Matsuhisa grows from Aspen, LA, Athens through St Moritz

Chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa is worldly known as Nobu, the legend of contemporary Japanese cooking blending Peruvian and other elements into his special sharing plates. Swiping the globe with his nikkei cuisine from New York, London, Dubai to Hong Kong, chef Matsuhisa most effectively blended his Japanese skills with the alluring ingredients that he found during his stint in Peru over 20 years ago.
chef Nobu Matsuhisa
Nobu’s partnership with the actor Robert De Niro and restaurateur Drew Nieporent gave birth to the international network of the chic Nobu restaurants. Nevertheless, his namesake Matsuhisa restaurants remain his most cherished babies, so he shows up often. I have repeatedly dined at Matsuhisa in Aspen, Los Angeles, Paris and St Moritz, and while the first two are the most Nobu style, the newest Paris location is by far the best. The main reason being that the executive chef Hideki Endo was given a free reign from Nobu Matsuhisa and creates sublime, Michelin stars deserving plates in the chicest atmosphere of the Royal Monceau hotel. Chef Hideki, originally from Hokkaido, has helmed the scenic Hong Kong Nobu for over a decade, and moved to Paris to open the by celebrities touted Matsuhisa Paris.
nikkei cuisine Paris
Traditional Japanese manners grace Nobu and his wife as either of them often greet the customers in the first ever Matsuhisa restaurant in Los Angeles. The local glam-set still frequents the causal restaurant after almost two decades in business. Whether you are a Hollywood star or just a devote fan of his cuisine, Nobu shares his humble smile and a gentle handshake as he strolls around.
Nobu sashimi
His second branch in Aspen, as excellent and casual as his La La Land firstborn, was the last that strayed away from the overt commercialisation that swoop the intimate charm away from the Nobus, and his growing suite of Matsuhisa restaurants (Athens riviera, Mykonos, St. Moritz, Paris). Much larger than its LA base, Matsu in Aspen further accommodates two bars. One for casual eats upstairs and the other just by the entrance downstairs. In embracing the essential American flare, large Tv screens in the bar area lure in the football and cricket fans to virtually coach their teams. A spectacle in itself as you walk in. Like in an orchestra, these conductors with chopsticks instead of a baton indulge in a decadent meal. Some locals just pop in for a bottle of Asahi beer and a snack (like the crunchy crab tempura salad, the beef or fish tacos), yet the food’s quality would satisfy an Arab sheikh. Being the most fashionable and for almost two decades the most popular restaurant in Aspen, while keeping its informal allure, make Matsuhisa tirelessly attractive. In Aspen, young folks with sometimes ridiculously weird ski hats mingle with the mature, fur-adorned bejewelled ladies, older couples and families enjoy their meal, all naturally sinking into the buzzing atmosphere. Booking ahead is highly advised.
Nobu new style sashimi

Food at Matsuhisa

Nobu is about his inventive dishes and not the classic simple sushi and maki cuts. His bold, creative and high taste-profile flatters to the salt and rich flavours accustomed American diners. In St Moritz, the food is more subdued and does not show the full spectrum of his special plates as the Aspen and LA Matsuhisa do. Also there his is creative cooking mastery and the accent on top quality fresh ingredients show off at his namesake US based restaurants most vibrantly. Like a rainbow, Nobu’s dishes cover the flavours and textures from delicate and light to deep, rich and intensely accented plates. It is wise to start light and move to the heavier or more seasoned dishes, so your taste buds detect the suppleness of the delicate fish and seafood creations such as the refreshing Peruvian style tiraditos (which Nobu learned when cooking in Lima), crab tacos or the new style yellowtail sashimi with jalapeños. The spaghetti-like shaved Hearts of palm salad with lobster and Nobu’s special savoury dry miso crumble is excellent to share at the beginning. You can buy this superb condiment at both restaurants, and use it at home over anything craving its umami flavour. The superb King crab tempura salad with red onions marinated in spicy vinaigrette is refreshingly touched up with coriander.
bao in Paris lobster bao

The superbly trained staff usually brings them in an appropriate sequence, which is essential for the enjoyment. Since the fish is marinated in an oil-based sauce with sesame most of the New style sashimis are moving towards the richer side, therefore it is better to get them after the simpler lime and lemon-based plates like Tomato ceviche or the seafood tiraditos. My favourite is the New style salmon sashimi. The fatty and smooth salmon goes hand in hand with the oily sauce drizzled with chopped green chives. The abalone, a rare type of sea shell, is always very expensive whether you order it in Japan, China or in Colorado. If you can afford to treat yourself to something very special, inquire whether the lucky day shipped some of these porcini textured sea wonders. Served broiled, they impress. Usually only in the US Matsuhisa.

Matsuhisa does wonders with mushrooms. At Nobu as well as at ‘Matsu’ I usually order the sizzling hot Mushroom tobanyaki, but in Aspen, I also like the unique warm Mushroom salad with lobster. These forest gems top up even the flavour and texture of the Maine lobster, but still this plate is a wonderful marriage between Western and Eastern ingredients. I highlighted my personal bests at ‘Matsu’, although I have eaten almost the entire menu a number of times and enjoyed most, so go for it.
Nobu parisRoyal Monceau restaurant
From the Japanese sweets try the Shaved ice or the Mochi ice cream. These gooey, thin, dumpling-like rice flour buns filled with ice cream are homemade. You can select from multiple flavours. The green tea and vanilla never disappoint, but chocolate or li-chi may seduce too.
Drinks: The wine list at Aspen Matsuhisa has the widest selection of wines that go well with this style of food. To stay local at least with the wine, we usually go for a bold California Chardonnay. A refreshing dry white wine with a higher acidity like Riesling would be my top choice, but a lush white Bordeaux, Rhône’s Rousanne and Marsanne blend or a mineral slightly oaky California Chardonnay like from Aubert de Villaine’s Aubert (DRC winemaker) or Littorai suit to most of the fish and seafood Nobu dishes. Pinot Noir works well too. Williams Selyem are a great bet if you are willing to spend a couple hundred dollars. Their Chardonnay from the Heintz Vineyard (not to be mistaken for the Heitz Cellars in Napa Valley) ages gracefully so if you see an older vintage, try. In St Moritz, the impressive wine cellar is shared with the Badrutt’s Palace Hotel luxurious restaurants, and there are many great European wines on the list. Here, try the local impressive Pinot Noir Monolith by Obrecht, very savoury and not too fruity like most Swiss Pinots. In Paris French bottles impress, usually we go for white Alsace (Riesling Clos Ste Hune) and red Côte Rotie or Burgundy.
California ChardonnayTop California Pinot Noir wineTop quality Swiss Pinot Noir
At the Los Angeles Matsuhisa the wine options are more limited so we often get a bottle of Kistler Chardonnay that is creamy, rich, yet balanced with a good acidity and a long, tremendous aftertaste. Beer or sake are popular choices and there is a very good selection from Japanese, American as well as European brews. Not in the mood for alcohol? The Nobu’s own Japanese green tea, which you can also buy, is very good and its youth-prolonging antioxidants refresh and relax at the same time. Magic, isn’t it?
I have dined at the Matsuhisa in LA regularly for over a decade and in winter Aspen each February. I am grateful for so many years of consistent pleasure there. Arigato! Sadly the same cannot be claimed about the Athens and St Moritz locations.

Song Tea & Ceramics: the perfect pot of tea in San Francisco

Song Tea & Ceramics looks like a tastefully decorated living room. Here you can visually enjoy the curves of the artisan ceramic bowls that are displayed around, read an inspiring book and sip on your favourite tea. Personal relationships, harmony and the holistic enjoyment of all things tea – from the hand-picked ceramics, the fragrant leafs to flower arrangements – these pillars drive the appeal of this San Francisco tea shop.
Contemporary interior design at Song Tea & Ceramics in San Francisco
This small batch Chinese and Taiwanese tea importing refuge on Sutter Street is set mid-hill in a popular residential suburb. An increasingly popular installation for creative design workshops, this laid back and inspiring neighbourhood suits the owner Peter Luong like the Yixing clay ware to express the best in the oolong tea.

