Epicurious Vegan | An account of living, eating, loving and adventuring in the Pacific Northwest.

Veggie Grill in LaLa Land, Part 1

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Janessa

I don’t know what I did to deserve such an opportunity, but lo and behold, me and a few gal pals recently booked it down to LA for a whirlwind weekend with Veggie Grill. Veggie Grill, a fast casual meat-free restaurant, is planning on four (!) Portland openings in 2012. Veggie Grill serves up fast and affordable (nothing over $10) plant-based food to the lucky people of LA. That’s about to change. The Beaverton location is opening in two weeks, the downtown Portland location (!) is opening in May, and the other two are yet to be announced. And Seattle, you’re next.

I want to preface this by saying that while Veggie Grill covered almost all expenses for the weekend, every single person I met who works for or with them are genuine, friendly, honest and welcoming. The whole weekend felt authentic and educational.

(Webly, Jess and I are bookended by Therese who works for Veggie Grill and Ray, the animated co-founder and chef)

We met the man that was to be our driver for the entirety of the weekend waiting for us at the airport.

His name is Lonny.

(photo courtesy Jess)

I love him.

What was waiting for us in the car?

Oh, just soft chocolate chip cookies with walnuts.

The girls get excited in these next two pictures:

After a quick tour through fascinating LA, we arrive at our modest little hotel.

(<–Evian)

(<—Jay Z)

Flowers in the lobby, a horse with a lampshade and a pig with apples in its head. No big deal. It’s just LA.

The SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills is fancy and has nice pillows (hypoallergenic or organic cotton? you choose!) and a martini minibar and Blue Ivy’s daddy Mr. Beyoncé in the private billiards lobby and a pretty pool and celebrities (Hellllll-ooo, Dolly Parton!) and tiny little touches all over to make you feel extra special.

I felt extra special.

After a brief respite and a quick costume change, we headed back downstairs and met Heather and Daniela, the two gals who work for Blaze PR and who coordinated this trip for Veggie Grill.

After taking pictures in the lobby, we hopped in the car with Lonnie and headed to the Santa Monica location for a menu tasting.

We were starving.

I love food. I also love the intention behind food. If I don’t love the food itself at a restaurant, but I can tell they mean well, I’ll still be a loyal customer (unless there’s also bad service. Then I will be scarred for life and boycott the shiz out of your establishment).

Luckily, I didn’t need to worry at Veggie Grill. The intention behind the food is admirable (healthy, fast, convenient, affordable, no animals harmed in the making of this buffalo chicken sandwich, etc etc) but guys, the food is also good. Everything I sampled tasted fresh. I love the small touches—whole grain buns; sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes for fries; a friggin’ kale salad.

I also love that they serve craveably-good Peach Iced Tea and have a small beer and wine menu.

We sampled a little of almost everything while chatting with the co-founders and owners Pillan and Kevin. (Lunch the next day included meeting Ray, the third founder and chef.)

These nachos were so good I ate more than my share both days. The cheese sauce is supremely good, and that’s coming from someone who doesn’t typically like nacho cheese sauce.

The only improvement I could see here is fresh jalapeños instead of pickled. Yurm.

Wings. These are perfect—coated in buffalo sauce and served with celery and a side of creamy ranch. Just how you always wanted your vegan buffalo wings to be. These are what I have been looking for all over Portland.

Did someone say kale salad? With agave roasted walnuts? Urm, YES PLEASE. This salad was one of the most popular dishes at the table. So good.

Bloggers gotta blog.

Jess is too cute. <3

Sandwiches and food galore:

(See Jess’s blog post for more sandwich pics. I was too busy sucking down Peach Iced Tea at this point to try for a good angle.)

(Psssst: the mac and cheese—gluten-free—is even better dipped in the fabulous chipotle ranch. Indulgent, sure, but DELICIOUS.)

Dessert! Swoon.

