Upscale Vegan Restaurants in Philadelphia
I stumbled upon an article which is discussing vegan food in Philadelphia. The article is basically indicating that a large percentage of the people who are eating at several upscale vegan restaurants in an around Philadelphia are not vegan or vegetarian. Hmmmm... Perhaps I need to plan a trip to Philadelphia next time I am back east...
One million Americans now follow a vegan lifestyle, according to the Vegetarian Research Group, making them a certifiable demographic that doesn’t necessarily need the imprimatur of carnivores. Still, the new generation of Meatless Monday-ers can only help the cause — more demand for vegan cooking means more serious vegan restaurants. And these more serious vegan restaurants, at least in the Philadelphia region, are evolving toward an altogether new kind of cuisine that all can enjoy.
Last time I checked, which was quite a while ago, I believe that 5% of the USA population was vegetarian, and of that only about 1% were vegan. Well, if there are 330 million people in America, then 1% of that number would be about 3.3 million people. Perhaps I am incorrect. Well, if the VRG is right, and there are only about 1 million vegans, then only about 0.3% of the USA population is vegan. But how can "they" determine how many people are vegan anyway?
Regardless, it's nice to see more and more vegan restaurants, especially upscale vegan restaurant popping up in various locations around the USA - not just in New York, Los Angeles, and Portland.
If you're interested, here's snippets from the article.
Upscale vegan eateries in the Philadelphia area have a dirty little secret: “I’d say at least two-thirds of our clientele are not vegetarian,” says Ross Olchvary, chef-owner at New Hope’s Sprig & Vine. “I think most of them are just looking for something different.”
Rich Landau, chef and co-owner of Center City’s Vedge, with his wife, Kate Jacoby, has observed a similar pattern. “With so many celebrities like Bill Clinton, Mike Tyson, and Ellen DeGeneres talking about eating vegan, people realize that it’s not just some cleanse, and it’s not some hippie-dippy diet of steamed beans and lentil loaf. It’s a legitimate way of eating,” Landau says.
One million Americans now follow a vegan lifestyle, according to the Vegetarian Research Group, making them a certifiable demographic that doesn’t necessarily need the imprimatur of carnivores. Still, the new generation of Meatless Monday-ers can only help the cause — more demand for vegan cooking means more serious vegan restaurants. And these more serious vegan restaurants, at least in the Philadelphia region, are evolving toward an altogether new kind of cuisine that all can enjoy.
One of the most important hallmarks of the new vegan food is the move away from big slabs of ersatz meat on the plate. A vegan, even a Philly one, cannot live on imitation cheesesteak alone. At Landau and Jacoby’s former restaurant, Horizons, customers came to expect the seitan and tofu dishes they were used to seeing. “It became a kind of stigma, when people only focused on what I call the ‘fake steak,’ ” Landau says. “When we opened Vedge, we wanted to move away from processed products. We wanted to focus on what people grow and what you eat through the seasons.”
“I think in general, vegan cooking used to be more about mimicking existing dishes, but now we can say we’re striving to create something new,” Olchvary says.
The vegetable-forward style exemplified by both Vedge and Sprig & Vine (Olchvary got his start in Horizons’ kitchen before striking out on his own), focuses instead on the particular flavors and textures that can be teased out of produce. The results are dishes such as Vedge’s roasted maitake mushroom with celery root fritter, or Sprig & Vine’s curry-fried cauliflower with potato pave, coconut-creamed chard, and ginger-onion braised collards.
“Some of our techniques include marinating vegetables before roasting or smoking them, which truly maximizes the flavor,” Landau says. A prime example is his “pastrami”-spiced carrots, served over a sauerkraut-bean puree. The garlicky, peppery, tangy notes playfully evoke a Reuben sandwich, offering a gratifying intensity without the aspiration to “replace” the deli original.
“I like to call our cooking ingredient-inspired,” Olchvary says. “I will pickle it, grill it, broil, poach, dehydrate — whatever it takes to bring the vegetable’s essence to the forefront and let it shine.” Lately, he’s been excited about his forager’s recent batch of Japanese knotweed. “It has a tart flavor like rhubarb, and when you saute it, it takes on a mild, almost artichoke-like quality.”
Olchvary’s favorite staple is cashew cream. Soaked overnight and whirred through the food processor, cashews make a mildly flavored, protein-dense base for everything from cake frosting to a “cheese” spread. “We can usually achieve the same mouthfeel, textures, and richness you can get in non-vegan food.”
