By Anna Wilding and JE Sved
LOS ANGELES (Herald de Paris) – The great thing when it comes to Los Angeles food is, first and foremost, that there is no shortage if it. Second, there is no shortage of affordable healthy food. This has been the way of California for decades. Now that there are more cars, there are also many more restaurants. As for the diversity, it is as wide a playing field as ever. From fresh fish tacos and burritos, tantalizing dim sum in Chinatown, west side Persian restaurants, Ethiopian buffets, Korean BBQ, gourmet pizza and Italian, upmarket food trucks, to crowded sushi bars and upscale fine dining, if you are able and willing to be adventurous there is not much you cannot get in any area food-wise in Southern California.
One of the noticeable changes in the past few years is the strong emergence of well established vegan restaurants. There used to be one or two smaller ones that struggled vainly to compete with traditional fare, but now it seems when it comes to vegan restaurants, bigger is better. So long as your vegan restaurant is big, consistent, and able to serve clean fresh imaginative vegan food fast, you can guarantee that you will be on your way to busy tables and a popular franchise.
We tried three different vegan restaurants: the smaller Raw Star on Pico, Native Foods in Culver City, and Vege Grill on Hollywood. Native Foods is wonderful and will not disappoint. Clean consistent, fresh, imaginative. Consistency seems to be an important word here in Vegan food and it is that which appears to be the most difficult to obtain for vegan chefs.
I discovered the importance of this at Raw Star owned by award winning cookbook author and the ever energetic Bryan Au. Brian is affable, charming and takes pride in his small cafe. He also appears to try to do everything himself. More help in the kitchen department would probably not go amiss, so that Bryan can get on top of his dishes and show his culinary skills to the best ability every time. We had the sample plate. This consisted of four relatively small dishes. Suffice to say, they were inconsistent in both presentation and taste. On the up side, out of the four samples, one was the best vegan food dish I have ever tasted, a creamy zucchini pasta. The pasta being made out of very fine strands of zucchini. It was clever, imaginative, and expertly delivered. I recommend going to Raw Star for this dish alone and buying yourself a copy of Bryan’s book and trying your hand at his work at home.
This beings me back to the clear winner in the Vegan restaurant world in LA, the large Native Foods in Culver City. I would be remiss not to mention the Vege Grill, but I don’t have too much to say about them. Suffice that they are clean and if you want a fairly standard mainstream style vege burger or fast food style lunch or dinner that is fresh and vegetarian, this is the place to go. However, if you want something a little more imaginative, slightly better done and with warmer vibes, then head on over to Native Foods in Culver City.
Every dish is a winner here.
From the Taco Salad, to the Buddha Curry though to the Meatball Sub, you will be delighted. Leave room for cup cakes and apple crumble. The Yo Amigo Taco Salad Bowl was true to its name. It is, however, heavier on the salad and lighter on the taco than a traditional taco salad. This isn’t all bad, however. The meal is lighter, and does not sit on your stomach like a well-seasoned brick. I enjoyed it. The flavors were authentic and I never felt lacking for anything a non-vegan taco salad usually offers.
For a vegan restaurant, the height of success is in serving a dish that satisfies the non-vegan. Such is the case with the Super Italian Meatball Sub. It’s good. Really good. It has all the flavor of the real thing, and I had to keep reminding myself that I was eating vegetables. If you never thought you could possibly eat something that tastes sinfully bad but is actually pretty good for you, this sandwich will prove you wrong.
The Buddha Bowl was perfect for a mild summer’s day, with lashing of fresh kale. Kale, cooked in every way imaginable, is popular here at Native Foods. I happen to hate kale but I ate it, it’s good for me and once I had munched my way through it I managed to get to the really good stuff, quinoa, and farm fresh carrots, broccolli and zucchini thrown into a delicate balanced curry. Healthy, good, and I was satisfied. The blackened vegan fish tacos I had the next time were definitely more imaginative and like a naughty treat. It really is an impossibly good menu with so much to chose from.
Native Foods also serves organic wine, beer, and fresh fruit juices. I loved the fresh juices in principal but whereas the vegan food was excellent every time, there was a little too much agave syrup in the juices and therefore too sweet.
It is clear that spacious, fast, casual, clean and fresh pays off for vegan restaurant owners and Native Foods certainly gives traditional restaurants a run for their money. Happily, I think it is likely we will see more and more vegan restaurants throughout the world.
New York and other big cities, take note.