Carrot cake is one of my favorite desserts, and this one did not disappoint. So moist (secret is pineapple juice!) and sweet and nutty and perfect.

The gang, with co-founders Pillan (far left) and Kevin (far right):

Guys, I saved the best for last.

Kale.

Machine.

Stay tuned for Post #2, where I show you pretty pictures from the Getty, fancy and ‘spensive cocktails from Bazaar and our wicked cheap Chinese food dinner.

(Sneak Peak: Venice Beach on Day Two)

Posted in Adventuring, Eating Out, LA, travel, Veggie Grill, What Vegans Eat | 5 Comments

6 Vegan Portland Nifty Tidbits

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Janessa

Hello! Happy Holidays!

There are a few things I’m currently excited about in Portland-Vegan-Land. I want to share you these pieces of vegan goodness.

Ready….. Set…..

NUMBER 1

EL NUTRI to open a brick and mortar building!!!!!!

(source)

This is by far the most amazing Mexi-news I’ve ever heard. You may remember me espousing how much I love their cart here or here or here. And now, according to my friend Josh, they will be opening a real live sit-down place with walls and a ceiling soon.

So excited I can eat these without numb fingers anymore:

NUMBER 2

New all-vegan Bed and Breakfast just opened in SE Portland!

Boom.

This is so cool.

The Cherokee Rose:

(picture from website)

I am so excited for this. I want every single friend and family member to stay here all the time. It sounds adorable and the owner, Sandy, will feed you vegan food and give you cookies when you stay here. LOVE this!

From the website:

If you are a vegan, all you need to know (if you don’t already) is that Portland, Oregon is a vegan mecca, with countless vegan options at local restaurants and even vegan doughnuts! Sandy Miller, the proprietor of the Cherokee Rose Inn, has eaten and cooked vegan for over twenty years and has refined a number of breakfast dishes that will delight you: a Southern breakfast features grits, homemade “sausage” and tofu scramble; or you may be offered blueberry muffins, pancakes, or coffeecake, cocoanut French toast, onion quiche, oatmeal with apricots and raisins, or pecan waffles with real maple syrup, along with fresh fruit, juice, toast and plenty of coffee or tea.

I hope it’s a smashing success! It just opened on December 15th, so it’s still brand spankin’ new.

NUMBER 3

(source)

Have you heard? Back to Eden is now offering savory soups. Some of the soups they’ve offered so far, according to their newsletter: Curried Butternut Squash & White Bean, Lebanese Lemon Lentil, Classic Minestrone, Southwest Black Bean, Corn Chowder, Green Lentil Dhal and Potato Leek.

Um, yum. I want their corn chowder RIGHT NOW. I love eating soups in winter and eat them almost daily. I’m hoping a split pea soup will make an appearance there soon. Everything Back to Eden makes turns out SO GOOD I know these soups are just killer. And I would assume they’re all gluten-free, too, though you may want to double check.

AND they offer a piece of Grand Central bread or housemade gluten-free cornbread with the soup. I think this is a lovely idea and I have made no secret of how much I love John and Garrett, the owners. They are the nicest and most talented-in-the-kitchen people I have ever met, so go support them during this holiday season (Shop local!) and indulge in a hot cup of soup while you’re at it.

NUMBER 4

BridgePort BrewPub now offers Daiya cheese. The Chef just got it in, so it’s not even on the menu yet. If you want it on pizza, just ask! The dough is totally vegan and there’s some awesome pizzas on the menu that are way easy veganizable.

(Source)

This is exciting though somewhat dangerous. Now that there’s vegan cheese around, it may be harder for me to stick to salads and vegan bowls. (I work at BridgePort.) Oh, exciting bit of news #2: There’s a new vegan item on the menu named after me! It’s called The Nessie. It’s this huge tostada-type thing with mini red bean patties, spinach, and butternut squash sauce. It’s beautiful.

