My 2011 post on vegetarian options at wedding remained one of my most viewed posts on this blog! In the past two years, wedding have become all the more vegetarian friendly… so for your brides, caterers or food porn lovers out there searching for silent/loud/delicious vegetarian options for your affairs, here are my favorites from the past two years:

Dani and Andrew (Los Angeles)

One half of this couple is vegetarian, so options abound. Catered by HerloomLA, this is by far my favorite of this post. You can view the tasting for this wedding here to contrast expectation verses reality.

The Cheese Course, set out before the ceremony even began!

Chives and wild mushroom ragu atop a crispy lemon polenta cake! These totally met the expectation of the tasting samples.

Twice-baked potato with crème fraiche. Not as pretty, but still delicious!

Various breads, pizzas, and fondues. The smoked mozzarella and pumpkin parmesan fondues held up well, but there were no forks out at this point of the service, making this a messy smack. The cheesy pizzas got soggy piled on atop each other in this presentation.

The Spring Pea Salad, full of fresh and crunchy vegetables, held up to its light dressing throughout the evening.

There were a million different kinds of cake in there, each layer was a different flavor. I don’t remember what I had, I was still stuffed from the cheese course!

Malibu Wedding

Over the summer I worked at a wedding at the gorgeous Villa Cascata in Malibu. Again, half the wedding party was vegetarian so there was plenty to gorge my vegetable loving belly on!

Simple Salad with Mango dressing, a flat of Mac’n cheese and a view of the Pacific Ocean! A stellar start to dinner.

The salad was actually not that simple with spinach, avocados, strawberries and pistachios.

Veggie Samosas!

Chewy Chapati. Delicious on its own, but even better with:

Herb and onion flecked Fried Tofu, little Falafel patties, vegetable laced Couscous and Grape Leaves!

The bride’s southern roots appeared in the baskets of Sweet Potato Fries and Cornbread Muffins!

With the gross-out-gobble-up-the-greasy-world undercurrent to food culture, I’m amazed when people are weirded out by my food choices. I don’t mean weird food, but apparently weird combinations. So while people think 100×100 burgers, miles of pastrami and tuna melts are perfectly normal, nothing makes a cashier pause, do a double take and say “that’s the weirdest sandwich I’ve ever heard of” like ordering a design-your-own Veggie Burger slathered in peanut butter.

Do you think it’s weird? I don’t.

People seem stuck on the word “burger.” They assume a veggie burger must be dressed like a its beef namesake. But veggie “patties” are nothing like a beef burger; nor does the brown rice and oat based Gardenburger, served at Lunch, want to be. So why treat it as such?

I approach my Veggie Burger like a salad and  the Americanized Thai Salad is one of my favorites. Crisp vegetables smothered in sweet peanut sauce. That is what’s on my mind when I order a Veggie Burger at Lunch. Topped with some combo of avocado, sprouts, carrots and/or cucumbers and Swiss cheese (although the cheese is rather superfluous), dressed in a slathering of peanut butter and fig jam ($9.95). I know fig jam is just as odd (and also cause side eye from the kitchen) but I sweat it’s a sweetly fresh and crunchy meal.

Each sandwich comes with a side, all of which are ‘meh’ except for the Apple Vinegar Slaw. Crisp and tart, this lightly dressed side is also delicious inside your sandwich!

If you hate sandwiches, are scared of carbs, or like predicable things… they make a perfectly decent Beet It! Goat Cheese and Beet Salad ($9.50).

Lunch
3829 Main St
Culver City, CA 90232
eatatlunch.com

I am not creature of habit. But after nearly 5 years working in NYC’s Murray Hill there were two things you could count on:

1. Finding me at the Patrick Kavanagh Pub after work
2. Eating mujadara from Kalustyan’s at least once a week

When I moved to Los Angeles, the crisp onion and smashed lentils of Mujadara exited my life. But two year later, thanks to an invite to try a new vegetarian/vegan friendly menu at Urban Garden, it has returned to my common rotation! While the mujadara is decent, what sends me over the edge here the Garlic Sauce!

