Well kids, October is almost here and that means VeganMoFo is upon us once again.

Get out your fat pants.

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This is  a completely picture-free post, because I don’t think to shove my cameraphone into my food’s yap unless I’m in the sanctity of my own home. This is a bit of  a test for myself, to see if I can do a decent roll call of the various places that I’ve gotten to dine at in the last year.

Lotus Vegan – North Hollywood, CA

Vegan delivery, and just a few blocks from my home? Yes, please. Despite the Operation: Pancake debacle, this is my neighborhood haunt. Super friendly staff, great food, fast delivery. All they need now is online ordering! Order the Orange Chicken, the Chicken Burger, Chicken and Pancakes (uhh… maybe ask if they’ve changed their mix yet), the satay… you won’t regret it. [link]

Wahoo’s Fish Taco – Various Locations

Yeah, I’m not shitting you. Wahoo for Wahoo’s, as they are surprisingly vegan friendly. You can order dairy-free burritos, tacos, and other plates with the following vegan fillings: Tofu (vaguely teriyaki flavored), Banzai veggies (teriyaki), “vegetarian” (rice and black beans), blackened mushrooms. The guacamole is vegan and pretty decent. My favorite is to order the taco tofus, cheeseless, and a side of guac. Yum. Ask your server about cleaning the grill first, it’s not something that I ask about because it’s admittedly pretty low on my list of priorities (but I’m not assuming that you’re the same, so please ask!) [link]

California Vegan – Hollywood, CA

Just tried this place last weekend, and the food is great! The service is friendly, but a little forgetful – so keep an eye on your order, they’re more than happy to fix oopsies like forgetting whole dishes. My omni companion got a smoothie and the Banana Raisin pancake, I got the Sweet Chili Fish Lunch Special (I think my spring roll was forgotten, but I still received the dipping sauce, lawl), and we both shared a quesadilla and the Banana Coconut Spring Rolls with Ice Cream. Really, really good, and I love the open, old timey diner feel of the place. Some aren’t so into it, but I can dig it. [link]

Pure Luck – Los Angeles, CA

Pure. Luck. Is. So. Goddamned. Good.

Deliver all of your delicious food directly to my mouth, please.

I’m not even going to review this place, just fucking go there. And bring me back an order. [link]

Flore Cafe – Los Angeles, CA (Silverlake)

Took the opportunity to take advantage of the $10 All You Can Eat Brunch Buffet, what a great deal! The tofu scramble was yummy, the french toast was great. The bacon was a little burned, the sausage was flavorful, and the waffles were a little… tough. However! It was all you can eat! And boy, howdy, did we. Get your face in this if you get the chance. [link (via Yelp)]

zPizza – Various Locations

See this entry.  [link]

Astro Burger – Hollywood, CA

They’re pretty ok, and they’re probably much more awesome for vegetarians than vegans. However, their sweet potato fries are pretty awesome, they have lots of veg meals, and vegan stuff is clearly marked. I’ll have to probably visit again, after reading this post a few more times. Bring cash. [link]

Taix 321 Lounge – Los Angeles, CA (Silverlake)

There’s a lot of history in this restaurant, and one accidentally vegan meal on the menu. We dined in the lounge area – get there early to get a table and you can watch whatever acts come on to the stage. Our night found us with a man that did a bluegrass cover of a Motorhead song (and it wasn’t Ace of Spades). Pricey, and perhaps the Penne a la Monegasque wasn’t really worth the price, but it was a fun night anyway. Neat place to see bands, and you can get a hassle-free meal out of it. [link]

Follow Your Heart – Canoga Park, CA

I’ve only recently revisited FYH, after a lackluster first visit about a year ago. On the advice of everyone, everywhere, I tried the Reuben (extremely skeptically) with cottage style tofu. My very first Reuben, I never even tried it when I was omni. Much to my surprise, I was really impressed. Pro Tips: Order with cottage style tofu, extra Thousand Island, and the fries. Carrot chips aren’t exactly the pinnacle of awesome. Also, for those of you that are honey-averse, the buns contain honey, and so does the root beer – even though there’s Virgil’s in the refrigerator case. Can’t win ‘em all. [link]

Hy-Mart Deli – North Hollywood, CA

How cool is this place? It’s a tiny, Mom n’ Pop deli, with inviting owners that are knowledgeable about veganism, the food is awesome, the portions are huge, and the prices are low. So good. Bring cash! [link (via Yelp)]

Madeleine Bistro – Tarzana, CA

Fancypants dining! I came here with a fellow beignet lover for brunch and we nommed the fuck out of the amazing array here. We shared the beignets, and to be honest, I can’t even remember what else we had. The fresh squeezed juice drinks are great, too. Awesome place to take someone, especially if you want to get all romantical and shit.  [link]

Scoops -Los Angeles, CA

Finally! I got me some Scoops! Unfortunately, after dining at Pure Luck, the vegan Oreo cheesecake flavor that I wanted was all gone, but I got a scoop of Peanut Butter & Chocolate, and one scoop of Almond Hazelnut. Motherfuckingyummy. [link (via Yelp)]

Vinh Loi Tofu – Reseda, CA

I’ve only been here once, and it was over a year ago. My (super picky, think a spoiled 8 year old) omni companion wasn’t impressed with what he got, but I liked what I had. I definitely have to come back with better company, and I have a feeling that I’m going to start buying all of my tofu from them, as they manufacture their own tofu – I hear it’s amazing. [link]

Vegan Factory – Tarzana, CA

Another vegan Thai place in the SFV. Their satay is out of this world; I definitely have to revisit this place some time. [link]

