Did I mention I LOVE COFFEE???!

Random? Well, I really really REALLY love coffee.  Pure, black, straight-up, no sugar, no milk, nada, just the good strong black italian stuff. yum.

So I was at the Americana in Glendale today and found this adorable, authentic espresso set for sale at the cafe (Deluca's Italian Deli) that we had lunch. FYI, Deluca's has great food as well, and good vegetarian (some prepared vegan foods from the deli case) options.  Check out the menu here: http://delucasdeli.com/menu.html (I ordered the combo salad option: Capponata, Insalata di Farro, and a Wild Rice Salad with Marcona Almonds)

Anyways, I had to make me some espresso AS SOON AS I stepped foot into the house, and I did... So how was it?

Well, I love coffee, the stronger the better, so I felt the espresso fell a little flat in terms of strength and depth of flavor.  It was still good and enjoyable, but I think I'm gonna head out and get me some fresh Italian espresso beans and grind them up myself, to get the best espresso experience!

Either way, this machine is adorable, easy-to-use, and gave me an old-school, European feeling that I loved.... So...very glad I got it and plan to use it DAILY :)

BABYCAKES - DTLA

YUM! YUM! YUMMMMM!!!

Chocolate Dipped Mini Donut, Brownie, Red Velvet Cupcake

BASICALLY, if you haven't been here yet, GET YOUR BUTT HERE ASAP! IT'S AWESOME!  (although, I must admit, the red velvet cupcake wasn't moist at all.  The frosting kinda made up for it...) Usually, EVERYTHING IS BOMB, but def give the WAFFLES, BROWNIES, AND DONUTS A SHOT....YUM ATTACK CENTRAL!!!!

Mendocino Farms - Downtown LA

I'm tired so I'm going to get straight to the point: THIS PLACE IS CUTE. ADORABLE. CROWDED. AND IT HAS PRETTY DARN GOOD FOOD. 

This was on my "food bucket list" and I'm glad I was able to make it out for lunch. I ordered the "My Vegan Trip Through India" and it was HEFTY.  I could only eat half of it but it was pretty good, a little heavy (if I had to make any criticism) but good nonetheless.

This place offers 2 VEGAN SANDWICH OPTIONS and it also had 2 prepared salad options that were both PHENOMENAL! One black eyed pea salad and one spinach salad.   I was also informed that they usually offer 1 VEGAN SOUP, although they didn't have one today :(

The food is GOOD and definitely worth a shot.  Next time I go I will be trying the mexican style sandwich and maybe some vegan chili and I'll let yall know how that goes...

Figueroa Produce Market - Highland Park

I was in downtown LA today for some work/school stuff and decided that it would be the perfect time to make that long-overdue trip out to Figueroa Produce in the Highland Park area of LA.  So, it's FAR, really FAR, and it's tucked into this tiny little store in a huge shopping center.

After I finally found it and went in, I saw what a cute, charming little local market this actually was.  I made my rounds through the aisles: fresh produce, lots of vegan/vegetarian options, the famous match meats, jackfruit, non-cheese cheeses, cupcakes, breads, etc.  But I gotta be honest here, as EXCITED as I was to go there and get a vegan sub sandwich and the oh-so-famous jackfruit tamales, I couldn't get around the strong RAW BEEF smell permeating the store.  It really ruined my appetite and the experience for me, unfortunately...

They carry Dr. Cow, Teese, Daiya, and a few more...

Either way, I did pick up some stuff from the store (and enjoyed meeting the very nice owners of the place): 

I had tried both of these at the Natural Food Expo & was DYING to get my hand on some since!

SCOOPS Westide - Vegan Ice Cream

Scoops has opened up their second location on the westside near Culver City: 3400 Overland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90034.  Here's their twitter: http://www.twitter.com/scoopswestside.


They make fresh batches of ice cream daily with weird/fun concoctions and they usually offer 2 non-dairy varieties as well!  Yesterday's were Non-Dairy Blueberry Pomegranate and Non-Dairy Coffee Hazelnut.  Honestly, BOTH WERE MAGNIFICENT! UNREAL! DELICIOUS! ARE YOU SURE THIS STUFF'S REALLY VEGAN?????

1 scoop is two flavors. Your first "scoop" is essentially two scoops.

I asked myself that couple times whilst stuffing my face with the good stuff.  And, yes, to our surprise and joy, IT IS 100% VEGAN!


So, go get you some and let me know how awesome it truly is :)

NEW Fresh Corn Grill - West Hollywood!

Fresh Corn Grill has been a favorite among Westsiders for the past few years since it opened in Westwood and now, to many people's (including myself's) excitement, they have opened their second location here in my neck of the woods: WEST HOLLYWOOD! Fresh Corn Grill boasts an awesome, clean, fresh American-style menu stocked with pizza, pasta (gluten-free option), salads, bowls, soups, veggie side dishes, ....

