The Urban Housewife
18Aug/09

Sweet on San Luis Obispo, Whole Foods Southern California, & "Sweet Justice"; a Benefit.

While this weekend was hardly a relaxing getaway having done 14+ hours of driving in less than 3 days, we always take the time on trips to find delicious vegan options along the way! Our first stop was halfway between San Francisco & Los Angeles in San Luis Obispo, our former home & the current home to our good friend Josh. Josh is always kind enough to let us crash at his place, any hour of the night, any day of the week, seriously ANY time, so I decided to surprise him with a delivery from Amy Bakes Cupcakes!

A popular Central Coast special order bakery, Amy Bakes Cupcakes has options for the vegan & gluten free folks & will deliver right to you! With Josh being a lover of Peanut Butter & Chocolate, I opted for a dozen of the "PB Kiss" cupcakes, a moist, flavorful peanut butter cupcake, topped in sweet chocolate frosting! He was completely surprised & they disappeared quickly! We can't wait to pass through & place another order, I have my eye on the S'mores cupcakes next!

Another sweet treat in San Luis Obispo is the newly opened chocolate shop, Sweet Earth Chocolates. Formerly housed in Splash Cafe, this company making organic, fair trade confections has opened their own storefront location & seems to have more vegan options than ever! While my favorite will always be the rice crispie & cashew flecked caramels coated in dark chocolate they call Turtles, I certainly would not turn down their other chocolates! I opted for an assortment for myself & friends, including Vanilla Caramels, Chili Orange Walnut & Almond Clusters, plus Cherry Almond & Peppermint Bark. They also have Truffles, Fruit Gellies, & Peanut Butter Cups! Luckily, you can order online if you won't be making it to San Luis Obispo any time soon.

I have heard time & time again that Southern California Whole Foods are the best around. Well, even though we only made it to Thousand Oaks & not the vast locations further south, we were pretty well impressed. Signs declared that we were in the midst of vegan options & we found everything from organic cotton candy to Gardein Curry Salads & even a vegan friendly taco bar. Sure, those all sound great, but we were there for the "Surfboard Pizza"! Whole Foods in Southern California offer large, surfboard shaped pizzas with the soy free, non-dairy cheese Daiya, that has been taking the vegan world by storm. We opted for a Garlic, Tomato, & Spinach pie which was topped in Cheddar Daiya, baked to perfection in a wood fired oven, & set us back a mere $13.99! While I prefer my pizza topped in Cheezly, this was a pizza definately worth eating & sharing with friends!

For those of you in the Bay Area, there's a benefit coming up on August 28th at 8pm to support the AETA 4. "Sweet Justice" will be a night of vegan desserts with a silent auction, raffle, & more to benefit 4 activists currently jailed due to the Animal Enterprise Terrorist Act. Please see the AETA 4 blog post for more information! For those of you who can't be there, please sign this petition to repeal the Animal Enterprise Terrorist Act!

Finally, if you haven't checked out Veggie Thing lately, you're missing out! Sure, I might be a bit biased because they just featured the Peanut Butter Cup cupcakes my company Sugar Beat Sweets made for Sky at Eats Well With Others, but they also bring you the best in vegan eats across the United States, submitted by vegans like YOU! Be sure to check it out!

14Jul/09

Going South; more dining in Los Angeles & beyond!

It always seems I'm on the go these days & a few weeks ago I found myself on a weekend trip to Southern California to visit family & have another round of tattooing done on my arm. Never one to turn down an opportunity to find delicious vegan dining options, I set out in search of places I hadn't been before, but also visited an old favorite.

A somewhat new dining option in Ventura is Mary's Secret Garden, an all vegan, organic spot, nestled in a former residential space. The vibe is a bit hippie, they have many raw food options, & while we found our dining companions, four omni family members, to be a bit perplexed by the place, everyone was willing to try it out. I started with a salad that wasn't even on the menu! A couple dining at the next table over had a large salad that looked amazing, so I had to ask what it was. It turns out it's a salad that the regulars know about & Mary prepares especially for people "in the know". Well, I'm glad I found out about it, as the salad with kalamata olives, chopped nuts, & a tangy dressing on a bed of heirloom tomatoes topped in nut based cheese was fabulous! Next up were the entrees & I decided to go with the "Rawvolis". Sheets of jicama made up what would typically be pasta & they were filled with more of the delicious housemade nut cheese with a butternut squash sauce, pesto, kalamata olives, & pistachios. Ryan had a burger, Mary style, with a side of raw slaw & was happy with his selection.

