AN LA CARNIVORE’S GUIDE TO VEGGIE DINING
Jenny Hontz
For dineLA.com
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If you’re a carnivore that equates vegetarian and vegan food with deprivation, you have probably never dined at Madeleine Bistro in Tarzana — one of a growing number of restaurants in LA that serve animal-free food.
Owner and Executive Chef David Anderson, a veteran of five-star restaurants and veggie haven Real Food Daily, is the Charlie Trotter of vegan cuisine. Traditionally trained in French cooking techniques by the same school that taught Emeril Lagasse, Anderson was the only student in his culinary school class to get an A in butchering, although he temporarily lost his voice from the stress.
“We’re here to show how great plant-based food can be,” says Molly Anderson, Madeleine Bistro co-owner and wife of the chef.
Because vegans don’t use any animal products at all — no milk, no eggs, no butter —Chef Anderson had to be very creative to pioneer techniques, making everything from a red beet tartar atop a tofu cheese crouton to a scrumptious chocolate soufflé that he spent months in the kitchen perfecting.
“People all the time — meat and dairy eaters — say it’s the best soufflé they ever had,” Chef Anderson says. “That, so far, is my proudest.”
Madeleine Bistro offers entrées made with meat substitutes, such as a grilled lemon rosemary seitan and chicken-fried seitan. For the uninitiated, seitan, or “wheat meat,” is a protein made from wheat gluten. Another substitute, tempeh, is made from soy. But for those who shy away from such ingredients, there’s pasta, pizza and loads of fresh produce.
Indeed, with global warming as such a hot-button issue, more omnivores are checking out vegetarian and vegan restaurants such as Elf Café, Cru, Flore Vegan Cuisine and Leaf Cuisine in order to reduce their impact on the environment.
“The carbon footprint from raising cattle and livestock is greater than the carbon footprint of all the cars and trucks in the world,” says Rod Rotondi, owner and executive chef of Leaf Cuisine in Culver City and Sherman Oaks, which serves raw, organic, vegan food in a casual setting.
“Even if you eat meat, it doesn’t mean you have to eat it at every single meal.” he adds. “A meat-eater can eat a big cheese pizza and not think, ‘I didn’t eat meat today.’ If you focus on what you’re not eating, that’s not very fun. But if you focus on the incredibly satisfying food that you are eating, it’s better.”
Rotondi grew up in an Italian family and lived in France before spending eight years in a Bedouin village. He now makes his hummus and falafel by soaking chickpeas for 20 hours, letting them sprout, mashing and dehydrating them — the way the Bedouins used to do it. He suggests that omnivores trying Leaf Cuisine for the first time order a Mediterranean wrap or a Caesar’s salad.
Eating at ethnic restaurants is also a great way to dip your toe into veggie waters. Often the spices and bold flavors make you focus less on what’s not there. Rahel Ethiopian Veggie Cuisine in Little Ethiopia serves vegan food on a communal platter of sour injera bread, while spices such as ginger, cardamom and garlic dress up dishes.
“These spices are really good,” says Rahel Woldmedhin, who suggests you try the Yeater Alicha, a split-pea stew seasoned with garlic and onions. “If you eat at Rahel, you don’t miss the meat. It’s a full meal.”
Bulan Thai is another favorite among local vegetarians. Owner Nat Ruengsamugr says most clients are meat eaters. She suggests ordering the orange chicken, which “some don’t even realize is soy,” or seaweed crispy fish with green apple. “It’s sour, sweet and spicy. Everything is perfect,” she says.
Restaurateurs like the Andersons actually encourage carnivores to think of veggie food as another type of ethnic cuisine to add to the mix. “You don’t have to make a lifelong commitment to eating vegan, but you can incorporate it into your diet,” Molly Anderson says. “Even if it’s one day a month, it would change the planet.”
Bulan Thai Vegetarian Kitchen, 7168 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, 323.857.1882
Cru, 1521 Griffith Park Blvd., Los Angeles, 323.667.1551
Elf Café, 2135 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, no phone
Flore Vegan Cuisine, 3818 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, 323.953.0611
Leaf Cuisine, 11938 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, 310.390.6005 or 14318 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, 818.907.8799
Madeleine Bistro, 18621 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana, 818.758.6971
Rahel Ethiopian Veggie Cuisine, 1047 South Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, 323.937.8401
Real Food Daily, 514 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, 310.451.7544 or 414 N.
La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles, 310.289.9910
