If you live in LA, and you love cupcakes, listen up! Urban Food Crawl is hosting LA’s first vegan competition Cupcakes + Art on Sunday, November 6 at Hold Up Art. Attend to enjoy a tasting of a bunch of mini cupcakes from super talented vegan bakers around LA, and admire the cupcake-themed art.
 
Here are the bakers who will be participating:

Amanda's Bakery and Cafe
Babycakes NYC
Bake You Happy
Clara's Cakes
Courtesan Cupcakes
Crushcakes and Cafe
Jamaica's Cakes
Raw Bites
Sweet Alexis
No Udder Desserts
 
Tickets are $35 – you can purchase them here. It’s a sugar fest for sure, but sounds like a lot of fun and a nice way to meet some fellow vegans.
 
Have you been on a vegan food crawl in your town?

More Food Stories:

A Quick, Healthy Meal in NYC
My Husband's Fave After Breakfast Snack
Delicious Sunday Dinners
Vegan Oktoberfest

Café Gratitude is a San Francisco-based vegan restaurant that recently opened its doors in LA, at the corner of Melrose and Larchmont.

When I was in San Francisco, I tried the chocolate espresso cheesecake – it will blow your mind! Their key lime pie is also amazing. One time I was at my friend Laura’s house for a little gathering… they’d had Café Gratitude’s key lime pies flown in from San Francisco! Now that Café Gratitude is in LA, there’s no need for that, but that’s how good it is. You must try the espresso chocolate cheesecake - it's insane! And the key lime pie too.

I haven’t had much of the savory food there, but the macro bowl in San Francisco was the best. The place is always packed and they have the nicest, friendliest staff. Anywho, if you’re in LA or SF, I recommend trying it!

Have you discovered any great new restaurants lately?

More Restaurants I Love:

My Favorite Restaurants in Detroit
My Delicious Dinner at Jean-Georges
M Cafe's Vegan Benedict
The Best Veggie Burger in LA

Recently, I blogged about Janah’s cooking class at Sur La Table. She loves to cook and she also teaches private, in-home classes for groups or individuals.
 
She’s super reasonable and affordable and sweet as can be! It can’t hurt to have an extra hand in the kitchen every once in a while for you high-powered ladies or men who have no time and want good food. Just make sure to tell her you are vegan (Janah has been veggie her whole life, but not vegan).

If any of you LA folks would like to tune up your skills in the kitchen, or just need some help for a big party, she is wonderful. She’s so warm and has a huge heart!

If you're interested in working with Janah, you can contact her here delishyourdish@gmail.com.

Janah Adickman is a sweet, passionate, and wonderfully warm chef who I met through The Kind Life. If you live in LA, you can meet her too! She will be teaching a vegetarian cooking class at Sur La Table near the Grove in LA. Lots of Kind Lifers showed up for her last class (pictured above), and they had a blast!
 
Here are the details about her upcoming cooking class:
 
Date: February 19, 2011
Time: 11am-1pm
Cost: $130
Location:
 
Sur La Table
6333 W. 3rd St Ste P-10
Los Angeles, CA 90036
 
If you’re in LA, I highly recommend attending Janah’s class. If not, you can check out her blog Delish Your Dish. Janah is a vegetarian, but is trying to go vegan, so let’s all encourage her to do that!
 
For those of you outside of LA, do you have any great classes to recommend in your town?

Native plant landscaper Margaret Oakley is calling on all gardeners in the LA area to volunteer this Saturday, January 22 in Mission Hills, to help turn a neglected parkway into a beautiful, natural one.
 
Volunteers would be managing local community members who come out to help plant native plants along the parkway, in an effort to create a more beautiful, native ecosystem along this desolate strip of land.
 
If you are free this Saturday, and you live in or around LA, check out the details below:

• Who: You and any other skilled gardeners you know
• What: Be a Team Leader for the East San Fernando Valley Nature Parkway's Day of Planting
• Where: Mission Hills/Arleta area, specifically on Devonshire Blvd., between Woodman and Arleta Ave.
• When: Saturday, January 22, 7:45am-3pm
• Why: To guide a volunteer group in planting CA natives along a half mile long parkway, to transform a desolate area into a beautiful natural space, to help out a frequently ignored part of the LA community...

Email margaret@dinnertablegardening.com or call (310) 717-7380 if you’re interested. Food and drinks will be provided!

I had the yummiest veggie burger today from O Burger in West Hollywood. The burger was handmade with roasted corn, and it was crispy. It was layered with all of these great veggies, and they had a choice of vegan sauces to go on it, including a vegan thousand island and a vegan chipotle - I chose the thousand island. It was fantastic!

Now, I haven’t really scoured LA for veggie burgers, but of all of the ones I’ve tried, this was hands down the best. It wasn’t too garlicky, it was just good! They also make vegan milkshakes and salads.

The only bummer about this place is that they do serve meat. But the owner of the restaurant only buys meat from organic farms, etc… not ideal at all, but it’s a step in the right direction. Hopefully, one day, they’ll stop using meat altogether. Maybe if everyone storms the building ordering veggie burgers, he will realize he doesn't need the meat!