The garlic sauce doesn’t sound like much, and it really isn’t–just olive oil, garlic and salt–but I refused to believe it was vegan until confirming to the chef. Whipped into a creamy white sauce, the olive oil radiates a ridiculous amount of sharp garlic and tastes great on absolutely everything.

Since the tasting, I now eat here all the time. The Fried Cauliflower is a favorite. Despite the occasionally over cooked batch, when the tender white flesh is seared with blacked caramelized tips, it’s perfect in a wrap or on with a platter—dipped in garlic sauce of course. The heavy smokiness of the Baba Ganoush is spot on, though it proved too much for one of my blander friends, this is by far my favorite of their dips options.

When I’m not in the mood to risk it with cauliflower, the organic chickpea and red quinoa Falafel has never failed. It always arrives with a thick, but not oily, shell holding moist innards… which again go perfectly with the garlic sauce. The Vegetable Kibbeh is a special indulgence. Kibbeh, a torpedo-shaped bulger dumpling, is normally filled with goat or beef or lamb or whatnot. At Urban Garden (and The Little Door) it’s not only vegetarian, but vegan friendly! A little sweet, full of flavor—and pine nuts—it’s a must try for any veg since it’s so hard to come by.

The Spicy Cilantro and Garlic Potatoes are not as spicy as they sound. The subtle sauce can get lost against the bold flavors of other choices, like the Kale, Quinoa & Beet Salad. Yes, I just called a salad bold. Dressed in a deliciously super tart dressing, this salad benefits from being paired with the subtle nature of the potatoes. At least until I douse those potatoes in the dreamy garlic sauce.

The only thing that drives me a crazy at Urban Garden is that platters max out at 3 choices. It’s more than enough food, but with so many options, I have the darnedest time limiting myself to just three.

Urban Garden
446 N Fairfax Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036
eaturbangarden.com

My ideal sandwich!

It was meant as an insult. A pastrami pocketing New Yorker once told me that I like “salad between bread” not “sandwiches.” I dissagree. I mean hello, I love bánh mì, grilled cheese, the ‘Shroom Burger from Shake Shack and so on. Still, I do love a “salad between bread!”

Getting a wad of vegetables balanced between bread—in terms of flavor and stackability—is a challenge many restaurant refuse to acknowledge. The key is thin slices carefully arranged, plus the use to vegetable cradling alfalfa sprouts, to prevent a vegetable sandwich from collapsing into the proverbial salad. One of the best examples I’ve found is at Los Feliz’s Mustard Seed Café. The Veggie Sandwich ($9.95) is served on toasted olive bread with tomato pesto, lettuce, tomatoes, sprouts, swiss cheese, red onions, and avocado. It’s carefully constructed, guaranteeing every veggie in every bite. The tomato pesto—instead of humdrum mayo—adds a tangy undercurrent to the briny bread, plus makes it easy to turn this sandwich vegan (just order sans cheese)!

The lightly dressed Red Cabbage Slaw is my side of choice. Crisp cabbage tossed with a barely-there oil and vinegar blend finish off a perfect lunch. Light on the belly, easy on the wallet… very, very, sort of similar, but not at all, exactly like a salad!

A lesser construction, but still a damn good sandwich!

Mustard Seed Café
1948 Hillhurst Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 660-0670

Gougere

The cavern of Gougere… or an empty brain…

When I began writing pizza reviews (two years ago this month!), I had no idea how complex the world of bread with stuff on top was. Easily distilled down for airport food courts, pizza is seen as a simple food. But it’s this  simplicity that makes ever element vital to a good pie. The most important of which is the crust. A perfect crust begins with baking, a circuitous world of science, art and deliciousness.

This is a world I know little about.

But pizzerias do! Any pizzaiolo worth speaking to will name Tartine Bakery as a source of inspiration (or at lest admiration). Case in point: The Gougere. A light choux pastry–made savory with Gruyère, black pepper and thyme–with a massive hole structure that recalls a cross section of pizza. Just imagine hitting that at the end of a slice of pizza (um, why hasn’t anyone done this yet?!).

Chocolate Croissant

The Chocolate Croissant, soft and buttery–more moist than flaky–hides two thick veins of chocolate. It deserves a trip through a toaster oven, but is still delectable at room temperature.