The food tastes great, and as a vegetarian you have MANY OPTIONS.  Here's a looksie at the menu:

VEGAN Options: BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP, FRESH CORN GRILL SALAD,  FRESH CORN TOSTADA SALAD (no cheese), GREEK SALAD (no cheese), GREEN SALAD, ALL SIDE DISHES, FRESH CORN VEGETABLE BOWL WITH TOFU, GRILLED VEGETABLE PASTA (GLUTEN FREE OPTION)

Went there yesterday and ordered some vegan stuff for myself, while my non-vegan fam ordered non-vegan, which they seemed to love (Sundried Tomato Pizza, Grilled Chicken Tacos, Grilled Chicken Sandwich).  Here are some pics:

Butternut Squash Soup

Fresh Corn Grill Salad

The soup was a bit too sweet for my taste, but still good enough to eat.  The salad WAS BOMB! Yummy, charred, smokey vegetables in a crisp salad with DELICIOUS DRESSING.... VERY GOOD! Also, my sister's side order of cabbage salad WAS DELISH! Cabbage with Grilled corn and basil...Great Combo!

All in all, great place for omnivores and herbivores...Definite Recommendation!

Mrs. Winston's Green Grocery

 Two locations in Santa Monica & one in Century City, MRS. WINSTON'S GREEN GROCERY is truly LA'S BEST!  What a gem!  Here are pics of the one in CC...

It has a Sandwich Bar, a Salad Bar AND a Soup Bar! And all three ARE UNREAL! Amazing selection (especially for VEGETARIANS!) and meat-eaters alike! Fresh, clean, abundant, yummy, organic, hormone free meats, and did I say VEGAN???? They offer at least 10 different vegan meat-like options ( Vegan Pastrami is viewed in pic, Vegan chicken salad, etc).
You can make your own sandwich with different kinds of breads, meats, cheeses, spreads, etc.

They also have a soup bar with 4-5 different options, of which half are VEGAN! And DELISH!

Salad bar is amazing too, they have a Vegan Chocolate Pudding too!

Can't wait to go back for more!!

NATURAL PRODUCT EXPO WEST.... a bit delayed...

So, I know I'm a week late.  But, to my defense, I ate A LOT there, and had EVEN MORE to eat from my take-homes, so I needed some time to eat, digest and now, write.  So, the pic above is of 1/40th of all the stuff I was given at the show to take home.  This is on top of the MILLION of sampled foods there.  So, yeah, I'm still digesting!

Don't get me wrong, this expo was the most AMAZING event I have ever been to, TRULY!  I mean for someone like me, a foodie, a vegetarian, and a lover of anything NATURAL, it was PURE HEAVEN.  All the big names were there: Amy's, Daiya, Double Rainbow, Soy-Licious, Chicago Soy, Yogi, Kind Bars, Lara Bars, Tom's Toothpaste, Gardenburger, Macrobar, Organic Sunshine Burgers, TaDah!, Eden Organic, Tea's Tea, Cas Cal, Steaz Teas, Dagoba Organic Chocolate, Prince Tahini, TerasWhey, Liberte Yogurt, Sol Cuisine Vegan Gluten-Free Burgers, EatPastry Vegan Cookie Dough, Stonewall's Vegan Jerquee, Hodo Soy Beanery, AND A MILLION MORE...

I STILL have bags and bags (and bagsss) of stuff from them.  I think the best and easiest way to go about this is name some of my top favs (That I can still remember).  So, here it goes:

Matt's Muchies (Premium Fruit Snack)- Island Mango
Stephen James Luxury Organics - Beauty Bar
Crunchfuls (Cereal)
TahDah! - Lemon-Garlic Hummus Falafel Wrap
Organic Sunshine Burgers - Falafel
Soy-Licious
Chicago Soydairy Dandies VEGAN MARSHMALLOWS & TEESE CHEESE
Amy's Pizzas
Daiya
Hodo Soy Beanery
EatPastry Vegan Cookie Dough

There's so much more that I'm probably leaving out. BUT, if and when I do remember, I will do an UPDATE!  Please feel free to comment on this if you guys were there and have any favs of your own!

Followers...

Thought I'd throw this out there, in case any of you want to follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/melmoradi.

That's it. Have a nice weekend :)

Fig & Olive Los Angeles - Review

Fig & Olive (a NYC restaurant) opened up their flagship West Coast location in Weho last week (off of La Cienega/Melrose Place).  Checked it out Wednesday night...

Variety of Crostinis (some half eaten...)
TOP FAVS: 1. Mushroom, Truffled Artichoke, Parmesan
2. Manchego, Fig, Marcona Almond

Fig & Olive Salad: Lettuces, Fig, Apple, Manchego, Gorgonzola, Walnut, etc.
UMMM....ONE OF THE BEST SALADS I'VE HAD...EVER!