Who in your town has the best veggie burger?

Last year, I posted a bunch of kind takeout menus from vegan-friendly caterers in the Los Angeles area, and I've updated the menus for you this year! Below is an assortment of yummy Thanksgiving options available around LA this year:

I wanted to let you all know about FoodInk Catering, a company in Los Angeles who has made some amazing vegan food for me over the years. If you are in need of a great place to order Thanksgiving dinner from, or really looking to cater any type of party, call FoodInk! They are so great to work with, and they can make everything vegan. I always have a tasting of foods that I haven’t tried before from them. Just beware that they serve meat, and you just have to make sure to tell them that you’d like your food to be prepared vegan.

Here are some of my favorites – the greatest things they do:

• Pecan Pie: Insane!!!!
• Fall Squash + Ginger Soup: I’m going to try to get the recipe for all of you, it’s so good, and the vegan community needs it!
  
• They make a really nice succotash salad with confit peppers, corn, edamame, cherry tomatoes, runner beans; tossed in a citrus vinaigrette
• Their mashed potatoes are nice too
• And their vegan Crème Brulee will knock your socks off!

To inquire about catering from them, you can either call them directly: 323 934 9401 or send them an email at eventinfo@foodinkcatering.com

I would also like to mention Kristina Brindley from Seedling Catering. I have been using Seedling Catering for a while, and they are great. They also helped with my book launch party! 

They have so many amazing dishes right now that would be perfect for Thanksgiving.  Check out how great these sound.

• Zinnia - Ripe plantain fritters stuffed with cashew cheese
• Orchis - Potato blini with eggplant "caviar"
• Salad of black mission figs, roasted red pepper and fennel
• Squash, Fennel and Apple Soup – a sweet blend of squash and apple with a little accent of fennel
• Seedling Galette - seasonal apples, pears or a delightful combination of both on a flaky baked crust.

You can see the menu here and email Kristina to place an order.

Another great place to order a kind Thanksgiving dinner from in LA is Madeleine Bistro, a great vegan restaurant. They have a whole Thanksgiving-To-Go menu, and everything on this menu looks so good, and perfect for Thanksgiving.

• Salad - Baby spinach, quinoa, candied walnuts, dried cranberries, pomegranate vinaigrette
• Soup - Butternut squash bisque
• Entrée includes - rustic mashed potatoes, pan gravy, coconut yams, pan-roasted veggie medley, and cranberry relish, as well as:
• Choice of Protein: Seitan - Grilled lemon-rosemary or Herb crusted or Tempeh: Braised or Herb crusted
• Choice of stuffing - Sourdough-sage OR Wheat-free quinoa
• Dessert - Choice of: Pumpkin pie or French apple tart or Both

You can check out the menu here and call (818) 758-6971 to order.

M Café also has a Thanksgiving Holiday menu that looks soo good. So many great vegan options!

• Spiced Butternut Bisque
• Winter Field Greens Salad with Fennel, Cranberries & Bosc Pear
• Holiday Roast Dinner: Savory Sliced Seitan, Herbed Bread Stuffing, Pan Gravy and Cranberry Relish
• Whipped Potato & Rutabaga
• Mashed Pumpkin with Couscous & Raisins
• Maple-Glazed Acorn Squash
• Brussell Sprouts & Chestnuts
• Sauteed Brocolini with Garlic & Red Chile
• Green Beans Amandine
• Herbed Bread Stuffing
  
• Wild Rice Pilaf
• Cranberry-Ginger Relish
• Whole Apple Pie
• Pumpkin Cheesecake
• Pumpkin Cupcakes

You can download the menu here, and call 323.543.1192.

Real Food Daily also has a great Thanksgiving to-go menu, including butternut squash bisque, faux turkey, sage stuffing, mashed potatoes and parsnips, mushroom gravy, sweet garnet yams, roasted vegetable medley, cranberry relish, and pumpkin pie with tofu whip.

You can order here or call Real Food Daily at (310) 289-9910.

And I want to hear from all of you – do you know of any great take-out situations in your town that would make things easier?  Please leave recommendations in the comments below!

Photo by Quarry Girl

During my first days back in LA from Detroit, I ran to M Cafe for breakfast. They have a delicious vegan benedict that I had been dreaming of for a while.
 
For years, I have to admit I missed eggs benedict a tad. One day I was in M Cafe, and I saw that they had salmon benedict. So I asked, "Hey do you guys think you can make a vegan one?" And out it came! Then I continued to harass them to put it on the menu, and yay, they did! It's so good. If you haven't had the vegan benedict there, you must run to M Cafe.

I also had my old favorite, the sweet potato salad with wasabi. I don't even like wasabi, but in this salad, it's so mild and delicious. They serve it with green beans and some pickles - sounds weird, but it's great. I tried a new item too - yummy warm biscuits (I think they were from Babycakes). If you haven't been to M Cafe for breakfast yet, run for the vegan benedict! That's what I do once a week.

What's your favorite restaurant in your hometown?