Morning Roll

Though my heart belong to the Morning Bun at Olive’s in NYC; the sugar crusted, orange zest infused doughy roll from Tartine ranks pretty high in my esteem… especially when enjoyed in nearby Dolores Park.

So Good!

Bisect that sucker…

The Croque Monsieur is where I get nerdy. Playing with the same components of pizza, the savory toppings sit on tart wheat fleck toast. The crust is baked to near-black and the is body sliced into finger thick planks. The bread balances hole density and gluten perfectly–no huge bubbles, no doughy spots will be found in a Tartine slice. The open face sandwich is covered with béchamel, Gruyere, shitaki mushrooms, asparagus, thyme and black pepper and served with a lone pickled carrot. Knife and fork are required tools. A butter knife is not sufficient… trust me.

Tartine Bakery
600 Guerrero St
San Francisco, CA 94110
tartinebakery.com

]]> http://thevegetarianfoodie.com/2013/02/01/tartine-san-francisco/feed/ 2 kellybone http://thevegetarianfoodie.com/2013/01/25/spitz-los-angeles-ca/ http://thevegetarianfoodie.com/2013/01/25/spitz-los-angeles-ca/#comments Fri, 25 Jan 2013 19:32:54 +0000 kellybone http://thevegetarianfoodie.com/?p=1125 Continue reading »

A muddling of tasty colors… like a eatable Monet painting

I’ve grown weary of falafels. I don’t dislike them, but will restaurants please think of some more original ‘vegetarian options.’ That said, if I am going to eat a falafel, it better be damn good.

Is Spitz’s damn good? Er…  not exactly. But all the junk they pile on top/inside/around the falafel is!

Spitz’s take on the quintessential vegetarian option is Zesty Feta Doner ($8) with falafel. A once crisp falafel is wrapped in lavash and stuffed with lettuce, red onion, green pepper, cucumber, tomato, feta, olives, hummus, tzatziki and chili sauce. It’s a hefty! It’s really good! Flavor forward—with a sharp briny presence—the mediocre falafel add bland balance against the assault of toppings.

The sauce is more spiced than spicy

With hallmarks like Burger King selling Sweet Potato Fries, these sweet fried sticks have lost much of their allure. But this is where the topping save the day. Alone, the sweet potato fries (small $3.05/regular $5.05)—served with a spicy looking but not at all spicy aioli—are unremarkable. But with a slight modification they become the most awesome fries ever…

Mediterranean poutine!

The Street Cart Fries ($7.35)! Loaded with tons of garlic aioli, feta, onion, green peppers, tomatoes, kalamata olives, pepperoncinis and chili sauce, these are the star of the menu. Ask for the basket to be 50/50 regular and sweet potato and you’ll be in french fry flavor country!

Spitz
2506 Colorado Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90041
(323) 257-5600
eatatspitz.com

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Del Popolo is an exceptional case.

The Death Star of the Food Truck World!

The heft and fuel needed to get this beast on the road is completely impractical. Almost immoral. But for a pizza this refined, with depth and complex flavors from minimal ingredients, I can get over myself.  Soft, with a tart funky sourdough crust, and topped with a blend of imported San Marzano and Biano DiNapoli tomatoes. This far exceeds any food truck food I’ve ever devoured.

They ran out of basil so topped my Margareta with Rabe

Innards

A “tortilla” bottom that doesn’t taste under cooked at all!

This really isn’t a food truck at all. It’s more akin to a pop up restaurant: no finite location, limited overhead, as fleeting as the San Francisco fog. But she’ll always roll back in, carrying uncompromisingly great pizza in her 28,000 pound belly.

Del Popola
DelPopoloSF.com

This visit also taught me that, like a cat, I can climb up a ladder but not down. Fortunately the General Manager, Brian, spotted me wavering on the roof and helped me back to the bar.

Seedlings

Josh and Caroline

Chef Kevin and his Tuscan Kale

Vegetables and HVAC

Playa
7360 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 933-5300

I was totally digging those colorful girls in the front!

