What are you Grateful For?

Right Downtown
on Main Street!

Hadley Evarts, my best friend from high school, was visiting me in LA for Spring Break.  I took her to all my favorite Los Angeles spots.  Shopping at the Promenade, hiking to the Hollywood sign, watching the skateboarders at the Venice Boardwalk.  We had a week full of activities.

My Hearty Romain Spicy Salad

 Seasoned vegan meats wok, white onions, 
green onions and chili flakes,
romaine lettuce, garbanzo beans, 
red bell peppers, and persian cucumbers, 
and chimichurri dressing. 

(with Hadley's hand sneaking in)

Along with the busy site seeing, I gave her taste buds a tour of the city.  Hadley loves to fuel her body with healthy and hearty food.  Throughout high school she was vegan, and at one point, even raw.  I took her trip as an opportunity to try Dr. J's Vibrant Cafe, an organic and locally sourced cafe in the heart of Downtown.   I have driven past it several times, and wanted to try the macrobiotic dishes with an Asian twist.  

I tried the Hearty Romaine Spicy Salad.  I haven't seen many "spicy" salads, in my life, so I thought I would give it a try.  The romaine lettuce was crisp and the garbanzo beans made it pretty hearty.  The seasoned tofu wok was really the highlight of the salad.  It was salty and savory, and quite filling.  I love chimichurri sauce, and it made a great salad dressing. The salad already had a oil base on it, so when I started getting to the bottom of the bowl, the lettuce was pretty saturated.  But I would definitely order it again if I was craving salad and spice.

After showing Hadley some of the classic USC spots (Bacaro and La Barca), I wanted to treat her to another renowned LA vegan restaurant. After picking up our other high school friend, Meggie, I took us to one of my favorite under-the-radar streets in LA.  Larchmont Blvd in Central LA is a trendy village with lots of shops, restaurants, and cafes.

At the north end of the street is Cafe Gratitude.  Cafe Gratitude is collection of vegan, heath and sustainable conscious restaurants with great atmospheres.  With the other location on Rose in Venice, they truly identify with the culture of the neighborhoods around them.

We sat out on the heated patio decorated with string lights.  This is the perfect atmosphere for a first date.  The servers are all friendly and very personable.  Ready to give the spiel about the restaurants' mission and provide lots of recommendations of their favorite dishes.

The names of the menu items are all adjectives (I'm guessing on how you will feel after consuming them?)  Last time I visited the restaurant, I ordered the "Humble".

Fortified

It was a great take on an Indian dish, I just wish there were more lentils, and less sweet potato.  The lentils really made it more hearty, while the potato was a little too mushy.

This time I decided to try to getting "Fortified".  The basic dish was quite simple, as I ordered it with the red pepper harissa sauce.  The sauce definitely spiced it up a little, as the zucchini, squash, and broccoli was a little plain.  It was still very healthy and hearty tasting, and I would recommend it to a hesitant vegan eater.

Hadley and Meggie decided to share the "Terrific" and the "Transformed".  The Mexican and Asian mix sounded a little interesting to me, but they loved both dishes!  The almond sauce on the light kelp noodles tasted like a fresh pesto.  And the tacos looked rich and authentic.

Hadley about to feel Terrific

Although we looked over the dessert menu, Hadley had mentioned that she really wanted to try Babycakes sometime during her trip.  She follows the Vegan, Sugar-Free, and Gluten-Free bakery on Instagram, and has be dying to give it a try.  She hasn't had dessert and months (due to her sugar-free diet), and had a craving for some cupcakes.

Meggie with the Transformed

I choose the Larchmont Cafe Gratitude location because it was right up the street from Babycakes.  We headed down there immediately after paying our check.
Hadley tried the special Pumpkin Cupcake.  I didn't get to take a picture because she was so anxious to eat it!  I ordered the brownie with espresso frosting.  It was also very hearty (for containing no eggs, dairy, or wheat flour).  A little dry, but still great for a gluten-free dessert!  Meggie tried the banana bread and gobbled it up.

The three of us had such a great time reminiscing on high school memories, and catching up on the latest news in our lives.  I was truly grateful we were finally able to be back together! What were you grateful for this week?

My Gluten-Free  Brownie with
Dairy and Sugar-Free Espresso Frosting

The Calbi Catastrophe

Chicken Calbi Burrito
Vegetable mix, Chicken, Cheese, Scrambled Egg, 
sesame seeds, and special sauce

It was the Thursday before Spring Break.  85 degrees and beautiful out, the perfect beach day.  After finishing my morning class, I tried out the free yoga session on campus.  It was very relaxing and I felt great afterwards - definitely going to take some classes over the the Summer.  After the yoga sesh, I was craving some mexican food.  I called around and tried to find a friend to go to Chipotle with.  When no one answered, I started heading back to my apartment to make a quesadilla.  On the way back, Cary called me and said he would be willing to meet up for lunch, and then we could head to the beach together.  I suggested the taco truck parked by the pool on Jefferson & McClintock.

I assumed that this was just a normal mexican taco truck, but I guess they make fusion style tacos and burritos. Calbi Fusion is famous for its korean style tacos and burritos.  I still ordered the chicken burrito, but asked for it without the egg, which sounded a little fishy to me.  It wasn't that great.  Maybe I just couldn't appreciate it because I was still really craving true mexican food and was not blown away by their fusion.

Cary, on the other hand, ordered the spicy pork and beef tacos. Cary is very allergic to peanuts, and though he noticed a sign saying some food items may be exposed to them, we decided it would be ok because were the first customers and the grill would be clean.  Cary's tacos were delivered and he devoured them within 30 seconds - I didn't even get a chance to take a picture.  He was experiencing some doubts because the sauce was distinctly asian, a taste sometimes poisonous to him.  After he finished he immediately felt a little tingling on his tongue. We decided it would be best to book it back to the apartments.  After a few minutes of chilling out and drinking some milk Cary didn't feel much better.  Unfortunately we had to drive to the health center and get him checked out.  I'll spare you the very gory details, but Cary ended up being ok!  He's a little bummed because he thought the tacos were delicious, and the tangy taste of the oriental sauce will unfortunately be ruined for him. I felt awful after the lunch date (and 3 hours in the health center), but I guess we learned our lesson.

Beware of fusion style cuisine - you never know what will end up in your taco. I'll have to treat Cary to some froyo tonight. 

Poor Cary in the health center after the tacos :(