NUMBER 5

In another piece of vegan bakery news, Lisa Clark, owner of Petunia’s, is opening a brick and mortar location early next year. She’ll continue to offer her vegan and gluten-free pastries.

Look at this adorable cupcake she made for the vegan dinner I had at Departure in late fall.

She’s currently taking orders for the Holidays (deadline is today!) and is offering yummy looking treats, from sugar cookie dough to peppermint chocolate cheesecake.

Email lisa@petuniaspiesandpastries.com

Phone 971 275 7009

NUMBER 6

Sizzle Pie will open their second location on December 31st, a year exactly after the original location opened. (I can’t believe they’re been open only a year. I’ve certainly eaten their pizza way more times than I thought would healthily fit into a year.)

I love Sizzle Pie. I love their commitment to vegan pizza options, I love that they offer yeast and aardvark sauce on their pizza, and I love that if one were so inclined, one could eat a slice of breakfast pizza with a side of mimosa.

I particularly love how they’ve been supportive of projects I’ve brought to them. In the year that they’ve been open, they donated 30 pies to Modified Style and 30 pies to Vida Vegan Con’s Galarama and Silent Auction. I love when small ventures support each other. I am so happy to continue to support them by stuffing my face with their pizza. Now I can do that even easier with their new convenient downtown location.

From their website:

Sizzle Pie is announcing the opening of their second pizza restaurant. The new location is in the heart of Portland’s West side just across the street from the iconic Powell’s Bookstore. Sizzle Pie West (926 W. Burnside) opens exactly one year after the first location at 624 E. Burnside. A Grand Opening Party for Sizzle Pie West will start on December 31^st at 6pm with specials until 2012. At 8pm the celebration expands to the Star Theater for a Sizzle Pie birthday show and New Year’s Eve celebration featuring local bands, headlined by hometown heroes Red Fang. Both locations will be open and ready for customers during regular hours.
Sizzle Pie West will offer the same great pizza that’s influenced by the East Coast traditions yet captures the essence of Portland. A variety of omnivore, vegan and gluten free options are available. Rock and metal music references are seen throughout, especially the fully loaded jukebox. Hours for both locations will be 11am to 3am Sunday through Thursday and until 4 am Friday and Saturday.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Posted in Eating Out, news, Portland | 1 Comment

Vegan Baileys Whip Cream

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Janessa

Hi guys! If you read my last post, you saw that though I did indeed celebrate Thanksgiving, I didn’t go into detail about the menu. Mostly, it was because with my head wound (<—- sounds worse than it was, and I’m totally healed now), I lost my desire to take photos. I could barely summon enough energy to drink a champagne cocktail (the doctor in the ER totally said it was okay to have a drink, I asked) and play board games.

The most exciting thing on the menu to me (other than my friend Shana’s totally killer pumpkin bread) was something I thought up that morning while preparing my contributions—vegan baileys cashew whipped cream.

Holl-er.

Since I first made Tal Ronnen’s recipe for cashew whipped mashed potatoes a few years ago, I get super excited every time I use this ‘secret’ of cashew cream to make super duper creamy mashed potatoes.

I make a double batch of cashew cream each time. Half I use on the glorious glorious rich mashed potatoes, and the other half I use to make whip cream for pumpkin pie.

This year I had a batch of Baileys chillin’ in the fridge. I thought to myself, “Why would I use water when I can use BAILEYS??”

Good point, self.

It turned out wonderfully and I ended up eating as much with a spoon as I did on the pie. No joke.

Easy Vegan Baileys Whip Cream

1 cup cashews, soaked for 12 hours or overnight

1/2 cup vegan baileys irish cream

1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla paste

After soaking the cashews overnight in water, drain and rinse.

Place the cashews in your VitaMix (if you don’t own one, use your regular blender and strain through a cheesecloth to make as smooth as possible.) Add your baileys and vanilla to the cashews. the liquid should measure just up to the top of the cashews. Remember—it’s easier to add more liquid, so start with slightly less than you think you’ll need. Blend for 2-3 minutes, until very very smooth.

