We Got Yer Holiday Spirit Right Here
Sweeten Your Online Shopping: Compartes 'Brown Friday' Sale
Local High Schooler Launches 'Hug a Ginger Day' Campaign
Eat My Blog: Blogger Bake Sale Will Benefit LA Foodbank
Midnight Movie: Patton Oswalt's 'Christmas Shoes'
If a vegan restaurant can open in Orange County and not only survive, but expand within the same city (Irvine), then it must be doing something right. And that's why the Veggie Grill, which opens in Hollywood today at 11 a.m. at the Sunset Plaza, is welcomed with praise.
The burgeoning chain is vegan gone mainstream. But walk in, order some food and you will hardly notice it's vegan or even see those words flashed about too much. The word is too stigmatized to attract customers in droves, but that doesn't mean a successful business model can be developed around the concept of delicious faux and fresh fast-casual foods.
From Chipotle BBQ to Chickin' Caesar Wraps and Carne Asada to Crispy Chickin', the Veggie Grill has perfected the happy medium between for herbivores and carnivores. VegNews, the best vegetarian magazine out there, even named it Restaurant of the Year in 2008. Over at Yelp, many meat eaters agree.
And as fries go in Los Angeles, you must try their sweet potato fries, which nicely balances the freshness of the vegetable with crispy and salty delectableness.
Special thanks to GreenLAGirl for the heads up and foodie blogger Rick Poon for two of his photos.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
This all looks really good Must say but....does Vegan have to always = super high caloric intake?
I went to a soft opening there over the weekend and everything was great. We tried the Bayou Chicken, Santa Fe Crispy Chicken, sweetheart fries, chili, and chill out wings, which was the best vegan chicken finger substitute I have ever had! The food was hot and fresh (real guacamole on the Santa Fe sandwich) and the portion sizes were actually quite perfect.
The one thing I can never understand about Vegan food: why is it always trying to look/taste/sound like a meat product. If it's SOOO damn good, why create a Carne Asada dish? Do meat eaters cut up chops of meat to look like vegetables? Why not create oddly shaped unique Vegan dishes that don't mimic meat dishes? Am I missing something here (yes, I'm being serious)? And more importantly, why call them the SAME? Calling something Carne Asada, when there is NO Carne, is just...
If you took a bite out of a living cow (like true carnivores do) you would likely vomit. Marinade, sauces, spices - these are what make dead flesh palatable. If gluten or soy can serve as a vessel for these delicious spices, without having to kill an innocent being in the process, isn't this a good thing, instead of something to mock or criticize? As far as the naming, that's surely Veggie Grill's attempt to lure omnivores, as vegans have been ordering food that sounds just like "satan" (seitan) for years.
Thanks for (not) answering the question. I didn't attack the moral question about eating only veggies, I only asked why make dishes that resemble meat. And as for taking a bite out of a living cow, "like true carnivores", funny. Bit of a stretch, no?
-cheers, I'm gonna go take a bit out of a living apple.
The answer is right there, but I'll elucidate. The cooked muscles of killed animals are a good vessel for seasonings. They are fibrous, the inherent fat holds and carries flavors, and the elasticity allows the flavors to linger in your mouth for a while before swallowing. Gardein plant protein and the like have the exact same properties, but without the murder of a sentient being, and THAT is why I enjoy eating them, not for some psychological longing.
I made the cow statement because it illustrates that even the meals omnivores eat are "mock." A natural carnivore WILL take a bite out of a living being. A human being does not have this instinct. He needs tools to commit the killing, fire to eliminate bacteria and increase palatability - marinades, spices, and seasonings.
Neither McDonald's Chicken Sandwich nor Veggie Grill's Bayou Sandwich taste anything like tearing the flesh off of a living chicken. Both are simply aspiring to be a flavorful meal, and one is able to succeed without the suffering of innocent life.
I guess it's because:
a. Some non-vegan dishes still involve great spices and cooking methods that could be applied to Vegan cooking, or even the way the meal is compiled and served. much like a hamburger could have meat but it might be veggie too. The name stays pretty much the same because the dish has the same feel and serving style (and sometimes tastes similar).
b. A lot of people want to go vegan but are afraid to give up the dishes and tastes they love. Naming them with a similar name and cooking the dish in a similar manner makes it easy for people to transition into veganism while not giving up favorite dishes.
Plus (forgot to mention),
There are still a lot of unique vegan dishes around. It's not all faux-non-vegan dishes. In fact, a lot of the food most of people normally eat is vegan. (especially here in the middle-east, where we eat a lot of hummus, which is chickpeas-spread, Thina, Falafel, salads, and more)
haha, i am friends with the couple sitting against the wall in the 5th picture! cute. :)