The result of all of this invention and novelty is that diners, both meat-eating and non-, are coming away from their vegan dining experiences satisfied. “Customers used to come in and say, ‘I’m here for my wife, but I’m going out for a cheesesteak afterward.’ Now we don’t hear it as much,” Landau says.
Not every meal calls for mushroom carpaccio, however, and for the rest of the time there is a growing list of more casual, everyday options. Blackbird Pizzeria in Queen Village is a strictly meat- and cheese-less affair, while Pure Fare in the Rittenhouse Square area offers a host of vegan options alongside its non-vegan foods. HipCityVeg, which opened this week in the Rittenhouse Square area (from yet another Horizons alum), is a fast-food concept slinging burgers, salads, and sandwiches. Falling squarely in the middle is Miss Rachel’s Pantry, a soon-to-be-opened restaurant on West Passyunk Avenue, serving prix-fixe meals at a farmhouse table that seats 14.
“There are definitely junk-food vegans out there, but most of us start to crave something more after a while,” says chef-owner Rachel Klein, daughter of “Table Talk” columnist Michael Klein. “I grew up vegetarian and I noticed that most of the offerings were greasy sandwiches or fancy places I couldn’t afford. I’m trying to give people those in-between options.”
Klein, who first sold her wares at rock shows a few years back, has expanded the business to offer in-home services to like-minded eaters as a personal chef and caterer.
While Klein’s cooking is decidedly homey, focusing on the foods that recent vegan and vegetarian converts might be missing, she, too, has seen an evolution in her kitchen style. “I’ve moved away from processed fake meats, and while I still use tofu and tempeh, I try to keep everything fresh and healthy and local.”
Her most popular dishes include a shiitake-ginger risotto topped with agave-glazed beets and a sweet potato lasagna with a tofu-based ricotta cheese.
Klein is pleased that the options are opening up for vegan eaters in Philadelphia. “People become vegan for different reasons — some for health reasons, some for animal rights — but now most of us can say that we don’t have to feel like we’re sacrificing.”
Shojin and the Japanese Tsunami Relief Effort
Hi everyone. If you've been a regular reader of this blog, then you'll already know that our favorite vegan restaurant in Los Angeles is Shojin. Shojin is a Japanese, vegan restaurant which focuses on organic and macrobiotic vegan foods. We love this restaurant so much that we eat there about once a month. We've also grown quite fond of the staff. So it was with heavy heart that we went to the restaurant tonight. We were very concerned that someone would have been negatively impacted by the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear reactor disasters which have recently struck Japan. Thankfully, no-one was directly impacted and everyone reported to us that their family and friends were all doing well.
Shojin is involved in fundraising efforts to help the Japanese relief effort. They are selling their delicious Rosemary Cookies. The cookies are made of rolled oats, whole wheat pastry flour, cashew nuts, olive oil, maple syrup, rosemary, vanilla extract, sea salt and baking powder. They are delicious and unique. They are more savory than sweet, but still perfect for dessert. All proceeds from the sale of these cookies will be given to the Japanese relief effort. Shojin is also working with Sarah Williams, their in-house artist, to create tote bags. The graphic for the bags is to the left. Proceeds from the sale of these tote bags will also be donated to the Japanese relief effort. If you would like to donate to the Red Cross directly, click on the Red Cross image above.
And on a lighter note, if you're in the Los Angeles area, you must try Shojin. We highly recommend the Dynamite Roll (vegan sushi) as a starter. (If you're not into spicy foods, then try the Caterpillar Roll.) It's got a wonderful smoky spicy taste to it. Make sure to have something to cleanse your palate afterwards otherwise you may not be able to taste the first few bites of your next course .
For dinner, the Seitain Pepper Steak is our recommendation. Or, the Bento Box, if it's your first visit. This way you'll get a taste of many different items. Whatever you choose, you'll leave there satisfied!
Visit Shojin's website for current hours and their menu.
Vegan Chicken at Chipotle
If you live in the Los Angeles area, you can now order vegan chicken at Chipotle.
