To Live and Eat in L.A.

Last week was my dads 65th birthday so my mom and I decided to do something a little different. Being as he’s an old perv, my mom suggested we get him one of those naughty exotic cakes. Those are usually pretty tacky though, plus if I was going to be a part of this I wanted whatever we got him to be vegan so that I could partake in the fun too. A light bulb went off in my head as I realized that I’ve got access to one of the most creative vegan bakers in town, and a plan to have Miss Alix of Vegan Bake Sale make something cute & delicious was born.

My dad has been and always will be a boob man (I know, TMI). What better way to celebrate 65 years of his favorite pastime than with vegan boobie cupcakes??? I ran this idea past Alix who was super excited to accept the challenge. Knowing just how crafty this lady is I basically let her have free rein to come up with whatever she thought would work best… as the big day approached I could hardly wait to see what she’d come up with.

They turned out better than we could have ever expected… so damn cute! We surprised my dad at his office by showing up with 5 dozen of these ample beauties, and you can’t imagine how funny it was to watch the entire staff gathered around my dads desk, stuffing giant boob cakes into their faces! My dad was blushing and that made the entire adventure worthwhile.

Take a peek at some real food porn…

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Mani’s Bakery Cafe on Fairfax, which has been in business for over 20 years, is one of those places that people seem to either love or hate. I haven’t come across anyone who’s neutral about it. Me? I’ve got my foot firmly on the LOVE side, which is why I was sad to learn that Mani’s is having a hard time staying in business during this lameass economic meltdown.

Back in January the founder of Mani’s posted on their blog in regards to being in dire straights, basically putting out a plea for help in the form of business and feedback. The story was picked up by Quarrygirl who wrote a great review and helped get the word out that Mani’s is in urgent need of support. The story was also picked up by Eater L.A. where a bit of a backlash started to go down in the comments, a.k.a, those with their feet firmly on the HATE side. Poor dear Mani’s basically got shredded by Eater L.A.’s commentors… so much so that Mani’s then in turn responded to this back on their own blog. Wow… such drama!

While it’s always helpful to take into account the feedback that’s out there whether it be from online reviews or word of mouth, ultimately you won’t know if you like a place unless you try it for yourself. One mans trash is another mans treasure, and vice versa. While I don’t doubt that there is some truth to the negative stuff floating around out there, I for one have only had great experiences each time I’ve been to Mani’s, including great food (it’s more than a bakery, it’s also a full service, vegan-friendly restaurant) and a nice staff. If you were to avoid Mani’s soley because of the gangbang they just received on Eater L.A., you’d be sorely missing out on what for many has become an established local favorite. It’s an awesome place worth saving… just look at some of this excellent food:

Let’s start at the most logical beginning: breakfast. This is the Breakfast Wrap: “The whole enchilada’s wrapped up for your morning meal. Black beans, guacamole, spinach, mushrooms, garlic, cilantro, and your choice of turkey ham & scrambled eggs or vegan tofu scramble in a whole wheat tortilla. Served with our Ranchero Sauce and Pico de Gallo.”
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Update October 2008: Leda’s has closed shop and is now catering only :(
Read on and see what you missed!
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When my aunt brought out her homemade honey cake on the first evening of Rosh Hashana I asked if it had been made with eggs. My uncle replied that of course she had used eggs, or else it wouldn’t taste good, that no cake could taste good without eggs. I took that as a challenge to prove him wrong.

For the second night of Rosh Hashana I busted out with 2 dozen mini vegan cupcakes from Leda’s Bake Shop and proceeded to rock my egg eating family’s world.

I got two flavors, the velvet cake (their version of red velvet cake without the artificial red) and peanut butter-vanilla. Both were fabulous and moist and rich and delicious. I like the tiny little size, about two hearty bites worth each, which allows you to try out a couple of flavors without filling up or pigging out. Unless of course you keep all 24 of them for yourself. I had read many raving reviews about Leda’s and am very pleased to report back that it’s definitely all that, and then some. They also have vegan scones, brownies and cookies. Quite an indulgence.