Rejuvenating tea tasting experience

Its time halting aesthetics rooted in tradition, strike one in a technology-fuelled city that hums with an innovative, change and potential disruption promising spirit. But this is exactly what we, the busy and always connected contemporaries, want. The real conversation and flavours that the casual gong fu cha tea ceremony involves are emotionally as well as spiritually rewarding, but it requires time. The Chinese tea appreciation ritual is not as time consuming as the Japanese chanoyu, so set some tea time aside for your visit at Song Tea & Ceramics and savour the harmony between nature and human appreciation of the tea terroir.
Tasting tea at tea shops is centuries old custom. Try before you buy. As you can see at most high quality tea shops in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and on less frequent occasions in Japan, a tea table hosting customers to tea tasting is the norm. There is no fee for this tasting. You only pay for what you take with you out. Inside, you are treated as a guest. At Song Tea & Ceramics the pure beauty of the tea tasting table gives you as much pleasure as the distinct flavours of the teas themselves. The owner, who prepared the teas for us, was pleasantly elevated when he sat down offering us our preferred teas. We were swiftly tuned to the tea mood. As I mentioned before, reserving enough time is necessary when buying tea, and more so when this ritual is included in your tea purchasing experience. The staff is also very passionate about tea and when we tasted with the young lady on another occasion we enjoyed the experience as much as with Peter Luong, the founder of Song Tea & Ceramics.
tea design at Song Tea & Ceramics in San Francisco

Oolong: the perplexing blue-green tea

All the white, green, oolong, red and aged teas from China or Taiwan were personally selected by the tea shop’s owner Peter, who annually travels East. The Sino-focus is a confluence of historical and generational nuances. Peter comes from a family of immigrants that for decades ran a successful tea business in the bustling San Francisco’s China Town. His sister now runs the Red Blossom Tea Company on Grant Avenue in the old fashion, while the younger and more creative Peter introduced contemporary and holistic visual pleasure into his own business.
I was on the hunt for an interesting Taiwanese oolong. This semi-oxidised tea can be very deeply roasted and rather lightly oxidised (Oriental Beauty) in Taiwan. But also adhering to the ancient Chinese tradition some oolongs are darker, almost like black tea because of their high level of oxidation. During an hourlong sniffing, slurping and casually conversing with the lively yet mindful Mr Luong, my decision was made based purely on my own gustatory experience.
Buddha's hand oolong teaTaiwanese oolong tea
I can recommend the highly popular Buddha’s Hand Alishan grown in Taiwan at a 1000m altitude in a company of coffee plants and betel nut trees. The large dark brown leafs look like dried chipotle, and that is because of their high-oxidation and wrinkly appearance. Expect chocolate, malt and brown sugarcane, yet free of calories.
The smoky sweet Formosa Yancha is a small release that is destined to age well as its grower keeps most of his harvest to himself. As the wood and tangy chicory fragrances regress, the brew unveils into a clean, fresh and mineral finish.
The vintage Formosa Dahongpao is the same Wuyi Yancha cultivar from the cliffs of Shan Lin Xi, but it has been aged for almost a quarter of a century. The Charcoal roasting prepares this tea for a long ageing since it absorbs any residual moisture that would lead to mould and spoilage. What a tea! I could inhale its deep fragrance all day long. A sweet butterscotch mellows into an apple strudel with muscat spice, before a bang of long mineral finish that leaves you musing whether this tea is willing to give more. With up to 10 brews, each revealing a different trait of the tea’s character, this Wuyi Yancha a delectable puzzle for the taste buds.
This high mountain ‘blue-green’ tea is a youthful beauty when compared to the Baozhong from the 1960s. It is unusual to age so mildly oxidised tea like this Taiwanese 20% oxidised leaves. Its subtle taste together with low tannins make it delectable all-day-long tea when young, but now it was more a tired fifty-something, still enjoyable but lacking the zest of its youth. Very interesting as the first seconds still reveal some of its jasmine and rose character.

Miracle of nature: a surprise tea that must be tried at Song Tea

Black tea from Taiwan
This black tea from Taiwan is a true miracle. In Chinese speaking world often called red tea, the Four Seasons Red is a fully oxidised tea typically grown in Taiwan, yet this specimen is grown at 1500m on the Lishan mountain and they say at Song Tea: it is “crafted from leaves bitten by leaf hoppers which produces a chemical reaction in the leaf that gives the tea its honeyed sweetness”. This is not just your common breakfast brew, this red tea is rather fresh, soft on the palate with pleasant sweet taste and a cut grass aroma. I just wonder how do they attract the hoppers and make sure they bite into the tea leaves? The delectable result is a true miracle of nature.
There are plenty of other teas offered at Song Tea. They arrive with each new season (the best green and white teas in spring). Some sell out fast while others last, but the earlier in the season you come, the more there is to choose from. Most teas are also available at the Song Tea & Ceramics’ online store.Oolong tea tasting at Song Tea & Ceramics in San Francisco

Nordic clean design meets Japanese restraint

A contemporary clean design at Song Tea & Ceramics fits into today’s San Francisco. The loose teas are stored in simply designed, almost purist, creamy ceramic containers sealed by a wooden cap. Your purchase is then dispensed into moisture resistant inner coating of the paper bags with a resealable snap.
The owner’s passion for revamped Japanese aesthetics and practicality reflects its prowess in the interior of the gallery and shop. He posses a unique sensibility for striking the perfect balance, where the contemporary and the natural breeze through in harmony. Often, when no customers are browsing inside, he employs his creative muse. You may find him sketching his own tea pot or designing new labels. His purist eye in the flower arrangement delights and since it is changed regularly you will find a little surprise each time you stop by.
The gaze mingles with the pots and cups in an unglazed clay, that as if coated in a dense chocolate brew lure your hands to a grasp, a blush of milky celadon, a stroke of mineral glaze and the indigo ornaments inside the stunning gong fu cha water bowl tease out inner material cravings.
Contemporary interior design at Song Tea

Gallery of tea ceramics

Song Tea & Ceramics also exhibits and sells ceramic works by well-established as well as upcoming potters. Chinese, Taiwanese and in a small proportion American ware is represented. When selecting them, Peter is generally “looking for pieces that show mastery of material and technique, and that echo our aesthetic.”
Natural, raw shaped matcha bowls made by Song Jin and the famous Yixing tea ware (China) echo the dual Sino-Japanese aesthetic preferences of the gallery. The clean lined zisha clay pots perfect for oolongs are commissioned from five individual artists based in Jiangsu Province, China.
More clay based vessels combined with wood handles are made by a trained Taiwanese sculptor Zhang Yun Cheng.
The white, thin celadon line by Hu Tie Hua was recently included into the vast collection. Celadon is also the theme of Liao Guo Hua, another Taiwanese talent, who is eager to experiment with unglazed clay as well as mineral coating on his by “sparse aesthetic” driven bowls.
New ceramics are usually included when the older collections are sold out or when the owner discovers yet another great artisan potter. As a gallery and tea shop in one, Song Tea & Ceramics forms a genuine friendship between these sensual pleasures in life.
 
🕗 Tue-Sat: 11am-6pm, Sun 11am-5pm
✉ 2120 Sutter St, San Francisco, United States
☏ +1 415 885 2118
Juice Served Here … so take a flight

Creatively envisioned by a perfect fit of trendy jeans and cultish Alternative Apparel brains, Juice Served Here is unlike most juice brands out there. The G-star Raw executive Alex Matthews and his partner Greg Alterman, a successful supporter of sustainable leisure clothing, shared a passion for cool design and health. Naturally, a juice business followed.
As America still relishes in the super nutritious combo of juicing and liquid meal replacement, there are now hundreds of “juiceries”, offering very similar products. It is therefore not enough to be raw, cold-pressed, vegan, no HPP, no GMO and zeroing anything artificially sounding, but you must come with an interesting story, a standout design, arresting recipes and ideally, plenty of celebrity snaps and Instagrams as they walk out with a bottle of your juice. The duo behind Juice Served Here, is best equipped to do just that. Gwyneth & co sip on their juices, seeking eternal youth, ultra-slim figure and a topic to discuss on the next Tv show or a lifestyle magazine interview.
Juice Served Here LAJuice Served Here

Juice Served Here differently

How are you feeling? You might hear this welcoming greeting at one of the sleekly designed branches (and growing) of Juice Served Here. Well, if you came straight from a yoga class you might want to continue that blessed relaxed ohm further into the day so having something with warming ginger and sweet apple in an alkaline lemon water you can be directed to “Pipe Cleaner”. If you need a boost of energy before a workout or replenish your stamina in the middle of a work day, then honey and cayenne in “Hot Lei” will sharpen your senses up. But if your answer is, I just need something healthy to fix my cravings, then the coconut meat delicacy bottled in “Cream Party” or “Turmeric Tang”, a smooth concoction of sweet carrot with tangy orange juice, will indulge you without the guilt of a whipped cream cake. Promising eternal youth and slim figure is sometimes not enough to make up your mind. What all these names mean after all?
Juice Served Here