For dessert, we split two options, the strawberry shortcake, & a raw apple pie. The strawberry shortcake didn't do it for me, as it was quite dense, likely from the use of whole wheat flour. The nut based ice creams on the other hand were a tasty treat! The raw apple pie was a bit hard to eat, but a lovely, flavorful selection we both enjoyed! I would certainly return to Mary's Secret Garden again, especially as we have family in the area & it's a great dining option!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I headed to the LA Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale to pick up some treats for the family. Of course, I needed savory food as well, so I hit the Hollywood Farmers Market in search of some grub & hit the jackpot! I started out at A Taste of Life & loaded up on all the soul food staples; Mac & Cheese, Pot Roast, Black Eyed Peas, Kale Greens, Cornbread, & some not-so-traditional Lasagna. We loved the sweet, fluffy cornbread, as well as the black eyed peas & we love anything kale related! Next up, I was told to check out Dave's Gourmet Korean Food, a booth with two sweet, smiling girls who were happy to dish out the samples. While the spicy veggies we bought certainly lived up to their name, we fell in love with the smooth & chewy Black Bean & Rice Tempeh! Seriously, delicious soy free Tempeh! Another stop was at Corn Maiden Tamales for a savory Vegetable tamale & a Green Corn with Sweet Yellow Corn tamale for dessert. These hit the spot late at night when our appetites kicked back in!

After enjoying brunch at M Cafe last time, I decided Ryan should try it out as well. Of course, I took the opportunity to meet up with friends again & was joined by Adriana from Anarchy in the Garden, QuarryGirl, Allison from Could It Be Seitan?, & Britt from Sick of Lettuce. After much fanfare, Ryan had to try the Big Macro; one all veggie patty, special sauce, lettuce, (soy) cheese, pickles, onion.. & sprouts, on a whole wheat bun. While I believe he prefers the Bigger Maque at Madeleine Bistro, this still hit the spot, especially with a side of the wonderful Kale in Spicy Peanut Sauce! I opted for a salad trio, with the Broccolini Pepperoncini I tried last time, plus the Scarlet Quinoa, & a Curried Cauliflower salad with lots of tasty vegetables & cashews. I wish San Francisco had a similar place to M Cafe with delicious, healthy fare!

After another 6 hour session of tattooing with Hannah Aitchison, I was ready for some serious eating. Enter Purgatory Pizza! We met up with the brains behind To Live and Eat In LA, plus other friends Natalie, Michael, & Scott, so we could throw down on 3 pizzas! We had an Olive, Garlic, & Pineapple with the new vegan cheese Daiya on top, another Daiya topped pie with Field Roast Italian Sausage & Olives, & an "Armagarden" with Teese. The Daiya is VERY creamy & sticks to the roof of your mouth, something I wasn't ready for! I think I may prefer the Cheddar style as something to use in quesadillas, but I may have to get my hands on some & start experimenting to really find out! Teese is always a good melty standby, so of course that pie was tasty as well. Once again, Los Angeles proves it has a ton of great vegan options for people with palates of any sort!

In other news, I wrote a piece on Vegan Activism for CrazySexyLife.com. Please go check it out for great ways to get started in helping out the animals who need us!

27May/09

Food & Friends in Los Angeles + the Veggie Pride Parade.

When I found out the Veggie Pride Parade was happening in Los Angeles, I thought it would be a fun time & a great excuse to see friends & eat my way through the area. Car loaded up & ready to go, Strummer & I headed South to see what was in store for us!