The mix will probably be almost warm. Scoop it out, try a large sample to make sure it tastes up to par, try another sample just to make sure, then place in a sealed container until ready to go on pie.

That’s it!

This recipes makes about 1 1/2 cups of whip cream.

Here is a picture of cashew whipped cream I found from the internets:

(from Savvy Vegetarian)

Optional:

* To make sweeter, add 1-2 Tablespoons maple syrup, agave, or sugar. If you use sugar, I’d recommend brown sugar to keep it consistent with the Baileys recipe. I found the baileys and cashews made it sweet enough for me.

* Try using Kahlua, amaretto or another liqueur in place of the Baileys.

* One could also use this on hot drinks like Spanish Coffee or Irish Coffee. I haven’t done this—YET—but bet it’d be DELICIOUS.

Posted in Drink, recipe | 3 Comments

Oh, hello again.

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Janessa

Hi there. What have you been up to?

Me, I’ve been busy.

Busy taking pictures of (almost) every little thing I’ve been up to and practicing the skilled art of not-blogging about any of it.You may have heard of it. I have now achieved expert status in not-blogging.

While I am very proud of this status I’ve achieved, I am prepared to get all zen-like and move beyond not-blogging back into the realm of blogging-for-reals. It’s time. If only to get all these pictures off my memory card and into the Epicurious Vegan archives.

And with that, here we gooooooooooo:

Monday, October 17

Wine tasting and buying with co-workers:

These pictures are kinda boring, but it’s probably because I got tipsy way too soon to remember to take any good photos of the wine, the Champagne (the fancy stuff actually from the Champagne region of France), or the company.

Monday, October 24

Hosting a Naked Lady Party:

We displayed everything on racks and all of us ladies went to town. Have you been to one before? A group of gals gather their unwanted clothes, jewelry and accessories and bring them together to swap for new-to-them goods. It’s fun and a more sustainable way to ‘shop’ than buying new clothes.

As hosts, my roommate and I provided the food.

White and Green Pizza with mozzarella Daiya:

Mochi:

Mochi is made from rice. It’s all flat and uninspiring before you bake it, then it POOFS up into a chewy and delightful (gluten-free) snack within minutes. I love this stuff.

Can’t have a (worthwhile) party without popcorn:

Carrots and jalapeño cilantro hummus (this hummus is STELLAR), another option for the gluten-free darlings in attendance.

Tuesday, October 25

On a beautiful fall day, I headed out to Sauvie Island with my good friend Zach to navigate the treacherous Corn Maize and pick out a perfect pumpkin.

Then we stuffed ourselves silly at El Nutri Taco Cart on Alberta. These are my favorite nachos in Portland. Just look at them. I’ve never had a chimichunga (deep-fried burrito) before, and oh my stars, it sure was decadent.

Sunday, October 30

I took a Sunday off of work and went out breakfast with my friends Millie and Colin. We ate at the Nightlight Lounge (BEST tofu scramble in Portland) and drank bottomless mimosas (I had four) before wig shopping.

We each purchased our respective wigs. Don’t they look great?

Saturday, November 5

Went to Native Foods for the first time.

I was on a 7-day cleanse of juicing and salads, so stuck with the kale salad. I was all, “Oh, poor me, I have to eat the kale salad instead of EVERYTHING ELSE” but when it arrived in front of me I was STOKED. This salad was so friggin’ delicious and healthy and everything I want in a salad.

My friend Craig Steele tried a few other things:

We were suitably impressed.

Thursday, November 10

I checked out the new pizza shop in the neighborhood. Mellow Mushroom is a chain that just opened in the Pearl District. I was curious about their vegan options, but not hopeful.

Lo and Behold: FREE DAIYA CHEESE UPGRADE.