This option is not available at all LA area Chipotle restaurants. In fact, it's only available at two of their stores:
- 244 South Beverly Dr. - Beverly Hills, CA 90212
- 121 N. La Cienega Blvd., #114 - Los Angeles, CA 90048 (right by the Beverly Center)
For some vegans, the idea of eating in an omnivore-oriented restaurant is not palatable (pardon the pun) because, by eating at this type of establishment you could be said to be supporting the unnecessary slaughtering of animals for food. But PeTA is urging you to try the vegan chicken at Chipotle, and we are too. The more people who ask for vegan fare, the fewer animals who are ultimately slaughtered. And, if we can get the fast food chains to start carrying vegan fare as part of their standard menu, then omnivores who don't have the slightest idea what "vegan" means might find themselves eating vegan. Of course, it's "fast food" so there's the whole issue of whether or not it's healthy food, but that's fodder for another post.
If you live in the Beverly Hills area, or if you'll be visiting, I urge you to go to either of these two Chipotles and order the vegan chicken burrito. This mock-meat burrito features Garden Blend: mock chicken strips marinated in chipotle adobo sauce and then grilled. The burrito also comes with black beans, rice, and toppings. Bring your friends. Bring your carnivore friends and offer them a taste. Let them see that they can eat well without having to eat meat. The only way that vegan food will become accepted into the mainstream food establishments is if the restaurants feel that enough people are willing to order the product.
So if you live in Los Angeles, or happen to be visiting, make sure to go to either of these two Chipolte restaurants and order the vegan chicken burrito.
National Margarita Day?
I've been informed by Jane that Today is National Margarita Day. I must admit, I've never heard of it before, and if I'd given it any thought, I would have tied that in with Cinco de Mayo. However, any excuse is a good excuse so we will be going out for Mexican food and margarita's tonight. Mexican is one of the easiest cuisines to veganize. Simply start with Rice and Beans. We usually get a fajita and split that as well.
Just a reminder... there can be pitfalls. Some restaurants prepare their rice using chicken stock, and some use lard in the preparation of their beans. In order to be on the safe side, ask your server to check with the chef. We've had good luck ordering black beans -- so far none have bee prepared with lard.
Last Vegan Food For 500 Miles
Jane and I are off to Montana for a week. Since it looks like vegan dining will be Taco Bell and The Pita Pit, we figured we'd get a quick fix from our favorite vegan restaurant, Shojin.
As always, dinner was fantastic. We started our dinner with our all time favorite, the Caterpillar Roll. When we first went vegan the idea of "vegan sushi" was a bit of a joke to us. Sushi was fish, and we had loved it. But let me assure you, we are converts. This roll starts with a base of Shojin's barbequed seitan and is topped with sliced avocado. YUM! We've tried other vegan sushi, but this is our absolute favorite.
Our next course was the Barbequed Seitan. It's sliced seitan with some kind of light barbeque sauce. In our opinion, Kimiko (Shojin's master chef) makes the best seitan. It's far and away better than any other we've ever eaten.
One of the reasons we enjoy Shojin so much is that they are constantly changing their menu. They keep the core items, but add things as certain foods become seasonally available. Our main course was the Seitan Pepper Steak, which is one of those new things. It was delicious. If you haven't tried Shojin, and can get to Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles, go... you won't be sorry.
So we're sated, and hopefully our expectations of our food options in Montana will be exceeded.
Click here for Shojin's website.
Free Food At Veggie Grill
If you're in the Los Angeles / Orange County area, Veggie Grill is giving away free sweetheart (sweet potato) fries today, Wednesday, April 22nd, in honor of earth day. Just mention you heard it on KTLA. I heard about it on the news this morning and wanted to get the message out quickly.
We love the Veggie Grill. We've been about four times since discovering it last year. It's a little far from our home, so we don't go that often. Also, it's "fast food" -- but when you're in the mood for that kind of meal, it rocks! Even the omni's we've gone with have really enjoyed the food there.
Here's a link to the Veggie Grill Locations. They have three stores at the moment, two in Irvine and one in El Segundo - close to LAX (with plans to open another store in West Hollywood soon).
And happy Earth Day everyone.




Flore Cafe, Really
So after my gaffe last week, of confusing Flore with Flore Cafe, I convinced Jane we needed to head on back out to Silver Lake. Last week I reviewed Flore in Silver Lake. This time, we were off to Flore Cafe (really).
Jane had the Breakfast Burrito, and I had the Tu-No Melt, and of course, we shared. The Breakfast Burrito was okay, but not something we'd enthusiastically recommend. You could do this at home with better results. It had too much rice and potato and was very bland. And there's only so much hot sauce you can use! Everyone recommends the tofu benediction, we should have gotten that instead. Next time.