Garden Wok – Tarzana, CA

A mostly vegan (just look out for some of the meats) Buddhist fakey meat Chinese place in the middle of the SFV. Extremely nice servers, a quiet and relaxing atmosphere. I hooked an (extremely obnoxious and picky) omni on their orange chicken and now he’s a regular. Sorry guys, I hope he behaves himself. They’re pretty good, nothing extremely amazing or poor – but one of its biggest strengths is that it’s also a great place to go when you have a big party, unlike a lot of vegan places, which simply don’t have the room or the family-style tables. [link (via Yelp)]

Veggie Era – Upland, CA

Straight up, really great fakey meat Chinese/Thai, and the best one that I know of that’s run by a (fun, goofy) cult (take that, Scientology. I bet LRH couldn’t fry up seitan to save his body thetan clusters.) And it’s the only place like it in the area, so it deserves all of the love that you can throw at it. I have a special place in my heart for the “My Sweet and Spicy Lady” – mock chicken flash fried in sweet chili sauce.  [link]

Chico’s – Riverside, CA

Chico’s used to be the best! Dual kitchens for omnis and vegans, GREAT food, neat ambiance. After the restaurant switched owners, shit definitely got real. The menu, service and food suffered, big-time. The last time I passed by there, the building was closed. Oh well, we’ll always have memories of your amazing vegan quesadilla with crema and guacamole. [link (via Yelp)]

Honorable Mention:

Orean’s Health Express – Pasadena, CA

Fuck Orean’s. They’ll (maybe, as their food is pretty fucking bland) get my money if they can bother to stop lying to customers about their dairy use. It’s too bad, man. I really wanted some of that chai milkshake action. (Spoilers: They’ve been dishonest assholes for years about it.) [link]

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These were for a work potluck – my new job had yet to taste of the Kipcakes.

The carrot cupcakes were on suggestion from a friend’s sudden craving, and my own desire to try a new flavor. They were great, but unfortunately, the friend said that the (Tofutti based) frosting made his tongue go numb.

Weird. He was the only one that had that reaction, so many Tofutti is not his friend. Side note: I made these with golden raisins.

As usual, the Cookies And Cream were made from Trader Joe’s Joe-Joes, and they were full of goodness. And my kitchen is full of powdered sugar.

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This is not my triumphant return to cooking – that was a batch of Mango Ginger Tofu with Coconut Rice a couple of days ago. But, seeing as that’s so much food porn leftovers, I decided to wait until I had something new to post.

This is that something new.

I should just call my blog Isa Chandra Tells You What To Eat, because whenever I see a post of hers, I’m compelled to cook.

While cooking out of Veganomicon, I never really had the urge to make Pasta Della California, that is until I saw this post of Isa’s. Looks good, right? And it fends off zombies AND Republicans. Score.

It’s pretty okay. I don’t think it will go in my usual rotation, but it’s certainly different than what I’m normally drawn to. Variety is good.

Also, I didn’t marinade the tempeh for the full time because of poor scheduling, and had a bit of a hmmm moment with my broiler. It came out pretty decent though, I’ll definitely have to make it again, but correctly.

And now for the crown jewel of the evening…

Mmmmmmmm. Yes, I can’t even talk right now, these are so good.

Om nom nom fucking nom. Fall, I’m ready for your ass.

Get yer recipe (and instructional video) here, and then pre-order this amazing book pretty please.

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mc chris – Pizza Butt

I was so excited by my discovery of zpizza‘s use of Daiya cheese, AND my discovery of a location that has it that is close to both my work and home, AND that they offer delivery and online ordering. (So what if I’m a hermit?)

What’s a girl to do? ORDER A MOTHERFUCKING TUSCAN.

I placed the order online, even though they only offer the regular and the soy cheeses in the choices, I knew that this store carried it and asked in the notes to either pretty please use the vegan cheese or none at all. The owner of the store actually called me to let me know that they did just get the vegan cheese in and he wanted me to give him a call when I’ve tried it so I could let him know how it was.

The delivery guy was extra sweet, and they even delivered paper plates, plastic utensils and napkins. Wait, this is a chain? Fuck me sideways.

The pizza itself? AMAZING.

The crust wasn’t too thick or thin, on that was a layer of yummy garlic sauce, then the Daiya, sweet caramelized onions, and three kinds of mushrooms, and then some truffle oil and thyme. My first taste of Daiya was nothing short of awesome. I was on the phone with the owner after the first slice, telling him how great it is. He was glad to hear so, and explained that since he’s not a vegan he doesn’t know what qualifies as “good” vegan cheese, and what casein is, etc. I gave him the quick and dirty version: “Oh, that’s just a milk protein, it makes that soy cheese melty and stringy. That’s kind of why great vegan cheese was so hard to find – you’ve got a winner with what you’ve got now.”

I practiced great restraint by stopping at 3 slices. Ok, so I had one more after coming back from a show. Whatever. Can’t type now, eating leftover heaven.

Update: Lawl, they found me. http://twitter.com/zpizza_SoCal/status/3912735269

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Look, it’s post 100!

I have a couple of confessions.

I moved out to Los Angeles almost a year ago, and I barely told anyone. Also, the vegan wagon? I haven’t been on it so much since I right before I moved out. Why? To be honest, I’m going to keep that to myself. (It’s a delicate balance of laziness, apathy, depression and overall retardation on my part.)  The important part is that I’m back.

Not only that, but I was inspired to make this post and get the fuck back into the kitchen by quarrygirl.com Perhaps not the most exciting domain name in existence, but hover your mouse over the link in the right sidebar, and you’ll see exactly how I feel about this site.

Yay for being vegan (again) in Los Angeles (for the first time.)

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