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Tag: vv california

Announcing!
The V.V. Vegan Fried Chicken Showdown 🍿
☀️Los Angeles☀️ Edition

With a trip to Los Angeles soonish, it’ll be a mini-battle of vegan fried chicken in the city of vegan angels. Yes, the very vegan-friendly city is home to so many options for this mini-battle. But many are packaged or frozen texturized soy protein cutlets breaded and fried… not meeting Read more…


Throwback Thursday: The Pee Wee Herman Dinosaurs

The dinosaurs featured in the weirdo-classic Pee Wee’s Big Adventure are officially known as the Cabazon Dinosaurs. I knew I wanted to see them in person when I was a little kid. I got there in 2005, as the date stamp on my photo prints that were later scanned note. They’re Read more…


Last Day in LA LA Land

On my last day in my second favorite city I headed to Chinatown. Mostly because when I saw the huge drive-in line at In-n-Out Burger I felt slightly disappointed I couldn’t partake in such a characteristic LA sociological gathering. But my friend told me that Burgerlords, which was on my Read more…


Delicious California (in pictures)

{ A crème brûlée donut from Donut Friend. } { Plant Food + Wine‘s Polenta + Hash: wild mushrooms, sweet potato hash, harissa } { Their potato-heavy Breakfast Burrito } { And their Chickpea Fritatta, dressed to the nines. } { A side of barbecue tempeh with very bitter micro greens. Read more…


Special Buddies

Breakfast can often go two ways–vibrant or gluttonous. This morning we headed over to a no-fail vegan breakfast option that I rarely take part in, an acai bowl. I got The Patriot with banana, strawberry, blueberry, coconut, and acai at Brazailian Acai Bowls in Bakersfield. It did the job.  A Read more…


Trees, Oranges, and Tamales

After a quick breakfast at Cafe Smitten in Bakersfield, California it would be time to see a third/fourth California national park: Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks. To start, a peanut butter and chocolate bar, real good black coffee, and National Park guidebooks. And a quick bite. The Vegan Burrito Read more…


Crazy From the Heat

After driving in the desert all day, I’m pretty batty right now. I don’t want to even attempt to wax poetic about just how gorgeous you are, dear America. It is kind of unreal how much unearthly beauty lies within you. I’ll try a little with the few brain cells Read more…


Joshua Tree, California

Today is day one of a California summer adventure! And day ones are about getting acclimated, adjusting to the road and a totally new lay of the land. This land, our land/your land, is coated in a sun-dried muff; it’s baked, the high and mighty ball of fire sucking out Read more…


Final Day in California, Abandoned Zoo

With a limited time before having to catch a flight, we seized the afternoon one last time with another hike in nearby Griffith Park. The park is huge, with a ton of different attractions set apart within the mountains. This time we opted for a short hike to see the Read more…


Vegan Big Mac Attack

You know a place like Doomies. They’ve got “down-home,” gluttonous eats, the kind you mostly swore off as a vegan. Their space is a bit dank and sticky, which is part of the overall dining experience. I ordered the Vegan Big Mac off the “secret menu.” Because, you kind of Read more…


LA Woman, again

Sometimes, menus and offerings change, as was the case with the vegan crêpes that used to be on the Elderberries. But then you wind up enjoying a more basic option that is satisfying in its simplicity. This was the case during my morning visit to the eclectic cafe. I wound Read more…


P.N.W. / Three {Vegan Donuts} in Three {States}

The Pacific Northwest is heavy. Such things I forget.  Having no appetite (!) I barely nibbled on the Mighty Mofo at Chaco Canyon Cafe, A vegan Reuben sandwich with housemade seitan, sauerkraut, mustard, cucumbers & sprouts, served on a soft sourdough. And sprouts.  In Seattle, wherever you are, it’s grey. Read more…


The American Wilderness

Are you ready for it?… The United States of America is gorgeous. From shore to shore, the spectrum and range of natural beauty is astounding. This many say (or sing), but such things are more effective when felt, sharp-like, when one is inside (or atop) it, gazing and love-filled that there is Read more…


Los Angeles.

Los Angeles a city that feels immediately comfortable to me, like an old friend. So it’s doubly comfortable visiting an old friend in Los Angeles. Friends that know you got to eat… and eat we did! First at Chavela. They have a excellent menu with so many delicious totally plant-based Read more…


Throwback Thursday: Menu Mementos

Back before I was as obsessed with vegan food reporting, I simply ate at vegan spots and didn’t write about it— I know: gasp! That and this here blog didn’t exist. But I still collected menu mementos of some of the spots I ate. Here are some throwbacks from early Read more…


Bit by Bite

One can measure the the veg-friendliness of a city on many things. I suppose I have my own algorithm. Part of my measure: if vegan options penetrate mainstream “normy” places, like sports stadiums and airports. So in both of these arenas, San Francisco is decidedly veg-friendly. AT&T Park (where the SF Giants Read more…


Bizarre Eats & Treats in the Bay Area

SOMA StrEat Food Park sets up next to the I-80, South of Market. Thanks to the rain (and the holiday?) we enjoyed this space with minimal crowding.  The apple of my eye? Hella Vegan Eats, “festive” all-vegan cuisine.  I had to get the bizarre Birthday Burger, a dense beet-based patty on a confetti sprinkled pancake Read more…


Last Hurrah in San Francisco

Almost time to head back east! So I started the day with a donut, a Pepples Donut. The Ferry Building has a market place with high-brow eats, and this Oakland-based all-vegan donut maker has a little outpost there.  The selection was extensive.  I choose the salted caramel (well-recommended) and skipped Read more…


Heading For the ‘Frisco Bay / These Are a Few of My Favorite Things: Bison

I never really spent much time in San Francisco. As a reporter of vegan food all about this great country, why wouldn’t I have spent more time in the very veg-friendly Bay Area? It just didn’t sit right with me. No need to fret. The Electrician and I have headed west Read more…


West Food Extravaganza, The End

It was time to say goodbye to the west coast. Los Angeles and Las Vegas offered me an overwhelming selection of vegan eats, making the decision on what to cram into this short trip a bit overwhelming. I wanted to try to stick to all-vegan eateries, though CandyPenny and I Read more…


West Coast Eating Extravaganza, Day 5

How many times can someone have brunch in a week? With so many delicious brunch options to choose from the great city of Los Angeles, breakfast fare, maximized, made up a good portion of my eats. Today, on my last full day, is no exception. This morning we dined at Read more…


West Coast Eating Extravaganza, Day 4

I have just returned from a tremendous bout of traffic along U.S. Coastal Route 1. If I didn’t think that this was one of the most beautiful highways in the entire country, I’d probably be a bit more frustrated now. But a day of eating fried and hearty fare and Read more…


West Coast Eating Extravaganza, Day 3

Follow Your Heart, a natural foods market and brand of dairy substitutes, has a cafe offering traditional vegetarian fare in Canoga Park. The natural food store has been around since the 70’s. The shelves are thoroughly stocked with a ton of great products but is welcoming and accessible. The cafe opens Read more…


West Coast Eating Extravaganza, Day 1

Planning this trip, an extravagant foodie frenzy of all the west coast vegan eats I have craved and bookmarked through the years, was a bit overwhelming. Time is sometimes a cruel thing… time and the whole getting full thing. With so much to eat in so little time, planning our Read more…