Taking the flight

Deciding or actually knowing what we want does not always flow out from our brains when we need. With the ingredient-based creativity and possible combinations not having set limits, there are plenty of flavours in those bottles that are hard to imagine on your palate. How that “Green Milk” can taste? Will I like it? Should I risk paying the $8-$12 (for a no-booze sold in a recyclable plastic box!??) for this whimsical concoction? Should I take a “Pipe Cleaner” or “Pixie” (kids favorite) or go straight to “Charcoal Lemonade”? Wait, I could actually drink a charcoal? Yes, you can, but how much of the carbonised wood dug from deep under is still beneficial for your gut has not been scientifically established. The ‘miraculous’ drink companies, after all, are not liable for any of their marketing or health claims. In conventional medicine charcoal is used when you suffer diarrhea or a food poisoning since it absorbs the toxic contents in your stomach and thus alleviates your discomfort. If mixing it powdered with water would zero any nutritional misbehaving of your past meal is a plain speculation.
What counts though is taste. If you like the healthy juice, you will buy it again. You will even crave it! While some juice stops offer samplings, usually these are limited and do not include the two juices in your dilemma. A brilliant by wine inspired stroke of genius solved the cell damaging inner tension usually involved in decision making. You should be pampered at a place where you were supposed to be rejuvenating. At Juice Served Here you can get a flight of their 10 most popular bottlings for eight bucks. Please, fly me in!
So what was in my flight? The above picture sums up my healthful degustation on my last trip to LA. From the ten cups of three bird sips, my favorites were: number #5 Bloc Rockin’ Beets, a veggie only spicy blood builder with energizing and refreshing feel
Number #4 Turmeric Tang, a balanced coconut cream, sweet carrot with zingy lime, orange and anti-inflammatory turmeric.
Number #5 Bloc Rockin’ Beets, a veggie only spicy blood builder with energizing and refreshing feel.
Number #9 Green Milk, a satisfying nutty green juice with a dash of feel clean green veggies.
Number #12 Cream Party, like a dessert rich coconut meat blended into creamy sublimeness with coconut water.
Juice Served HereJuice Served Here

Fitting the right juice into your healthier lifestyle

The first months of the year are usually devoted to cleaning up the waste accumulated in your body from the comforting indulgences of winter. The toxins from the holiday meals, imbibing yet another cocktail before dinner, the ski trips filed with fondues, chocolate brownies and mulled wine, … the juice is sold! Juicing can be messy at home, so all these healthful fueling stops in our cities that popped like umbrella hawkers by a London tube are inviting. As I wrote about detoxing in my past musing Detox, Declutter and Dream though we should not just think about sweeping our bodies, but also our minds and our surroundings. By having your juice organic, you do something little better for yourself but also for the environment, even better if the fruits and veggies used are seasonal and sourced from the local farmers. At Juice Served Here, they bring sustainability further sourcing from “hand-selected local, biodynamic farms” and juicing their ultra-clean ingredients at their “state-of-the-art arctic cold-press, zero-waste facility“.
Your mind might be detoxed from worrying about what you need to cook. Calories counting with every inhale when passing a nose tingling bakeshop on your way is not healthy for your head. Raw juicing offeres simpler path to including more plants into your diet and may be more ecological than cooking meals, but it also carries more adverse risks from bad bacteria contamination than a well-cooked or preserved food would. Therefore, always check if your juices are stored in a cold fridge, ask about the date it was bottled and never! buy the sales items since these are more likely to have harmful bacteria hiving in.
These rules apply to any juice sold anywhere around the world. Even though Los Angeles is a peculiar case, lucky to have plenty of California-grown fruits, nuts, and veggies, at its feet, some can carry harmful bacteria. What is exciting here is that the entertainment capital gushes with ideas designed to please the novelty seeking consumers. Not only Juice Served Here takes a more fun approach to serving their juices, they view their products as a luxury. Proudly announcing on their website “we are Never Conventional” they appeal to aspiring and moneyed tribal crowd that wants to feel like making a difference through their daily life choices. Indeed, I always feel elated and so green when sipping on my freshly pressed locally sourced juice, so I am caught in the well-doing phenomenon.

Crossroads: the perfect vegan dinner date in LA

Prior to his own stint at Crossroads, the healthy lifestyle inspiring chef and owner of the restaurant prepared vegan meals for Oprah Winfrey’s vegan cleanse, catered Ellen DeGeneres vegan wedding, and even ventured into politics through food. Arianna Huffington’s party at the Democratic National Convention, and the first vegan dinner at the U.S. Senate were both catered by Tal Ronen.
vegan foodvegan food
Ronen, perhaps the most attuned vegan chef in America, spotted his luxurious opening on Melrose with a vision of an eagle. The restaurant-packed West Hollywood in Los Angeles still remains the city’s most adventurous gastronomic trendsetter. Despite the rising boldness of the edgy Venice, where now Matthew Kenney‘s Plant Food and Wine does just fine and Cafe Gratitude still serves the best vegan lunches in town, Melrose is the home to the more polished Mexican vegan hangout Gracias Madre, as well as other, by celebrities sought after restaurants with meat and cheese not crossed off the menu.
Welcoming diners in style, tables dressed in white linen, bulbous chandeliers hinting design conscious mindset and the sleek midnight shaded wood furnishings, surely impress well-heeled customers. Add a classy bar, and you also attract many non-vegans in search for a meatless break, still challenging to find in the US restaurants. The Bloody Mary cart with garnishes like an almond milk truffle dill cheese, a dehydrated tomato wheel or roasted balsamic cipollini onion lure in any brunch goers.
Vegan kale salad
While the menu is largely inspired by the Mediterranean, to me it seems like an homage to Italy really. Nut-based ricotta, pasta, cheese-free pizza, risotto and scallopini Milanese always feature on the menu. Morrocan flashes with vegan takes on American classics such as the hearts of palm Crabcakes or almond creamy New York style Cheesecake also pop here and there. Ronen’s culinary knowledge was harnessed at New York-based Natural Gourmet Institute, which encourages healthful cooking and eating. He also worked in Manhattan’s Candle 79 vegan restaurant. The Israeli chef once devoured his favorite pastrami sandwiches, stuffed with gregarious chunks of kosher meat, but his education at the Natural Gourmet Institute opened his eyes to a more sustainable lifestyle.
Today, he teaches cooking classes at le Cordon Blue and appears regularly on gastronomic events such as the South Beach Food and Wine Festival in Miami. He smartly substituted animal produce with similar taste profiles creating dishes that are comforting, season-driven, and capriciously delicious. Tal Ronen is the master magician of meatless eating.
plant-based meat substitutes
Our past two dinners started either with the Artichoke ‘oysters’, the ‘Crab’ cakes or the exquisite Charred Ricotta. The artichoke hearts topped with its pulp cream, crispy oyster mushrooms and kelp (seaweed) caviar are a light finger food with a lofty name. The Crab Cakes are heartier and perfect with a glass of mineral white wine, like their non-vegan original version. Moving to the main game with Tortelloni pasta stuffed with almond cheese and oven dried tomatoes, in a spinach cream and a parsley frisee salad for me, I did not miss any real cheese stuffing at all, indeed my taste buds were clapping with genuine happiness. Another comforting take on a classic Italian dish is the Scaloppini Millanese. The thinly pounded Scaloppini are made from “premade gardein™, a garden grown protein with the texture and taste of meat. In this breaded plate it substituted the veal brilliantly! You can also have it with nut-based “parmesan” instead.
If you still crave something next to your main course then the Porcini truffle fondue are hard to beat. The small hot pan of creamy “cheezy” dip served with fresh bread and granny smith apples is indulgent in the moment and will not make you feel as if someone had put stones into your belly after waking up the next morning. The thin crust pizza is also very popular. The proof of its greatness was that most tables around us were having it on both dinner visits. Next time!
A sweet finish does not to wear your down either at Crossroads. The Coconut sorbet encased in a dark chocolate nest, called for some reason “magic shell”, was creamy yet light and would humble any coco nation’s own preparations. Coconut milk and meat are top choices for many vegan chefs and it often appears also in savory recipes, with the exception of the nut-based cheese plates.
 
freshly baked potato chipsCrossroads restaurant
For lunch, the menu is very different. Expect vegan Crossroads Benedict with shiitake “bacon” and no eggs of course, sandwiches, sweet pancakes, chips and simple yet delicious Kale Caesar salad. The main dining room is closed for lunch, but the adjoining bright café space is less busy while catering to the casual lunch seeking locals.
Warmly decorated private dining room and wine and “cheese” room with a retractable rooftop accommodate special occasions. For tipples the smartly assembled cocktail and wine lists accompany the animal-friendly indulgent evening out. Crossroads is a smart-casual vegan restaurant that indeed crossed the zebra between the increasingly popular hippie vegan cafes and the more dressy restaurants.
Whether you are a vegan, which means no animal produce consumed and worn, or not, you might date someone who has converted into this restrictive lifestyle. Plant-based food can be delicious, even better than meat and cream, but it has to be cooked well. Tal Ronen and some other talented plant food-focused chefs have proven that animal-free dining can be savored and liberating, at least for one’s ability to eschew suffering involved in eating any commercially provided animal produce. The chef even called his first cookbook “The Conscious Cook” spot on!
🕗 Brunch daily 10:00 am – 2 pm
Dinner: Fri – Sat 5:00 pm – 12:00 am
Sun – Thurs 5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
✉ 8284 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, California, USA

☏ +(1) 323 782 9245
MY NOTE: Although your cardiologist will approve of plant food, unfortunately, most vegan food is not suitable for nut allergies. As the chefs try to include more protein and make the food filling, nuts seemed to have caught their attention in the preparation of their meals. I wish there were more chefs doing at least two-thirds of their menu nut-free.
Shaved ice in Hawaii: join in the surfers' treat

Shaved ice is a popular and refreshing sweet indulgence on a hot day in Hawaii. After chasing the twenty plus feet waves in the unsettled winter waters of the Pacific, most surfers cool the heat in their veins from the fearsome adventure by gulping spoonfuls of this delicacy. They get more hydrated through the flavoured frosty water, aka shaved/shave ice, quenching cravings and thirst, both at the same time.
Ululani's shave iceshave ice truck

Shaved ice, what?