Having lived in San Luis Obispo years ago, I always stop there when I have the chance. While SLO has plenty of vegan dining options, my favorite treat is from Sweet Earth Chocolates, who I've mentioned before & found out about from Amey at Vegan Eats & Treats. As usual, I had to stop by Splash Cafe & pick up an assortment of vegan chocolates, especially the Turtles & vegan caramels!

I started my Los Angeles dining adventure in the Silverlake area, at a vegan raw food restaurant, Cru. While many of the options were tempting, I went with the Mezze Platter, a plate with creamy cucumber tzatzizki, a fabulous beet and apple salad, fig pate, cashew cheese, flax crackers & garlicky rubbed kale. I certainly appreciate the work at goes in to raw food, but not quite enough of the items on my plate wowed me to justify the $13 price tag. That being said, I have heard fabulous things about their desserts & would consider going back to try them!

The next day, I set out for brunch at M Cafe on Melrose. Traffic seemed to have another idea, I slipped in the door just before 11:30am & was able to order the Vegan Benedict! Luckily, I had a great group of gals dining with me, Adriana from Anarchy in the Garden, QuarryGirl, JennShaggy, & Britt from Sick of Lettuce who made me forget all about the traffic. The Vegan Benedict was delicious with a grilled whole-grain baguette topped with steamed kale, tomato, tempeh bacon & a hollandaise sauce. I also had Broccolini Pepperoncini & the Kale with Spicy Peanut Sauce, a dish I have heard about many times from people & it lived up to the hype! M Cafe has an impressive display of desserts, so I opted for the Lemon Tart, which looked just lovely. The tart was sweetened with maple syrup, which was pretty much all I could taste, which was a disappointment when you're expecting lemon. I hope next time I'll be able to try the Banana Millefeuille, which they did not have when I was there, but I have heard is wonderful.

Since I don't get to Los Angeles as often as I'd like, I thought I would organize a little get together to meet up with as many vegans as I could wrangle. It's not easy to find a restaurant large enough to house a group with decent parking, but Vegan Village Cafe fit the bill, as the space happens to be a dance club in the evenings! Quite a few people turned up, including the brains behind Could It Be Seitan?, C'est La Vegan, QuarryGirl, Hugger Food, Afsoon's Posties, plus friends from The PPK forums & Twitter. Vegan Village Cafe serves up soul food & house made cakes, & the staff was friendly & totally accommodating to our needs. I opted for a plate with all my favorites; black eyed peas, collard greens, yams, buttered corn, & cornbread. After stuffing myself with food, I managed to sneak bites of other's people's desserts & found the cakes were moist, fluffy, & unlike other cakes I've had! I especially enjoyed the pineapple cake, which I suspect had some help from a can of pineapple juice.

Speaking of C'est La Vegan, Kim was find enough to bring samples of some of her treats for everyone to try at lunch! I managed to take some back to where I was staying as well, so I could savor each bite. I enjoyed the mini cookies in Snickerdoodle, Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter, & Oatmeal Cranberry, the size was super fun to pop in to your mouth. While not normally a biscotti fan, I was pleasantly surprised by the Chocolate Almond & Pistachio Anise Seed, toothsome & flavorful, they were delicious! My favorite was the brownie, deep chocolate flavor & fudginess made this a winner! If you find yourself in LA, check out C'est La V Bake Shop goodies at Locali & local farmers markets.

I love a good brunch, so I headed to Flore Cafe's all you can eat offering on Sunday morning with a few friends. The $10 price tag was certainly worthwhile, as I loaded up my plate with fabulous french toast, waffles, mexican inspired tofu scramble, potatoes, veggie sausages & fresh fruit! I wish we would have something like this in San Francisco, although I hardly need to be eating at buffets weekly! Don't miss this delicious option for brunch with a rotating menu!

After brunch, the next stop was the Veggie Pride Parade in Venice, a celebration of the veg lifestyle & a 5k parade around town. Strummer & I had a great time making new friends, hanging out with familiar faces, being interviewed by VegSource (Strummer is at 2:45 & I'm interviewed at 8:30), & exploring the food & clothing booths including C'est La V Bake Shop! I must admit, the event was a bit cheesy, & I couldn't help but giggle at the people in random neon animal costumes many from the Supreme Master Ching Hai posse (note the rabbit looking nauseous & various other costumed folk), but overall it was a fun day & hopefully the press was effective to inform people about veganism.