Provence Vegetables & Burrata
GOOD, NOT GREAT. PESTO RICOTTA WAS INTERESTING...

They start out your night by bringing a trio of olive oils and some delicious pastry-like foccacia bread to your table. 

In addition to the things shown above, we also ordered the PENNE FUNGHI TARTUFO and it was pretty darn good. But, then again, you could put Truffle oil on the bumper of a car and it would be BOMB so...

Other things were ordered, but weren't good enough for a mention here so if you do go make sure to order the Crostinis I mentioned and the salad.  All the desserts are AMAZING too!

BTW, Vegans: some of the crostinis are vegan, as are some of the Vegetable and Soup dishes.

Organic Japanese-Style CREPES in Bev Hills...SO GOOD!

So, my cousin has been raving about this place for months now and today, finally, I had a chance to give it a try.  It's called Harajuku and here's the website: http://www.harajukucrepe.us/.

I was curious what made them Japanese instead of French and the owner explained to me that Japanese-style crepes are much simpler, thinner, and healthier (with use of fresh, natural, simple ingredients).  They don't overstuff and overdo their crepes - Making them deliciously light and perfect for on-the-go munching! What's more, Harajuku Crepe strives to use seasonal, organic ingredients in their dishes!


Here's a pic of my Earl Grey Tea flavored crepe batter filled with organic peanut butter and bananas and strawberries!

They offer lots of options, from breakfast crepes to savory crepes and yummy decadent dessert crepes....

During my chat with the owner, I kept pushing for the addition of a VEGAN crepe on the menu and he said he was trying to come up with one and should have one available SOON! SO EXCITING!

Vegan Yogurt and Vegan Fudge Pops??!!! YUMMM

Here are some must-haves when you go to Whole Foods for your regular groceries:

 ---> REALLY HELP with that Chocolate Fix! Vegan!

This vegan yogurt has AMAZING BENEFITS! It's FULL OF FIBER: 7g per 1 cup serving! Full of Protein! And filled with Essential Minerals, most imp IRON AND CALCIUM!! DEF give it a shot! They also come in smaller, one serving size portions!

FAUX meat can be ....... GOOD???!

So, I have never been a huge faux meat kinda vegetarian, but today's food experience made me eat my words. Bought some Chicken-less Pulled Chicken in BBQ Sauce from Trader Joe's today.  Listen, I don't like fake meat, I usually rather just have veggies and beans and nuts and call it a day, but THIS WAS DAMN GOOD.  Tasted like real down-home bbq, saucy, meat consistency, sweet, tangy (I like it extra tangy so I added some dijon mustard in the cooking process).  Stuck the pulled "chicken" in between a whole wheat toasted bun with a shmear of mustard and a side of homemade broccoli slaw coleslaw and a pickle! It was the BOMB!!!!  Here are some picks of the packaging:

It is made with mostly Wheat Protein, so NO BUENO for those that are doing the GLUTEN FREE thing, sorry :(

It's very healthy: low in calories, fat, sugar, and high in protein and some minerals!

It's really really good, trust me! Give it a shot the next time your at TJ's, just remember to add some mustard (if you like some tang) and/or some red pepper flakes (if you like it spicy)!

Friday Funday....Cafe Muse in Hollywood!

So, since I had one of the toughest school weeks yet this semester, and because one of my best friends is visiting from Israel, I decided to make today a Friday Funday.  "What is that?" you may be wondering. It's exactly as it sounds, a day of FUN.  My girlfriend and I (aiming at the whole two birds/one stone concept) got our cardio by walking from weho to hollywood and then eating some bomb food at Cafe Muse (off of Santa Monica Blvd., few blocks after Highland).  Here's the website:http://www.cafemusela.com/.  It's a cute little cafe with some organic/mostly vegan/vegetarian (they have tuna and cheese) foods.  We tried some of the vegan chili and it WAS BOMB.  Full of beans and I think some soy beef.  Started off with some iced coffees and iced teas.  They have a good menu with lots of options: from veggie sandwiches and mock meat sandwiches, to salads, nachos, wraps and egg dishes (or tofu).  We ended up ordering the Grilled Tofu wrap with Sweet Potato fries on the side. It was a YUMMY asian-style wrap...the tofu was grilled with onions and soy sauce. IT WAS VERY GOOD. My friend said the sweet potato fries were bomb too, and so was the BBQ sauce it came with!