So what exactly is shaved ice? Imagine eating pure snow, it feels icy cold, numbing for seconds, then watery as the substance melts quickly in your warm mouth. This is why it is also known as “snow cone”. The flavours come from adding sweet syrups atop the frosty mass. Most places allow for maximum three flavours in one cone (paper or plastic). Additional crunchy toppings like toasted coconut or vanilla ice cream (dairy) became very popular in Hawaii. The cream flavours have condensed milk pre-mixed into the syrup so they are also not dairy-free. Filtered water is used to make the ice slush. Usually, shave ice is sold at casual street vendors as a take away, but in Hawaii it is offered inside small grocery stores, most still run by the immigrant Japanese families.

Shaved ice is like ice cream, but even lighter than a sorbet.

Adding flavours into Ululani's shave ice

Japanese treat in hot climate

Literally swimming across the Pacific with the Japanese who migrated to Hawaii in the 20th century, shave ice refreshed these pineapple and sugar cane farm workers in the islands’ hot climate. The workers would have it as a special treat on their day off. Shaving from a block of ice with their sharp tools they poured a juice or syrup over that frosty delicacy. Later, as they moved from farms to other businesses, some opened grocery stores, where shaved ice was first commercially sold in the US.
The two most visited islands of the Hawaii string, Oahu and Maui, both hive with shaved ice options today. I have scouted the most popular ones and found my favourite. If you plan traveling to Hawaii, check this review and do not waste your time trying just average spots, go to the best!

Best shaved ice purveyors in Hawaii

Matsumoto Grocery store in Haleiwa, in O’ahu North Shore has always sweet-toothed devotees lined up along its wall on the verge of the coastal highway. Established as a family business in 1951, Matsumoto became such an iconic shave ice brand that now instead of groceries, you can buy bags, t-shirts and other merchandise next to the icy treat. It is always warm on Hawaii, even in the winter when thousands of the world’s best surfers flood the shore, so the cold delicacy sells all year long.
Their reputation reaped a legendary status. Perhaps owing to Matsumoto’s strategic location. The North Shore stages the international surfing competitions each winter when together with the world’s best surfers, cars, buses and planes of big wave tourists arrive to the area. Tipping the waves allure, around the same time the store was open, the late Elvis Presley moved in to the area, so suddenly the Northern strip became attraction with its own merit.
Matsumoto's shave ice in Hawaii

The secrets of the syrup

Although Matsumoto’s syrups are still homemade, most contain artificial colours and flavours, except the Mizore and Lilikoi that are natural. If you are concerned about health, then at any Hawaii “shave” ice store avoid any blatantly fake flavours such as bubble gum, calpico, coca-cola, red velvet cake, café latte, and anything brightly coloured. Also evade the Li Hing Mui, a powder made from tangy Chinese plum that has been pickled and seasoned with sugar or aspartame and enhanced with food colouring. The Yuzu syrup and Vanilla ice cream both contain corn syrup, another unhealthy highly processed sweetener as is Splenda (dextrose, maltodextrin and sucralose) and other artificial sweeteners used at most sugar-free syrups.
Ululani's shave ice
Matsumoto’s shave ice might be the most famous on Oahu, but both Waiola’s and Shimazu’s in Honolulu offer wider choices of flavours. Other shops to note on Oahu are Aoki’s in Haleiwa, Baldwin’s and Ice Garden in Aiea, and Island Snow in Kailua. The last being the favourite of the US President Obama’s, who was born in Hawaii.
Ululani’s shave ice on Maui appeals to my taste most though. After sampling all the top ranking island spots, I found the flavors at Ululani’s the most real, not too artificial, as most often are. Try the local Liliko’i (Passion Fruit), Pineapple or the seasonal Hoku. My personal favourites are Coconut and Mango.
Add-ons include Maui-made Roselani’s Premium Gourmet Vanilla, Macadamia Nut or Haupia (Coconut Pudding) Ice-Cream; Shredded Toasted Coconut or homemade (cooked and cooled) Japanese Azuki Beans.
The most indulgent are Ululani’s Snow Cap (sweetened condensed milk mixture) and Hand-cut Mochi Pieces (soft gooey dough cakes). For diabetics and calorie conscious there are about 10 sugar-free options (Splenda). Otherwise pure cane sugar, premium purees, natural fruit juices and extracts are used.
Enjoying Ululani's shaved ice
Most shaved ice lovers combine two or more flavours. At Ululani’s Lahaina branch the most popular combo is Pineapple, Coconut, Banana and snow cap (melted vanilla ice cream). I want to fly back to Hawaii just thinking about it!
As I mentioned before, beware of its sugar content since shaved ice is by no means a healthy treat. Although it is perhaps less naughty than sweet sodas since we enjoy them as desserts, not just drinks illusionary of quenching thirst.
The secret of the shave/shaved ice success nests in its simplicity, the fun involved in eating sweet snow with a spoon from a cone. The inventiveness of its Japanese creators was born from necessity to cool down during the hot days on the islands. As a spoonful goes down your throat, you feel the chills. One cannot visit Hawaii without relishing in at least one local shave ice.

North Fork: touring family farms on the tip of Long Island

North Fork’s natural bounty is harnessed by its small scale farms. On a map, the by salt water flushed masses of land look like a fork for some, thus the name, but to me the two Eastern tips (Forks) of the Long Island resemble a crab claw. The hard shelled strips of land, North Fork and the extended Hamptons in the South (Fork), clamp two fertile bays. The geographic claw also voraciously clings traversable masses of the Shelter Island and North Haven inside its feeding sphere. While the Hamptons have been built up with summer houses for the New York’s affluent holidaymakers, North Fork aware of its innate flexing power has remained down to its job. Despite being smaller, the farming area is the cracking muscle of the claw.
Autumn

Local produce in demand by top restaurants

Densely farmed as it was for centuries, abundant with oysters, organic vegetable patches, blooming orchards, and attentively groomed animals, the area was once the breadbasket of Manhattan and it is coming back to the food scene. With more restaurants becoming sustainable, and the savvy diners demanding transparency in their ingredient sourcing, using Long Island’s, for New York local produce, is now in vogue. Top chefs demand the best quality with low carbon footprint. The steadily increasing popularity of farmers markets in and out of large Western cities naturally followed the trend setters, the celebrity chefs eagerly displaying their gastronomical political allegiance in the media.

Fresher than on your farmers market

Touring farms on the narrow North Fork can take an entire day. Since there are not that many roads to squeeze in, this is also the area’s charm. The traffic is notoriously slow. Not just during the summer and early fall weekends when its luscious produce and free-ranging landscape draw deserters from New York, but the snail tour de North Fork is orchestrated by a genuine human activity.

Autumn SquashHaloween pumpkins

The luring farm stands embroidering the Main Road pull the breaks of cars. Do not honk, just take it easy if just for a day. This is the real Slow Food. Anyone passing by suffers from an involuntary itching that draws the eyes towards the perfectly round striped melons, the zebra squashes of all colours and shapes, and if you swirl the wheel off the road, the berries will get a closer look as well. This morning’s eggs, just out-of-the-water picked oysters, antibiotic-free milk, fresh or aged cheese, … this is a heaven for scantly processed food.
Stirring a little chaos on the country road is common. Passing a post sign that reads: “The best fresh goat cheese in America”, cannot keep you disinterested. Wait, did you see that? Let’s turn back. Break, squeeze the wheel, peak in the mirror for a glimpse of the widely open eyes and mouth of a shocked driver behind you. Not, this is not what the locals do, but there are now plenty of unaware visitors. Keeping a bigger than usual distance between the cars is highly advisable. There so much to distract you from the road though, even a lavender farm producing honey!
Loading one’s trunk with exquisite produce is just a material purpose of the two-and-half-hour journey from Manhattan. Having a great time, while wine tasting, milking goats, gulping ultra-fresh oysters, or dining at the casual taverns in Greenport, the commercial hub that has not yet been totally spoiled, make the trip an unforgettable experience. The Starbucks closed down as the residents preferred to support the local, never mind slightly bitter expresso by a Sicily-born local coffee shop veteran. Welcome to the muscular North Fork.
Free grazing chicken
The experience of local farms was also the draw for our group. Serious foodies, budding chefs and their partners or spouses bussed at 8am on a Saturday in the weekend stillness on Manhattan. Sounds like a school trip, and it certainly was, the minor difference was that our age group was hard to define. Anyone from a teenager to a retired couple could join the farm tour organized by the Natural Gourmet Institute (NGI) in New York. Our troop leader was a NGI professional chef Rich Lamarita, who once a year, usually in early October, takes anyone signing in for a little over $100 (superb lunch catered by local salad and sandwich shop included) around his favourite spots.