For dinner, I headed to Hugo's Restaurant in West Hollywood with friends, including Alex & Kristen who happened to be visiting from San Francisco as well. I opted for the sweet corn tamales, instead of the soyrizo tamales which normally come with the entree, plus a side of flavorful mixed vegetables & kale. While a bit pricey, the dish hit the spot for me. Unfortunately, my dining companions were less than impressed with Hugo's. In the future, I think I'll stick to Hugo's Tacos, home of tasty taquitos, loved by Strummer, Ryan, & myself!

For my final Los Angeles meal, I made the trek to the valley to try the food at Follow Your Heart Market & Cafe, makers of Vegenaise, salad dressings, & O.G. vegan cheese. Never one to pass on a milkshake, a banana & peanut butter shake was promptly delivered to the table & devoured! At the suggestion of To Live and Eat in LA, I opted for the Reuben, which I split with Afsoon. I'm not a fan of Caraway Seed, so we opted for wheat bread, which worked in our favor because we were given two sandwiches for the price of one! Even after splitting things, my plate was filled with the sandwich of Seitan slices, Sauerkraut, Cottage Style Tofu, Thousand Island Dressing, Mustard & Vegenaise plus a side of Dill Pickle & baked fries. My sandwich was a bit overdone, but I still enjoyed the tangy filling & was happy to eat that when the bread proved to be too much. Unfortunately, the cake we ordered was downright disappointing & despite being ordered for 3 people to split, it went mainly uneaten.

Los Angeles is a crazy wonderland of vegan dining! I'm always amazed by the abundant options & they seem to gain more all the time. If you find yourself in LA, I promise you will not go hungry!

24Feb/09

Southern California; Valentines at Vinh Loi Tofu, Madeleine Bistro, Shine Cafe & Donut Mania!

Having family & friends in another part of the state can have an upside; an excuse to travel! Recently, Ryan, Strummer, & I hit the road heading south in search of all things good & vegan. Boy, did we hit the jackpot!

It all started with Valentine's Day, not a favorite of this crew, but an excuse to dine out nonetheless. Rather than make it a private affair, we rounded up an awesome posse of vegan bloggers to celebrate with! Miss Anthrope & Mr. Meaner of Quarrygirl.com, Ms. Foodeater of To Live and Eat in LA, & Vegyogini from Hugger Food all made the trek to our agreed upon destination, Vinh Loi Tofu in Reseda. Vinh Loi Tofu serves up 100% vegan Vietnamese food & we were lucky enough to be pampered by chef & owner, Kevin, who made sure we were more than full before the night's end.

We all started with a round of rolls filled with Kevin's special mock meats. Faux beef, chicken, ham & house made tofu wrapped in rice paper were delivered to our tables, dipped in to peanut sauce & devoured. If you're faux-meatphobic, be warned, this stuff is serious & I found myself a bit alarmed, but unable to deny the deliciousness! Next we shared Lemongrass + Chili & Mushroom + Noodle fried tofu, another tasty treat that quickly made its way in to our bellies. Shortly after everyone placed their entree orders, Kevin delivered a plate of freshly made tofu to the table, still warm, as he heard I am a fresh tofu fan. WOW, the tofu was amazingly delicious & we devoured it plain, no seasoning needed! As an entree, I ordered the Pho with tofu, instead of the faux shrimp & chicken it comes with, per Kevin's suggestion. This man knows his food! I was more than happy with my selection & filled up on the fresh tofu, rice noodles, & vegetables in a delicately spiced broth!

As if we weren't stuffed enough, the darling Quarrygirl.com duo brought us an assortment of Dee's Donuts for dessert. We tried various flavors from vanilla to chocolate, coconut to sprinkles & everything in between. I found them to be a bit dense for a donut, sitting somewhere between a cake & raised confection, with a slightly too thin glaze. While they weren't bad at all, I have been spoiled by the perfection that is Ronald's Donuts, so I tend to compare all to their mightyness. That being said, if you're in LA & dying for a donut, Dee's may hit the spot for you.