As for the Tu-No Melt, I'd wanted to try it when we were at Flore, but ordered the Quesadilla instead (which was delicious and I didn't regret my decision one iota). Flore Cafe also offers the Tu-No Melt, so this time I had to order it. It was delicious.
Overall, we were pleased and will definitely be back. Everything tasted really fresh. We really recommend both Flore and Flore Cafe. But I want to stress, the ambiance in these places is not wonderful. They both resemble an eatery or deli more than a restaurant. But the food is fresh and good, and the service we received was wonderful in both locations.
Just in case you're confused, here's a quick primer:
- Flore Cafe is a vegetarian restaurant
- Flore is a vegan restaurant
- Flore Cafe is at 3206 W. Sunset Blvd
- Flore is at 3818 W. Sunset Blvd,0.5 miles down the block!
- Flore Cafe used to be the Vegan Spot
- Flore is the original restaurant (they are owned by the same person)
- Flore Cafe serves breakfast all day long
- Flore breakfast served until 1 pm.
But no matter which restaurant you wind up eating at... YUM!
Flore Lives Up To Its Hype
Thanks to Kevin and Foodeater for catching our error. The restaurant we reviewed here is Flore, not Flore Cafe. My mistake, I googled Flore for the address and got confused. That happens people... I write my posts late at night. Sorry for any confusion I may have caused. But hey, I understand Flore Cafe is just as good, but with some vegetarian options. So if you read this review and went there instead, you probably enjoyed yourself.
We've been spending a bit more time over in Silver Lake, a trendy neighborhood in Los Angeles. Silver Lake has a variety of vegan restaurants... Flore being one of them. We've been hearing wonderful things about Flore and had been meaning to try them for a long time. But the reviews all seem to say that the place is cramped and the service slow... and there's no air conditioning... which means it's pretty much off limits in Los Angeles from March until November. (Okay, that might be an exaggeration.)
OMG! Delicious! Jane had the Portobello Sandwich and I had the Quesadilla. The Quesadilla edged out the Portobello Sandwich for best meal. But when I tell you they were both delicious, I mean we're still reminiscing about that meal.
As for the restaurant itself, the ambiance is definitely lacking. It's crowded, there are loaves of bread and all sorts of inventory items stocked on every surface. Did I mention it's crowded? And the service is slow... but we found the waitstaff to be very friendly and helpful.
The restaurant is located at 3818 W. Sunset Blvd., Silverlake (Los Angeles), CA 90026. Call for their hours: 323-953-0611
Akbar’s Bengan Ka Salan
Jane and I were in Santa Monica today and stopped in at Akbar, possibly my favorite Indian restaurant (they also have locations in Pasadena, Marina del Rey, and Hermosa Beach). Although they are not a vegan restaurant, they are familiar with vegan cuisine. We didn't have to go through an explanation of what we could and couldn't eat with our server. Always a joy! She even suggested we order the Roti bread instead of Naan as their Naan is made with milk (or was it eggs, I can't remember).
Anyway, this dish is sauteed chinese eggplant in a coconut tamarind sauce, you determine the level of spiciness. Yum! If you are in the Los Angeles area and enjoy Indian cuisine, I'd suggest a visit.
Vegan Sushi
So I finally had vegan sushi. Sushi/sashimi, the non-vegan version, was something that Jane and I adored. And we knew, that like with pizza, we wouldn't find the vegan versions nearly as satisfying. So we've avoided the stuff. On our last trip to Shojin (our favorite vegan restaurant), we had the caterpillar roll, and a mushroom sushi roll. Oh My God!!! It was heaven. Honestly. I know that people are always saying how good vegan sushi is, but really folks, if you're in Los Angeles, head on over to Shojin and order the caterpillar roll, you won't be sorry.
I should have a picture for this post because not only was it amazingly good but it was beautiful too.
Hours:
Tuesday thru Thursday, Sunday
11:30am - 10:00pm
Friday, Saturday
11:30am - 11:00pm
Address
333 S. Alameda St. Suite 310
(Little Tokyo Shopping Center 3F)
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Tel: 213-617-0305
I know I'm pushing this place, but you're not going to find it unless you look for it, and it's worth looking for!