Garden of Eve:

Over 15 years ago this organic farm was founded by two environmental scientists, husband & wife. Eve and Chris are sustained mainly by CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and cooking schools like NGI on Manhattan, who regularly purchase their environmentally clean produce.
Potato farms used to cover the fields, but the past decades introduced more diverse crops. At the Garden of Eve they grow around 70 varieties of vegetables and berries. We arrived into the October bonanza of pumpkins, a fall colour spectrum of perfectly round or genuinely bumpy squashes, but heirloom tomatoes, eggplants, beets, cauliflowers, were still ripening on the couple’s 65 acres of organic soil.
Not everyone subscribes to pesticide and herbicide-free agriculture in the area though since it is more costly and labor intensive. We witnessed the wild weeds relishing in the organic soil. Eve pointed out that it is costly to hire people to weed it out, but the crops usually bloom in this chaotic diversity. She further advised: “If the produce is not certified, don’t believe it is organic.” There are many charlatans selling produce at farmers markets and since now people seem to care more about where their food comes from and are willing to pay for it, some capricious vendors take advantage of the naive believers.
The farm hives with diversity. There are animals like dogs, sheep (for wool), turkeys, and about 1000 chickens, whose manure is used as a fertiliser. The chickens are not organic certified, for it you need to buy organic chicken, feed them increasingly expensive organic feed or raise them from chicks. The dogs protect the feathery egg-bearers from other animals like groundhogs and racoons. All these animals create the perfect win-win situation for the entire farm.
 organic farm in North Fork

Catapano dairy farm:

On five acres the owners Karen, a nurse, and her musician husband Michael, tend for about hundred milking goats. In the New York state all milk and cheese must be pasteurised, but goats milk doesn’t need homogenisation because it’s consistent and easy to digest (five times! easier than cows milk).
It is a costly and time consuming labor of love to raise goats for milk. While a cow produces 10 gallons of milk per day all year around, a goat only seasonally (May till November) gives about 1 gallon per day (about 1pound of cheese) despite being milked twice on a given day (we were allowed to try it as well). Adding to that a baby goat costs about 600-700USD; and requires lots of attention before after about seven months they generally start to produce milk.
Goats are picky about their food compared with free grazing sheep – hay and grass are their preferred delicacies, but for more strength grapes, carrots and manmade crackers are fed them after giving birth. The sweetness in milk comes from the food so at Catapano they feeding her sugar. It paid off since their Farmstead Goat cheese was chosen as the “Best fresh goat cheese in America” by the American Cheese Society.
In the US goats meat is not very popular so after they get old they sell it to other farms as a partner to horses etc.
Here, next to a delectable range of goat and sheep cheese, soft and aged as well as a goat milk soap, you can also buy the “Black Gold Compost”, a fresh chicken, goat and horse poo all in a bag for $8. Your plants will love it!
Goats on Catapano dairy farm

Macari family Winery:

This biodynamic winery is quite large and commercial as most in the area, and often buys grapes from others. Their in stainless steel fermented white Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling are good, although not bargains for the price of $27 per bottle. Macari also make young white wine in Austrian heurigen style, a rose that was so popular that it sold out this year, red Merlot and blend Sette that are nothing special, being overtly fruity.

Greenport Harbor Brewing Company:

On sunny and warm weekends the area hums with young flâneurs, and as much as the wineries get their share of sippers and sniffers, the small craft brewery outsmarted the State law prohibiting making of food on the liquor making estates by offering snacks at their Food Truck. A six-yar-old brainchild of two beer-loving college friends, the micro brewery now makes a widely creative assortment of beer. Working with local farmers who grow their grains for malt makes them ultra-local. Being from the Czech republic, strangely I am not a huge beer fan, although I have my favourites at monasteries in Prague, I did not like any of the beers except the slightly sweet Guiness style Black Duck Porter with hints of molasses, roasted cocoa and coffee flavours.
Oyster farm on Long Islandoysters on the beach

Widow’s Hole Oyster Company:

New York state used to produce and consume a huge amount of wild oysters until the 1960s. Today the seabound village port of Greenport still harnesses the most of the crème from the local small scale production, and the top New York chefs recognise it. Anyone from Eric Rippert at Le Bernardin, 11 Madison, Annissa, to popular eateries like Balthazar, the food emporium Eataly and many others order the Widow’s Hole oysters.
The neighboring waters were known as the “oysterponds” feeding New York city of the 19th century. These sustainable sea shells (they consume CO2) like cool and constant temperature and now only left handed Virginia oyster is allowed on this coast because of diseases from other oysters. The owners Mike and Isable Osinski stressed that; “It is best though to leave the oysters out on sun since the dryness outside of water kills many bacteria.“
Our timing could not have been more ideal, since the harvest season starts in the fall and runs till January. The family members shelled a perfect aperitif amount of superb fresh oysters for us to slurp with our case of Sauvignon Blanc that we got from the generous Macari winery.
What a day! We got back to Manhattan exhausted, but relaxed after such a discovery day gourmandising in the nature.
Address book:

CATAPANO DAIRY FARM 33 705 North Road, Peconic, NY 11 958
Contact: +1 631 765 8042
GARDEN OF EVE ORGANIC FARM 4558 Sound Avenue, Riverhead, NY 11 901
Contact: +1 631 722 8777
WIDOW’S HOLE OYSTER COMPANY 307 Flint St., Greenport, NY 11944
Contact: +1 631 477 3442
LAVENDER BY THE BAY 7540 Main Road, East Marion, NY 11939
Contact: +1 631 477 1019

GREENPORT HARBOUR BREWING COMPANY 234 Carpenter St, Greenport, NY 11944
Contact: +1 631 477 6681
Spruce: from California organic farms to your plate

Spruce is currently one of the troop leaders of sophisticated, honest and locally sourced restaurants in San Francisco. The bay area had been in our modern times the pioneering US city for farm-sourced ingredients in casual as well as fine dining. Today as the farm-to-table movement infected most of on high-quality focused chefs around the globe, the term may sound a bit worn out, yet sourcing locally from small farms is a sound, first step towards more sustainable dining out. It tends to taste better too. The produce is the king and the chef is its intuitive right hand.
Spruce restaurant in San Francisco
The self-taught and by experience formed art of the Spruce’s chef Mark Sullivan was appraised by the Michelin guide, awarding the restaurant one star in its guide each year since 2011. Sullivan’s personal relationship with local farmers and ranchers translates smoothly into the seasonal menus. Most of the ingredients are sourced from the organic SMIP Ranch and the restaurant, being a loyal fan of CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), lets the customers pick up their pre-ordered vegetable boxes (presented on the SMIP Facebook Page) at Spruce. Squashes, sunchokes, pole beans, beets and other root vegetables feature on the menu now in the autumn.
The ambiance has it all. A pompously welcoming Baccarat chandelier sets a high dining tone, while a chic cocktail bar with a special reduced menu offers the Spruce Hamburger, a coveted treat of many locals including the Asian-American founder of Song Tea & Ceramics located nearby. The large main dining room allows a glimpse of the youth-meets-nonchalance bar scene, but the restaurant facilitates rather a more fine dining experience. Bolstered chairs and faux ostrich coated sofas contrast with a barn style roof supported by wooden beams, just to remind you that the farm cuisine takes the leading role and the elegant setting is just a co-star. On the walls, charcoal sketches from the Parisian street artist “Bard” and a rotating collection of art bring in a more youthful breeze.There are three private dining spaces. From a small Shiraga (seats 14) room through the Library (up to 20 guests) to the Laurel room for big parties (up to 40).
Spruce restaurant in San Francisco
Comforting feelings are evoked while scanning the menus. “Just-baked Coffee Cake“, “Warm Banana Cake“, “house-made gravy”, again in contrast with french gourmand rhetoric from crèpes, crème anglaîse, hollandaise to bèarnaidase sauce old-world attempt to fluff in some sophistication. If you do not have time to dine in or the restaurant is packed, right by the entrance pick a freshly baked panini, cookies, salads, and take-away artisan coffees at the adjoining Café.
If Sunday Brunch fits into your lazy weekend schedule than Spruce is the right place to go. Located in the residential hood of Presidio Heights means booking ahead is highly advisable. Even simple plates like fruits with your brunch are impeccably chosen not just for their make-up but also the substance that unveils itself on your palate. Such a beautiful presentation is hard to copy at home.
fresh fruits
The term local can have a greater span than one might assume. Local does not necessarily mean that everything is sourced from a garden next door or a farm just out of town, local in the US can mean that the lobster comes from Maine, because Maine lobster is the best. Nevertheless, it still comes from the US and is not shipped from France. The brunch French Omelette served over SMIP Ranch Greens and layered with truffled Brie from Marin is an erotic foreplay to a ravishing sensual experience while you are filling your mouth with each morsel. One of the best omelettes I have ever had. Exquisite! You can also lux up your first Sunday meal with California Osetra Caviar or succulent Maine Lobster served atop soft-scrambled eggs on brioche. Both of these sumptuous plates are also available for lunch.
A dinner at Spruce starts with a stone tile and two buttery French baignettes. Warm, cozy and luscious introduction to your evening. Off the menu are daily or seasonal specials highlighted by the word of mouth of your server. In October, we were offered Pan-seared Maine lobster for two served on a large pan with fresh rosemary branches. The waiters partially plated some of the giant lobster, potatoes and autumn vegetables, while leaving the rest with the sides on our table for an additional indulgent self-help.
Spruce restaurant in San Francisco
 