The next day, we took Ryan's family to brunch at a place we've enjoyed in the past, Madeleine Bistro, home of vegan chocolate souffle! I was excited to try their morning offerings & we had high hopes as we rolled in to Tarzana, omni family in tow. Ryan & his father opted for the "Bigger Maque", two no beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, pickles, onions.. ala the fast food chain staple. Neither found themselves disappointed & were surprised to find how much it tasted like a high-end version of its trashy counterpart! Tempted by the sweeter offerings, I opted for the Bananas foster waffles with a side of crispy tempeh bacon. While the caramel sauce, bananas, & whipped creme were lovely, the waffles had a texture I just could not get behind, so they were a miss for me. Ryan's mother enjoyed her Club sandwich though, so 3 out of 4 ain't bad! Actually, we all ended up very happy when the next round arrived.. fresh organic donuts!

Madeleine Bistro makes their own organic raised donuts available at brunch only. I ordered 4 of them to go, but asked that they come on a plate, so I could photograph them. Once everyone laid eyes on them, there was no way we were saving them for later & they disappeared from the plate! The donuts are incredible! Light & fluffy with a sugary coating, you don't know whether to scarf them down or savor each bite. Ronald's may have some competition if Madeleine's ever expanded their flavors! If this wasn't endorsement enough, we ordered 4 more donuts, this time to go. I had the chance to chat with Molly, one of the owners, for a bit & she was just lovely. After our chat, she dropped a container in my hands with two little chocolates in it, their version of Milky Way bars! The little bites were scrumptious & hit the spot later that day.

On our way back to San Francisco, we stopped in San Luis Obispo, a coastal town along Highway 101, home of Ryan's alma mater & our good friend Josh. SLO has quite a number of vegan options, my typical favorite being Big Sky Cafe, but we opted to try a place I have been meaning to check out, Shine Cafe in Morro Bay. Nestled in the back of a health food store, Shine Cafe may not look like much, but looks can be deceiving! 99% of the menu which consists of salads, smoothies, soups, & entrees is vegan, just ask the friendly staff which items are not. We opted for the most talked about items, the Tempeh Reuben & the Tempeh Tacos. Giant plates heaped with fresh produce were delivered to us, giving off quite the hippie food vibe. The Reuben was served on sprouted bread with well seasoned tempeh & sauerkraut, while it lacked the tangy sauce of a typical reuben, it still hit the spot. The Tempeh Tacos were fabulous! I enjoyed the cilantro lime dressing atop a bed of lettuce, carrot, & red cabbage. After eating the "salad" from the top, you'll find a flavorful mix of quinoa & tempeh, housed in tortillas. Overall, Shine Cafe is a great little place for healthy, delicious vegan food, perfect when you're on the road or have consumed too many donuts!

In activist news, the PCRM is currently working to get healthy, vegetarian & vegan options in the National School Lunch program & YOU can help! Please go to http://healthyschoollunches.org & sign the petition to urge congress to include vegan options for children across the United States. Anyone can sign, even kids, so please pass this on to everyone you know!

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19Aug/08

Nobody walks in LA, but they dine there!

While looking back through recent posts, I realized I had forgotten to mention a trip to Southern California just a few weeks ago! I'm always a fan of being on the road & trying new vegan restaurants so I can share the results with my readers & this trip was no exception.

We started our culinary adventure by stopping at Isla Vista Food Co-Op just outside Santa Barbara. I had heard this was a great place to snag goodies from Stronghearts Baking Company, a woman & vegan owned company churning out a large variety of baked goods. I love options, so a Chocolate Chip brownie, Strawberry muffin, Carrot cupcake, Chocolate Chip cookie, & a slice of Crumb cake were acquired & we started munching. Stronghearts uses spelt flour for most of their goods, so they had a heartier taste than I'm used to, but it worked nicely in the crumb cake & brownie. The strawberry muffin was fluffy & flanked with berry chunks & the carrot cupcake was very sweet & textured with loads of carrots & pieces of pineapple. We opted for far too many items & I found myself in sugar shock pretty quickly!