*faint*

This pizza is SO GOOD. Oh lordy, the crust is chewy and thick, the veggies don’t overwhelm the pizza, and the sauce is rich and tomato-y. This is my new favorite pizza in town.

Wednesday, November 16

Cavalia.

This show is like a Cirque du Soleil show (figures, since one of the founding members of Cirque du Soleil also created this show, though they’re technically unrelated) but with horses. I took my grandma on opening night. Tickets aren’t cheap, but if you like horses (or your grandma likes horses and you like your grandma) it’s a cool show.

Thursday, November 17

Vida Vegan Con business meeting at Native Foods. (Lots of fun stuff coming up in 2012!)

I had to try the Oklahoma Bacon Cheeseburger.

Oklahoma Bacon Cheeseburger
Our thinly sliced Native Original Seitan,
melted cheddar, caramelized onions, and
crispy Native Bacon on a bun slathered
with BBQ sauce and ranch dressing, romaine,
carrots, onions, and tomato. Topped with
crunchy battered dill pickle chips.

The ladies and I shared chicken tenders and they tried a few other things on the menu. (For their recaps, see Jess and Michele’s blogs.)

Sunday, November 20 – Monday November 21

I had a threeple date with a few of my favorite ladies.

We spent all day supporting vegan businesses, starting with brunch at Portobello.

The fritata (on the left) is to die for. So rich and filling; definitely split it with a loved one. It’s HUGE.

We then headed out to the ‘burbs for a night stay at Comfort Suites (it was a Groupon I bought back when I still bought Groupons).

We drank bubbles and swam in the pool and ate take-out from Green Wok and stayed up late into the night, having really nice talks.

The bear got a little crazy.

The next day we want to Native Foods for lunch (my 3rd visit).

The last thing I really wanted to try were the fish tacos.

Yummmmmm. These weren’t very ‘fish’ (tempeh’) heavy, but seriously, anything with corn tortillas and guacamole are an automatic win in my book.

The other foodz:

I think after three visits and multiple samples of a good 3/4 of the menu, I’m good on the Native Foods for a minute.

Hmmm.

On second thought, after posting these pictures, I’m ready to eat there again. I want to try the Reuben next!

Thursday, November 24

Thanksgiving.

We ate Tofurky and Field Roast and stuff.

In the middle of cooking Thanksgiving Dinner for six, I hit my head on the corner of a kitchen cupboard while cooking and started bleeding profusely. My roommate rushed me to ER, and after two hours and some rinsing and applying pressure, the doctors came to the conclusion that it was a minor wound and I would be just fine. No stitches needed or anything. I was fine, but felt kinda out of it for the rest of the night.

Luckily it was mellow and low-key and we sat by the fire and played board games.

This game was almost as much fun as Apples to Apples:

Thanksgiving photos courtesy of my friend Abby.

Saturday, December 3

Upon hearing the sad news that Kettleman’s (a local Portland bagel shop) got bought out by Noah’s, I needed a Kettleman bagel.

Stat.

Ahhhh. Better.

Sweetpea for coffee and an everything bagel with bacon scallion cream cheese.

I also posed for some photos for my photographer friend. Those should be fun to look at when I get ‘em!

Tuesday, December 6

Sugar Cookies!

I made sugar cookie Christmas sandwiches by spreading frosting in between two cookies and smushing them together. No sprinkles in stock, so I just made my own colored sugar crystals.

I used green frosting that I flavored with peppermint extract for the trees, and basic vanilla frosting for the snowflakes and stars.

WHEW.

So, that’s what I’ve been up to.

Looking forward to the Christmas season with Baileys, visit from the family, friends, shopping, baking, and hopefully SNOW.

Posted in Adventuring, blurrrgh, Photo Essay, Portland, What Vegans Eat | 11 Comments

Veggie Grill in LaLa Land, Part 1

6 Vegan Portland Nifty Tidbits

Vegan Baileys Whip Cream

Oh, hello again.

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