The desserts are surely as delicious as the savory courses, but a selection of artisan cheese from all over the US won us over. The menu changes but can include the well-known milk and cheese producing areas in Vermont and Wisconsin, but also picks from the New York state and even goat’s Sophia from Indiana. We had to order a “taste of all” six, although a single or a selection of three are also available. The quality was impeccable and for cheese connoisseurs like ourselves tasting less-known, handcrafted produce was utmost satisfying.
The wine list at Spruce is worth a special visit since it is rare to find older vintages of American wines anywhere outside the private collections. It cannot rival to Dean and DeLuca’s cellar (purchased by Napa-based entrepreneur Leslie Rudd) at its adjacent restaurant Press in Napa Valley (over 10.000 bottles), but its breath, over 2.500 selections, is exciting for any serious wine connoisseur. Awards showered its merits as the Wine Spectator has recognized their wine list for years. From 2007 to 2014, Spruce received their “Best of Award of Excellence”, and in 2015 the magazine’s highest honor, a “Grand Award” landed on the restaurant’s name. A massive international selection of wines by the glass, by the spoon for the syrupy Tokaji Essencia includes centenaries of Madeira (starting with 1907 vintage!!).
It does not mean though that you can pick the wrong bottle as we did at first. The sommelier omitted to inform us that the two-decades-old California Pinot Noir we ordered was already fading, in fact, it was in the decomposing stage of becoming a vinegar. As expensive it was (about $250) we complained to the sommelier and got another, younger bottle. A sigh of relief, we liked the three years old Pinot enough to enjoy it with your lobster main course and the American-only cheese plate. A great cup of tea for better digestion erased the vinous disappointment and the sweet chocolates served with it restored our wide smiles. Spruce is now affirmed on our to-go-list when visiting San Francisco.
🕗 Mon-Fri: lunch 11:30am-2:30pm & dinner 5-10pm (Fri 11pm).
Sat: dinner: 5-11pm
Sun: brunch 10am-2pm & dinner 5-9pm.
☏ +(1) 415 931 5100
✉ 3640 Sacramento St, San Francisco, CA 94118, US

Best fast organic cafés in Los Angeles, California

The vigorous spur of seasonal, local and organic eating out feels like green shoots after rain, so much desired in the drought-tormented Los Angeles. Weather aside, the LA’s healthy café scene has sparked fireworks over the Hollywood sign in the past decades. This sudden, but forceful boom of organic Los Angeles cafés fascinated me. I have been scanning the menus and savouring the self-pronounced healthy culinary experiments of the outstretched metropolis for years now and chose the best.
organic green juicekombucha in Santa Monica
With each visit, more brightness shone into the real deals and I was able to discern the honest, health focused organic Los Angeles cafés as well as the serious restaurants from those obscured by foxy marketing tactics. The fumes of entertainment seem to have literally stoned many local minds into apathetic naivety. There is now so much to choose from, but not every organic café is as healthy and rejuvenating as it claims. Strikingly, often these magic nourishment promising bombs pack unnecessary calories into their condensed meals and ‘super’ drinks. Some also need a serious sanitary upgrade and I would not entirely trust their food’s safety. I chose the best smart options for you, that survived the booming medicinal food battle on steroids over the past decade. When needed, I also highlight some traps, and advise you to always ask the staff what allergens, how many calories and what and how much sweeteners are in your dish. In the US this is a law and any fast food provider must provide you with nutritional information.

Survival of the fittest willing to assimilate trends

Despite being a well-serving veteran, Urth-Café became so last decade, slowly fading trend. This organic Los Angeles cafeteria still serves gigantic American portions of organic salads, gluten-free oily and sugary cakes, conventionally pressed juices and high-quality coffee drinks, the ex-hotspot still attracts the celebrities seeking crowds. The real health pursuing stars are long gone, though.
There were worse offenders, though, but luckily dozens of amateurish, self-taught-chefs openings, went out of business. Playing into the consumers advantage and since the competition is so rife, the menus need to diversify substantially in order to survive in the LA’s hive of the vegan at al. activity, so I picked the most distinct, independently thinking cafés that are equally invested in the quality of their take-outs.
Refined sugar, GMOs, trans-fats and hydrogenated oils are taboos for all of my following selections of organic Los Angeles Cafés.
macrobiotic food

Healthful organic Los Angeles Café leaders – innovation, great taste, and nutrition:

M Café

While shopping in Beverly Hills or on Melrose pop for a breakfast, a quick healthy lunch or a snack to M. This macrobiotic café and take-out designed in European contemporary café style has kept over the years many of its popular staples on the menu. Since macrobiotic dining may confuse many novices, myself together with their well-documented celebrity following like their straightforward, for California unusually uncomplicated approach. Everything at M Café is made without any refined sugar, dairy, eggs, poultry or red meat, and using only organic whole grains from the California-based Koda Farms (Kokuho Rose brown rice) is all in sync with the macrobiotic lifestyle. Eastern Japanese inspiration, as well as local Cal-Mex favourites like tacos on Tuesdays, form the clear-cut menus. Gluten-free options are highlighted. I do not count as a fan of their macro sushis, but love their burritos and ready-made house salads. While guiding the essential food combinations, the otherwise flexible Macro Meal lets you accommodate your, in the moment, cravings into a wholesome macrobiotic plate. Their agave-flavoured lemonades can be quite sweet, and if you are guarding calories opt for cold-pressed vegetable juices instead.
Families are welcome as the Kid’s menu caters to the youngest generation while a special Cleanse program for a total health reboot can be delivered directly to your house or hotel.
MUST HAVE: hearty Breakfast Burrito; breakfast Tofu Scramble; The M Chopped salad; Egg-Less Salad with dill; mayonnaise-free Coleslaw; M Café Macro Meal, carb & calorie-free “Miracle Noodles” with a choice of broth and protein.
macrobiotic cafe in LAmacrobiotic and organic Los Angeles M-cafe and take-out

Kreation Organic

Kreation is a trendy organic Los Angeles vegetarian hotspot that has been recently moving away from the raw and vegan-only menu. Stretching its branches across the city now its liquid “super foods” even cruise around sold casually from a juice truck. Since Kreation is centred around extensive juice offerings (perhaps the most creative blends in town) and four levels of “Kleanses” (shipped only locally for freshness, no shipping outside the city), some locations are only for take-aways, but the large Kafés offer casual sit-down spaces with mostly raw, vegan and also some cooked healthy plates. Often inspired by the founder’s Persian roots, yet most of their USDA Organic Certified ingredients are sourced from the local Santa Monica farmers market.
I am not too keen on their gigantic Amaze Bowls based on açai or the Jungle Bowl of honey sweetened frozen green juice, both served with fresh fruits and crumbles of granola. I find them too sweet and shockingly high in calories for a regular breakfast. You won’t find calories and nutritional info on the take-away packages though, so beware! If you are not an athlete, they should be indulged in as a treat. Depending on the batch, the Sour Cream Kale Chips can be too chewy. For a glowing skin, rather snack on the simple but highly addictive and simply dehydrated Coconut, Almond and Apple Crisps. Beauty and wellness tonics such as Skin, Energy, Libido, Candida, and many others constantly being invented and reinvented are sold in small bottles promising to be “good for what ails you“. Your inner naturopath will be emotionally taken by the curative and make-yourself-prettier shots.
MUST HAVE: Chia Yogurt (now called “Vanilla Almond Yogi”); Coco Apple Crisps; Green 3; Skinny & Marjan’s Favorite juice; Cantaloupe and Rose water; Matcha coconut milk latte, Gazpacho Soup; Garbanzo Bean Hummus Wrap in Collard Greens; Garbanzo and black bean hummus, Chocolates with herbs, seeds, and dried fruits.
organic cold pressed juicesuperfoods
acai bowlvegan coconut yogurt

Life Food Organic

Life Food Organic’s new location on Pico Boulevard remains focused on raw vegan food, preserving enzymes, sprouting nuts and seeds for easier digestibility as does its more rustic branch in Hollywood. Customise your juice blends, let your creativity soar, and pick from one of their natural sweeteners to assure your complete satisfaction. A recently fixed patio at the back creates a better dine-in ambiance and serves daily for a couple of hours as an open-air yoga studio. It is brighter and like its original Hollywood location space embraces holistic lifestyle by bringing yoga and meditation under one roof.
For all the in-house made drinks and meals, including the ice cubes, a nine-stage water filtration removing chemicals is used. Bottled drinks include Synergy kombucha, various flavours of iced tea, and by crystals activated water. Most of them are sourced from other US brands specialising in health drinks. All day breakfast is convenient. Energy surge is guaranteed by consuming the cooling antioxidant spike of the Açai bowl, chewy Buckwheaties Cereal in almond milk or savoury Breakfast Burrito.
Beware while sampling the “Wellness Elixirs” since most can shock your taste buds or digestive system with cayenne hot, vinegary (Candida Clear, Alkaliser) or oily (Three Immortals Hot Tea) potions tasting like a bad Chinese medicine. While these drinks might overwhelm with disgust, others are delectable adding to a more complete organic Los Angeles lifestyle.
MUST HAVE: Vanilla Almond Milk; Sea Wrap; Green Burrito; Green Healing Soup – nut and spices free gazpacho for a healthful recovery; tamari almonds; Vietnamese Spring Rolls.
organic Los Angeles vegan take-out