An hr later, my other girlfriend joined us and she ordered the Mexican wrap.  She liked it, although she is a meat-eater and complained that it was "kinda boring."  I think she just said that because she would hate to admit to having actually liked anything vegan. LOL. Anyways, it looked good, crisp and yummy to me! Here are some pics:

My Vegan Grilled Tofu Whole Wheat Wrap:

My Friend's Vegan Mexican Wrap with Whole Wheat:

My vegan-phobic friends also ordered the chocolate chip cookie for dessert and said it was moist and chewy! One complaint is I wish they had home-made vegan sweet treats to choose from (they only had the vegan prepared cookies/cakes) :(

Everything else on the menu looked GREAT and really sparked my interest...I wish I had more of an appetite!  I will DEF be making my way there again, to try some of the other sandwiches and wraps!

PS: They also have live entertainment here at night! And offer wine and beer!

TOP Vegan Restaurants World-Wide...

Was doing some research, and found some sites that listed some of the best vegetarian/vegan restaurants around the world:

1. 222 Restaurant, London, England: http://www.222veggievegan.com/

2. The Country House, Montali, Italy (a restaurant in a hotel): http://www.montalionline.com/Index.htm

3. Soul Mama, St. Kilda, Australia: http://www.soulmama.com.au/soulmama_menu.pdf

4. Artemisia, Madrid, Spain (also carries some non-veggie items): http://www.restauranteartemisa.com/imagenes%20artemisa%20web/carta%20artemisa%20english.pdf


More to come....

We live 6-10 years LONGER!!! WOOHOOOO

So as we all know, Oprah and her cast went Vegan for a week :) and We are all SO PROUD! Hopefully, they've see how great it is and it will go on for much longer! Anyhoot, I was on Oprah's website and came across this "VEGAN IQ" test and gave it a whirl...It's very informative and I thought you guys would appreciate it...Apparently, Vegans live 6-10 yrs longer than non (YAY!) and the average American consumes 200 lbs of meat per year (YUCK!)...Check it out and get informed!!

Here's the link: Oprah Vegan IQ Test

Website Browsing....More Vegan Pizza Options?

Just came across this website (PANINOTECA and PIZZA AL TAGLIO - Hollywood) from a recommendation on another website (stating it was "THE BEST PIZZA IN LA")...Looked at the online menu...And saw some VEGAN options! 2/3 different pizzas with no cheese! Also, for those that do eat dairy, their pizza pics looked UNREAL-ultra thin and crispy crust with fresh italian cheeses and toppings! Oh, and great salad options (plenty vegan ones, too)!

I'm DEF gonna make my way out to hollywood to check this place out soon! Lemme know if any of yall go or have gone and how it is! :))

Middle Eastern Vegan Food!

So tonight we celebrated my parent's anniversary at Sunnin's Lebanese Cafe in Westwood.  The online menu (Sunnin Lebanese Cafe Menu) is different from the menus at the restaurant in that the restaurant ones decipher which menu items are vegan and vegetarian! The food was pretty good...We ordered the mezza platter (vegetarian style, which means they sub the meat choices with veggie ones) which included falafel, hummus, baba ghanoush, grape leaves, and other yummy dough-like things. All were great. I also got a cup of the vegan lentil soup and the fatoush salad. My parents got the chicken kabob and liked that too.

I forgot to take pics but here are some from the website!

Fatoush is one of my favorite salads...Sour and tangy from the sumac! So good! The falafel was crispy and yet creamy on the inside and the hummus was fresh and yummy!

We also ordered one of each dessert....ALL WERE PHENOMENAL!!!! 

Oh and the Lebanese Beer ALMAZA is sooo bomb!!! Kinda tastes like Heineken!

Vegan Pizza Day(s)???

So I think I interpreted Vegan Pizza Day as Vegan Pizza Days....

Friends and I were looking for a fun place (bar w/ good food) to watch the Lakers v. Celtics game.  Somehow we ended up at Oak Fire Pizzeria (Oak Fire Pizza) on La Cienega Blvd in WeHo. To my excitement, they had A VEGAN PIZZA PIE OPTION! They also allow you to pick any other regular pie they have and VEGANIZE IT!  I went with the Exotic mushroom with Truffle Oil Pizza and had them swap it with vegan cheese.

So, here's my yumminess breakdown of the pizza:
1. They use soy cheese, I'm not a huge fan. But it was tolerable.
2. Their crust are ULTA THIN and CRISPY. AMAZINGGG!!!
3. Veggies were OK. Could have used more truffle oil, seemed like they were skimping.
4. Overall, would def go back but prob try a different pizza combo next time around. Maybe the DEEP DISH VEGANIZED!

They also have beer on tap and wines/full alchie bar! Great atmosphere, huge TVs to watch games/shows.  Unfortunately My Lakers lost, but the food kinda made up for it :)

My LA Vegan Pizza Day

I'm too full (and you'll see why) to commentary.  So here it is.  Vegan Pizza Day Part 1 ( z pizza - meat & veggie w/ daiya):

And Part 2 (Homemade cheese-less vegan pizza):

I'll be back later...