After arriving in Los Angeles & settling in to our hotel, we headed to historic Olvera Street to check out the sights before dinner. We wandered through the colorful shopping area where Strummer found a friend just about her size! We also checked out a traveling tortilla art exhibit by Joe Bravo that just happened to be up while we were there; what an interesting medium!

For dinner we walked over to Shojin, a vegan, organic Japanese restaurant in Little Tokyo. Located in a multilevel mall, you'd never expect the warm dining area & welcoming staff when entering the building. We started with the Seitan Mountain Rolls, which were thinly sliced seitan wrapped around vegetables, served with pink salt, the dish was delicious & the pink salt really took it to another level. Next came the caesar salad with cashew cheese, which didn't taste much like a caesar salad, but was still refreshing. For our main courses, Ryan opted for the Orange Tempeh & vegetables, while I had a bento box with Seitan Katsu & a trio of vegetable dishes. The flavors were all quite nice & I especially liked the crispy panko on the outside of the cutlet. We both enjoyed our dishes, but weren't blown away by anything, like we had hoped. That being said, I would love to give Shojin another try & would likely do the tasting menu, which was very reasonably priced.

To end the night, we raced over to Scoops for vegan ice cream delights. Unlike last time, there were actually some vegan options left for us! Ryan & I both opted for the same flavor selection, Mocha Cinnamon & Cookies & Cream. Creamy & refreshing, one would never know this was ice cream of the dairy free sort, we were both happily sated & foresee many happy returns to Scoops!

The next day, we were ready to hit the streets of LA again & started out at Real Food Daily, home of Jalapeño Cashew Cheddar Nachos. While we would normally eat somewhere a bit more exciting, Ryan's love of nachos tends to lead us to RFD time & time again. Tortilla chips layered with their awesome jalapeño cashew cheddar, beans, seitan, sour cream & salsa meld together to make a mouthwatering combination. In addition to the nachos, I had a chop salad & Ryan had a reuben, neither were particularly memorable or exciting though, we'll stick to the nachos in the future!

After a day of shopping on Melrose Avenue, we managed to work up our appetites once again & headed to Native Foods in Westwood for dinner. I opted for the very filling "Soul Bowl" with rice, red beans, greens, mixed vegetables, & fried BBQ "Save the Chicken" drizzled in Ranch dressing. Ryan had the "Philly Peppersteak Sandwich" loaded with seitan, portobello mushrooms, onions, peppers, & Native cheese & a side of fries. We wrapped up our meal by sharing two lovely parfaits, one vanilla brownie & one peanut butter. A nice end to a very hearty & filling meal! Sadly, the lighting wasn't conducive to appetizing photos, so rather than harm your eyes with a blurry mess, you can look at this photo of Strummer hanging out in the grass near Melrose!

The next day we headed out back north to see family, but made a stop in Studio City at Hugo's Tacos, a taco stand with many vegan options. Once again, Ryan's obsession with a certain food, this time rolled tacos, fueled our dining decisions! My selections were two tacos; one zucchini, corn, string bean & one soy chorizo, potato, zucchini, plus a side of organic white beans cooked with sage and epazote. Ryan went for the rolled tacos, aka taquitos, which were filled with soy chorizo, potato, & zucchini & topped with shredded lettuce, guacamole, pico de gallo, & tomatillo sauce. Everyone was very happy with their selection & had full bellies, even Strummer, who munched on taquitos with glee, as you can see in this video!

All in all we had a lovely time in Los Angeles & you can expect to see many more restaurant wrap-ups from that region, as family members just moved down South. Suggestions are always welcome, although I know a return to Madeleine Bistro is in store!

Speaking of dining destinations, I'll be rolling in to Chicago from September 12th through the 15th! Any dining, activity, or lodging recommendations are very much welcome, as my knowledge of the area is limited. If you live in Chicago & want to meet up, get in touch!