MAKE OUT

MAKE OUT suggests naughty indulgence, yet it rather offers raw vegan gustatory pleasure involving your stomach, not other body parts. Tucked behind the historic Culver Hotel on a pedestrian walkway, the recently relaunched simpler, more catering and a take-away focused sister to the, sadly, closed plant-based restaurant MAKE in Santa Monica. The expanding string of new ventures directed by the raw culinary maestro Matthew Kenney has opened a fancier restaurant Plant Food and Wine on the ultra-hip Abbot Kinney Road in Venice Beach.
At MAKE OUT the take-out menu of its cosmetically stripped of its predecessor’s sophistication making it more suitable on-the-go. The MAKE OUT Salad does not strike my taste buds with the coconut “bacon’s” sweetness and the Kelp noodles with olives are quite boring. On the other spectrum of taste is their superb, although messy in your hands, Cobb Wrap, as well as the Ginger & carrot kelp noodles. The dehydrated snacks are a treat and lighter than most raw snacks sold at Wholefoods. What Kenney does best though is creativity and portion control. His are the smallest and lightest vegan dishes I have had in the entire America. The juices are not always made to taste great, so be prepared for some awkward moments.
MUST HAVE: Cobb Wrap; Ginger and carrot kelp noodles; anything with macadamia truffle “cheese”.
organic vegan take-outorganic Los Angeles plant-based eatery MAKE OUT Culver City

Moon Juice

In the realm of food and snacks, the seeds, beans and grains are all being “activated”. By soaking them and draining the liquid, the naturally present toxic phytic acid in beans is removed and the beneficial enzymes are encouraged, activated, while aiding digestion. These activated “super foods” together with original blended juices fuel sufficient energy to the muscles of the athletes and hikers stumbling into on of the smartly located branches of Moon Juice. Their packaging might seem quite woodoo-ish, promising magical healing through food, but their original mixes of raw foods are really intense at least on your palate. Some of their raw snacks explode with calories, such as the tiny dessert of Probiotic Cream Cheese on a carrot, ginger, and nut-based cookie patty, the not so tasty Addictive Wellness chocolates, and Activated Maca Mesquitte Walnuts sweetened with maple syrup, bananas, and dates and coated in an almond butter batter (so delicious!). They are rather indulgent, but less processed than most conventional energy bars. An ideal boost to your stamina prior to an intense workout and can sooth your later sugar cravings. Their dehydrated raw veggies and activated seeds crackers such as Green Fermented Seed Crisps with cultured cabbage, burdock, dandelion, and many other ‘magic’ ingredients, are daring an acquired taste for some. Packed with plenty of naturally occurring vitamins and minerals they seem a better option than any heavily processed savoury snacks. Burn it out through an intense activity and you will shine throughout your organic Los Angeles journey.
MUST HAVE: Juices and nut “milks”; Chipotle Chile & Lime Raw Mango with a pinch of pink salt; Activated Maca Mesquitte Walnuts; Activated Turmeric, Coconut & Lime Pepitas; Carrot Gingerbread & Probiotic ‘Cream Cheese’ Icing.
Moon Juice LA Moon Juice

Healthier treats in Los Angeles:

The current hype in beverages calls for a wide selection of naturally flavoured fizzy kombucha on tap, the fermented mushroom beverage tastefully upgraded in LA from its austere Euro-Asian original. The more upscale Café Gratitude, Sun Café and other fashionable healthy stalwarts went beyond lemonades and juices as they got into fermenting their growing mushroom brew or buy kegs from reputable kombucha makers.

The Hive

  • a kombucha heaven, is a perfect drinks spot but also a casual tapas bar. Their kombucha creations are perhaps the most creative in town and, unlike most of the mushroomy tasting fermented fizzy sisters sold elsewhere, they taste great! No ice is added into their drinks, so no cheating and no shock for your metabolism is guaranteed.

If you crave gelato, then LA also has a guilt-free tasty option:

Kind Kreme‘s vegan ice creams

  • based on coconut or almond milk and blended with super foods, so they turn the frozen sin into tongue-dazzling guilt-free treats.

superfood chocolate

Erewhon

  • the fully organic health foods only market that since 1968 set the standard for other businesses in town. For years, there was only one location in LA near the Grove in West Hollywood, but another, more polished had recently opened in the hip sea-tucked hood of Venice. Their tonic bar serves fresh juices, smoothies, brewed tea, mushrooms-based hot drinks, kombucha on tap as well as the frozen acai and pitaya bowls and organic coffee by Victoria. There are shaded tables outside to devour the ultra-nutritious meals prepared daily on the premises. Even the brown rice sushi rolls like the spicy tuna (sustainably caught) are great! Erewhon is a temple of the health-focused organic Los Angeles foodies.

Erewhorn healthy cafe in LASnacks at Erewhorn healthy cafe in LA
Overwhelmingly, the wave of resentment towards processed food pushes the Angelenos to craving relentlessly their next superfood and make-me-beautiful-and-healthy magic potions in their daily, no gluten please, meals. Perhaps encouraged by the Hollywood perfectionism, the local organic offerings thrive, but as I stressed at the beginning of this post, scrutinise and keep the portions reasonably sized as overeating, even through these “healthy” foods will not make you feel well. Finding the best casual organic LA cafés is a work in progress since so many new healthy businesses open.
Despite my efforts to pull the strings of hindsight to the maximum, the coming years may disprove the health claims of some of my choices. As it constantly happens in science and nutrition, in particular, progress never stops and with it, each claim is either supported or uprooted. What is hard to argue with though is that balance is good for our health and La Muse Blue will always support and encourage this value for its readers. Enjoy all the organic Los Angeles and you will also support sustainability.

Le Bernardin: the finest gastronomic take on seafood in New York

Triumphing all dining doyens of one of the most vibrant cities in the world, Zagat’s monitors, the participating diners themselves, plucked Le Bernardin as “The Best and Most Popular Restaurant in New York” throughout recent years. By receiving 29 points, only step away from the summit of 30, Le Bernardin became the only constant bearer flagging the “extraordinary to perfection” esteem in New York since 1996. The Michelin Guide sealed the seriousness of its business with three stars honours for a decade now. Le Bernardin picks the accolades like cherries in June, the restaurant ranks within top 20 on the San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. Its global culinary star gleams on the skies over Manhattan.
Bar at Le BernardinBar scene at Le Bernardin
Conscious of all these flattering achievements one enters the restaurant fuming with extraordinary expectations, challenging Le Bernardin’s impeccable team in keeping them sufficiently fired up. My first, self-gratifying, encounter at the restaurant’s first-come, first-sit bar, left me gasping for almost three years of scoring the coveted reservation at the main dining room.
The bar, although offering a limited menu is surely a better deal, since the a la carte dishes at the main restaurant are very expensive (Prix-Fixe starts at $135 for four-courses and climbs with tasting menus that must be ordered by the entire table; a three-course lunch for set price $76 gives you a taste of the culinary riches there if your work schedule allows hours-lasting midday gourmandising).
It is worth the splurge, and if you like seafood, make a dinner at Le Bernardin your birthday wish. My recent otherworldly hedonistic pleasures from the chef’s tasting menu confirmed that neither* Annisa (overhyped or we just fought a bad night & ultra slow service), Bouley (very disappointing dinner this summer), Daniel (well-past its prime), Gotham Bar & Grill (ultra-accommodating service yet food lacks in consistency) could not win the battle of knives facing the French-born chef Eric Ripert.
Eric Ripert
Ripert has an unparalleled experience at Paris’ best dining establishments. First conceived in the “City of Lights”, Le Bernardin was the first purely seafood restaurant ever being awarded three Michelin stars. There, he worked closely with its founder and chef Gilbert Le Coze, the legend of the French seas. After the Le Coze’s death, Ripert continued to uphold the highest standards of Le Bernardin in Paris for years, but the success of the Le Bernardin’s expansion to the US was sawn on his chef’s white jacket. His knowledge of fish and seafood owes to his early experience on the Mediterranean shores of Antibes, South of France, that laid solid foundations to his culinary expertise.
The atmosphere at the scantly lit bar is slightly more lively and convivial as the bar chairs left you sitting next to strangers and the small closely set low tables, but the best to-be-seen crowd sits beyond in the brighter and comfortably  arranged dining room. Dress up smart elegant if you ant to fit in or wear a sculpture on your head as one in her mind youthful lady did, drawing attention from all corners of the expansive restaurant. The ultimate eye catcher though is a giant photograph of ocean waves on the back wall. Drawing you in as if you were a surfer captivated by the water
Take your board and enjoy the ride through the chef’s tasting menu rooted mostly in the French cooking techniques. The chef captured his culinary spirit saying:

 Everything we do in the kitchen—using subtle textures and flavors, seeking out the freshest ingredients—has the same goal: to enhance and elevate the fish. 