It began years ago. Aloft in New York, I’d fly down to Los Angeles for family and friends… but not for the restaurants. STREET almost changed my mind. I’ve checked in periodically over the years, the menu in a constant flux of evolving blends of modern and traditional street foods. But it has finally come to a beautiful fruition the newest menu revision. Focused on small dishes and with a heavy nod to vegetarians and vegans, STREET is now totally worth a cross country flight… but now in my case, a 20 minute drive.

I am salad

The Garden Chopped Salad ($10) is the most mundane item of this meal. With romaine, grilled zucchini, tomato, green beans, fresh corn, kidney beans, asparagus and fresh mozzarella and roasted jalapeño-basil vinaigrette, it’s a fresh opening act to what is going to be a fantastic trip.

A thousand times: YES!

If a chef wants to win me over, they just need to give me flower. STREET’s Date + Kamut Fritters ($6) do just that. Crisp and mild, the fritters bloom in the punchy yogurt and date sauce; but it’s the scattering of roasted rose petals and almonds that make me want to change my FB status to: “In a relationship with Date + Kamut Fritters.” On my last visit I ordered this dish vegan; the yogurt was supplemented with a vegenaise sauce. Absolutely nothing was lost in translation.

White Man’s Crack

The enduring STREET mascot, Kaya Toast ($12) is always a must. Everyone I’ve forced to try Kaya Toast peers at this dish with skepticism or disgust. The stacked squares of toast stuffed with super sweet coconut jam are easy to understand (although it make me wonder why I’ve never had a coconut-based grilled cheese sandwich… yet). The dipping sauce that makes ‘em squirm: soft fried egg drizzled in dark soy and white pepper. The runny yolk is punched by the hardened bread, bleeding into sweet and salty puddles. You’ll be fighting for the last bite.

I want to eat your heart… lovingly

The coal roasted Greek Artichoke ($12), cupping chopped herbs and garlic, is a subtle favorite. I’m a touch skeptical about the “coals” since I know they have a ‘wood burning’ over back there. Still, I decimate this dish every time, tearing into the burnt red petals and savoring the tender heart like a vegetable cannibal. I’ve never been partial to creamy dips with artichoke (I prefer butter and lemon) so I find the wild oregano sauce completely unnecessary.

Sauce not needed

Asparagus is one of the favorite vegetables. Ever. The simple treatment of the Wood Roasted Asparagus ($9) is always my top vegetable choice at STREET. Smokey and crisp with a scattering of sesame seeds, it’s hard to stop popping these. Like the artichoke, the lemon za’atar dipping sauce doesn’t add much for me.

The half lemon may look odd, but you’ll be grateful it’s there

With way too much cheese and not enough spinach, spices or flavor, the Sagg Paneer Pizza with lemon ($12) is not highly recommended. But what this pizza demonstrates is that a fistful of fresh lemon juice can make anything tolerable. But please don’t dismiss all the pizza options… STREET’s Blue Cheese and Date pizza is my current favorite topping combo in all of Los Angeles.

Splooge

Drawing from the New Orleans tradition, the mashed red bean and rice Laundry Day Fritter ($5) arrive hot and crisp. Dressed in hot sauce crema, andouille and scallions… j/k no andouille… although it might have helped this one note dish out. Seriously, this dish lacks the compact boldness that makes STREET wonderful. I’d recommend the vegan Veggie Meatball with Peanut Lemongrass sauce instead; I don’t have a picture of it because I was being polite the evening I tried it.

LIKELIKELIKELIKE

I know it’s covered in chicken, but I don’t care. The Chicken + Waffles Croquettes ($10) are my favorite new menu item. The waffle is just ok and I have no idea about the chicken…. But the spicy maple sauce makes me lick the plate. It’s just maple syrup and Crystal hot sauce. Just like heaven.

Bite sized burgers for the vegetarian sect

I generally flip my nose at veggie burgers, but these Spicy Black Bean Veggie Burgers ($10) with pea shoots, smashed avocado and tomato on toasted sourdough are not terrible. Although, I think Michael Natkin put it best: “To me, a black bean burger is a fundamentally flawed concept. No way for it not to be mushy.” Still, I usually order this if I’m not into the pizza of the day.

Susan Feniger’s STREET
742 North Highland Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038
(323) 203-0500
eatatstreet.com