Tempeh Pieces with Creamy Grits; Citrus and Spice Pickled Watermelon Rind; Caramelized Grapefruit, Avocado, and Watercress Salad with Grapefruit Vinaigrette; Sweet Cornmeal-Coconut Butter Drop Biscuits; and Molasses-Vanilla Ice Cream with Candied Walnuts.

The best way to summarize this eclectic book: Alice Waters meets Melvin Van Peebles!

“Bryant Terry transforms age-old black culinary traditions into what soul food ought to be- food that sustain our bodies, our earth, our sense of community, and our desire for the delicious. For the naysayers who resist the audacity of okra or the soft power of tofu, Vegan Soul Kitchen is the new manifesto that cries out, Yes We Can give up meat and enjoy gastronomic nirvana.”
-Robin D. G. Kelley

Hot damn! Now I can try my own hands at some of this amazing cuisine that I’m always spending my cold hard cash on at the vegan soul food restaurants! Order it now and Amazon will deliver it to you as soon as it’s released on March 2nd.

Click here to pre-order Vegan Soul Kitchen…

Vegan Soups and Hearty Stews for All Seasons
by Nava Atlas

It’s cold and raining here in Los Angeles today and I wish I had this book in front of me, along with a warm bowl of soup made from any of it’s recipes. Here’s the description:

From hearty stews to refreshing desserts, Nava Atlas ladles out 120-plus imaginative, low in fat but rich-in-flavor meatless delights to suit every taste, in this veganized version of her bestselling Vegetarian Soups for All Seasons. To highlight the best produce available at any time of year, Nava has arranged the book by season, with spring soups like Leek and Mushroom Bisque and Okra-Rice Gumbo; Cool Ratatouille and Zesty Green Gazpacho for summer; savory Baked Onion Soup and Orange-Butternut Squash Soup for autumn; and hearty Curried Millet-Spinach Soup and Vegetarian Goulash for winter.

There’s also a scrumptious selection of dessert soups, including Chilled Cantaloupe Soup, and a tempting selection of accompaniments such as quick breads, dumplings, muffins, and scones.

With exotic international offerings, basic comfort soups, delicate broths, and plenty of soups and stews that can serve as one-dish meals, this cookbook is a must for vegan kitchens everywhere.

Yum! It’s definitely soup weather out here today, and this book is available now for immediate shipping, hot off the press!

Click here to order Vegan Soups and Hearty Stews…

I’ve been super excited to share this meal at Portland’s Tin Shed Garden Cafe with you, so I hope you’re sitting down, comfortable and not distracted… this food requires your full attention. The Tin Shed is located in, you guessed it, a converted tin shed. There’s also a beautiful patio garden area where patrons are welcome along with their dogs… the restaurant even serves special doggy meals including a vegetarian rice and garden burger! Of course, I wasn’t here for no dog food.

This glorious plate of food you see above is the cleverly named Tim Curry: Tofu, roasted garlic, yam, zucchini, mushroom & sweet onion in a coconut-curry sauce, served over a bed of spinach & topped with roasted peanuts, raisins & avocado. This was what my friend ordered (the sour cream is not vegan), but of course she let me try some and… oh mama… will you just look at this thing? The only reason I didn’t order it was because I didn’t think it would feel breakfasty enough, and that’s what I was craving. Once this was served though it all totally clicked into place and I fully understood the logic of it’s sweet & savory curry morning appeal, and was appropriately jealous.

I sure wasn’t jealous for long because just look at what I got: this is the veganized Big Hit Burrito: Scrambled eggs (substituted with really great tofu), sausage (which they subbed with a tasty vegan sausage, not the typical freezer variety), roasted garlic, yams, zucchini, mushroom & onion in a flour tortilla topped with pesto sauce and tomato. I regret not getting a photo of its insides for you because they sure were pretty, but also so delicious that any thoughts of stopping to take a photograph once I’d gotten started eating were out of the question. This is probably the best breakfast burrito I’ve ever had.

As for that gorgeous contrast of orange and white to the left of the burrito, those are the homemade grits topped with vegan cheddar. The cheddar looked and tasted so real that I had to ask twice to make sure it really was the vegan cheese. I don’t know what brand they use but I was impressed. The grits were very tasty and a nice change of pace.

Now here’s the point where it turns even more decadent… but how I could I see something like this on the menu and not try it?

The Belly Pleaser: Coconut milk, jasmine rice, fresh ginger & vanilla simmered into a porridge and topped with fresh mango & cinnamon. You don’t even need me to tell you how delicious this was do you… you just know by looking at and reading about it, right? Allow me to tell you that in your wildest imaginings it doesn’t taste as incredible as it did in real life. My belly sure was pleased. It reminded me of the “arroz con leche” (rice with milk) that my grandmothers cook in Bolivia used to make when I was growing up, but with the wonderful coconut milk infusing the whole thing and the spice of ginger perking it up and blending perfectly with the sweet mango. Wow. And this was just the half-order!

While not a vegetarian restaurant Tin Shed is very veggie & vegan friendly. They’ll substitute tofu in any of their egg dishes (their tofu rocks) and any of the burgers can be made with a garden burger. There’s also a selection of salads, sandwiches and dinner plates, a full bar and a happy hour if you’re into that sort of thing. The crowd here is hip & young, with lots of tattoos and babies in strollers, willing to hang out and wait for sometimes more than an hour for a table as there’s usually always going to be a wait… and judging by this excellent meal we had, it’s probably always going to be well worth it.
www.tinshedgardencafe.com

Stayed tuned for ‘Foodeater Does Vegan Portland’, Pt. 6!

This past Sunday was a monumental day of fantastic vegan food eating for myself, VegYogini and Your Vegan Mom (let’s just call her Trina). It started off as a beautiful sunny day brunch at the home of Trina with her lovely family and friends. It ended with an amazing dinner at a new (not-yet-open but sure to blow your mind) vegan Japanese restaurant in Little Tokyo. I’ll be telling you all about that special adventure soon, but for now let’s get back to brunch, shall we?

We were greeted first thing at Trina’s to a basket of scrumptious, freshly baked muffins and mimosa. One type of muffin involved apples and all other manner of yummy, the other muffin was carrot… and dang, I don’t really remember what all went into these. In a testament to their awesomeness though I can tell you that I ate them in multiples (and got to bring some home with me too).

VegYogini and I got to lend a helping hand in sectioning grapefruits for a fresh citrus salad with mint and agave nectar.

Trina’s pièce de résistance were these incredible little mini crustless quiches. They were based on the recipe over at the Fat Free Vegan blog but using different veggies. One was made with Swiss chard, the other with sweet potato and roasted Pablano peppers (it’s highly possible that I’m getting the details all wrong, so if Trina is reading this, feel free to correct any errors). Anyhow, these were soooo good! They tasted exactly like an egg quiche but were in fact totally vegan… and totally delicious. I’ve got to try and make these.

Tasty rosemary roasted potatoes.

And here’s my plate bringing it all together…

What a groovy way to spend the day. I highly suggest that you find someone to invite you over to their house for a homemade vegan brunch. Or if you’re up to it, host one yourself. Then invite me.

Check back soon for “Foodeater’s Day of Vegan Feasting, Part 2: Dinner”

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.