Peruvian Style Scallop Ceviche Lobster at le Bernardine
No frills diners can start with oysters or caviar. Although sourced from the best purveyors and undoubtedly a luxurious catch, these do not test the chef’s skills. For more show in your shells, try the Chilled Beausoleil oysters; sea grape and pickled shallot, “seaweed water” gelée.
It all starts with the bread though and the French roots of the chef show their full potential with a wide and creative, perfectly warm selection from the bread basket. A shiny cover is lifted and ‘Voilà‘ butter, of course!
At the bar, we ordered the Peruvian Style Scallop Ceviche with our glass of champagne. Since Peruvian food preparation has been in the spotlight of recent years, Ripert could hardly escape the enchantment of the savory whims of this Latin-American culinary style.
In the line with his elevating philosophy, the scallops were utmost tender, melting softly like a scoop of gelato almost without using your teeth. Gently refreshed with the spicy lime juice, they were bathing modestly submerged so their tender skin remained unaffected. Unlike in Peru, where the sauce pops out and twists your tongue in an anxious move from the acid attack, in New York, they received delicate treatment from the sensitive chef.
Currently, the Kanpachi Tartare covered by a layer of wasabi tobiko ginger and embalmed in a coriander emulsion is not anymore on the menu. It was superbly balanced as is now the Wild striped bass tartare; jicama salad, champagne-mango emulsion with a bit of sweet fruity twist.
The Yellowfin Tuna carpaccio; Iberico ham “chutney,” sea beans, lemon and extra virgin olive oil from the restaurant’s menu has been in revised preparations served at the restaurant for years. The paper-thin slices of sublime tuna are layered and dressed to impress your taste buds.
From the warm snacks at the bar the Warm Lobster and Truffle “en Brioche” was perhaps the richest seasonal offering. The fluffy Brioche was filled with boiled tender lobster and black truffle shavings. Aromatic, intense yet still retaining harmony.
fish starter at Le Bernardinraw fish
Our Chef’s tasting menu at the restaurant included:
Yellowfin Tuna carpaccio (above)

Warm King Fish “Sashimi;” Osetra Caviar Light Marinière Broth – out of this world perfection!
Pan Roasted Langoustine; Foie Gras Soubise Aged Sherry-Verjus Vinaigrette
Lacquered Lobster Tail; Herb Spring Roll, Lemongrass Consommé
Pan Roasted Monkfish; Baked Portobellos, Pearl Onions à la Crème Paprika Sauce
Grilled Escolar and Seared Wagyu Beef; Fresh Kimchi Asian Pear, Soy-Citrus Emulsion
Matcha Green Tea Custard, Preserved Lychee Jasmine Ice Cream
Marinated “Golden Blueberries,” Frozen Sweet Corn Meringue

three michelin star dessert
The chef keeps the rise in vegetarianism in check, currently offering Warm artichoke panaché; vegetable risotto, lemon emulsion and the Mesclun Salad of the day’s market herbs and vegetables with balsamic-shallot vinaigrette.
Ripert simply covers it all. Interestingly in his signature tasting menu, one of the courses was an unusual fish meets meet course of White Tuna-Kobe Beef served with fresh kimchi, Asian pear, soy-citrus emulsion. More purely meat dishes like duck, lamb and fillet mignon can be served upon request if the land call rings louder to your taste. Yet, what I savoured with the most pleasure in by the sea and Maine lobster gifted country was the trio served before:
Warm King Fish “Sashimi;” Osetra Caviar Light Marinière Broth, the utmost treat and perhaps the best dish I had this year, but I also enjoyed the Asian flavours harnessing Lacquered Lobster Tail; Herb Spring Roll, Lemongrass Consommé and finally the Pan Roasted Monkfish; Baked Portobellos, Pearl Onions à la Crème Paprika Sauce. Impossible to make these better!
Gluten free Hazelnut Praline:
The desserts are outstanding jewels on their own. Gluten intolerant foodies with a sweet tooth and chocolate affection will delight in the Hazelnut Praline: Flourless Hazelnut Cake, Gianduja Mousse, Orange Curd, Praline Ice Cream. Our voracious appetites did not have enough after two desserts from our tasting so we split one before the chocolates and other mignardises arrived with our tea.
In the afternoon, you can come to the bar and savor the french style with the “Café Gourmand”. In this dressed down French version of the afternoon tea, you will get a tasting of a trio of mini sweets with a cup of top quality coffee.
california wineGreek wine by the glass

Drinking well at Le Bernardin

The best sommelier in town, Aldo Sohm, secures intriguing wines by the glass and extraordinary bottles. From the white mineral Burgundy-like (imagine a Puligny-Montrachet) Domaine Aubert‘s Chardonnay of the Sonoma provenance to red Greek wine from the Domaine Economou of Crete, one can stretch the global wine boundaries during one meal. After 7 years of ageing at the winery, the blackberry and spice scented Greek beauty is ready to drink when it is released to the market. The local red grape varietals Liatiko (80%) is blended with 20% of Mandilaria. The mature flavours humming with plum, spices, blackberries, jam, raisin and prune flavours, unveil complexity, supple tannins and long-lasting aftertaste. By-the-glass – you must try it! There are plenty of older vintages of anything from Europe through the New World riches. The team of sommeliers, each proudly wearing their tastevin, swiftly cruise between the tables seeking your attention, so capture one of them and enjoy the wine talk. It is a special meal out, and if you spent five hours dining at Le Bernardin, you won’t be the only table who did so!
🕗 Lunch: Mon– Fri: 12 pm – 2:30 pm
Dinner: Mon – Thurs: 5:15 pm – 10:30 pm; Fri– Sat: 5:15 pm – 11 pm
✉ 155 West 51st Street, Mid-Town New York 10019
☏ +(1) 212 554 1515

  • I have not secured a table at Eleven Maddison Park yet, and it has been years since I dined at Jean-Georges French flagship, therefore, cannot include these two top-ranking restaurants in my comparison.
Planted beyond Hollywood: the best vegan eats in LA

I cherry picked the best vegan eats in Los Angeles where you won’t find just the grungy hippies, ultra-serious yogis, hot and paper-thin models. Popularised by the hippies of the 1960s, the animal welfare protecting vegetarianism and a step more veganism are flowing with a steady resolve into the mainstream consciousness.
Vegetables

In vogue: healthy animal-friendly dining

There are now hundreds of vegan cafes, juice detoxes, and other health promissing, slimming, life-prolonging and perfect complexion guaranteeing ‘cures’ in LA. Increasingly, young families, fit professionals of all ages as well as foodies hunting for organic and tasty meal balancing the life’s indulgences have communally joined ocassional ‘plantvorism’. Here you find more than Casual organic vegan Cafés and take outs in LA, but proper restaurants suitable for a work lunch, a romantic date or a fun dinner out.

Swayed by celebrities: gourmet goes vegan

The life-changing chimes of the vegan mantra vibrate forcefully throughout the metropolis reaching the culinary skies of the high-end dining. Blame it on the outspoken vegan celebrities; Alicia Silverstone, Anne Hathaway, Ellen DeGeneres, Brad Pitt, Jared Leto, even Jay-Z & Beyoncee hung on to plant foods only for a while. After trying some of the plants-only meals you may also become the animal produce eschewing convert if only for a day per week.
Spurring from the trend-setting Melrose area with Tal Ronnen’s Crossroads the cruelty-free and heart-friendly diet is now like a spider net taking over the town. Even many of the ‘normal’ restaurants and luxury hotels now include a vegan burger, breaded scaloppini, a cauliflower steak or simple organic vegetables on their menus. Wolfgang Puck, G.Baldi and the ever popular Venice stalwart Gjelina, all highlight their vegetarian and vegan-friendly plates.

The best vegan eats in Los Angeles:

These are my rigorously tested purely organic favourites in the most visited neigborhoods of LA.

Café Gratitude

organic and vegan food vegan food at Cafe Gratitude
The role model for many plant-based restaurants, located in the beach-lined Venice and the more central Larchmont Village, the best vegan eats in LA are to be found at Cafe Gratitude. The pioneer of tastefully decorated, lush cholesterol-free dining yielded loyal followers beyond the healthful locals.
Gratitude takes you on a spiritual journey of nourishing through its seasonal satisfying plates, bowls, magical elixirs, house made spritzers and cold-pressed juice blends with wacky titles like ‘Blessed’, ‘Sassy’ or ‘Outrageous’. Their juice cleanse was developed to “restore both the mind and body not only through what we consume, but through love, acceptance, gratitude, worth, creation, abundance and generosity.” With this mantra in mind, the social detox devotees can enjoy their body flushing juices while participating in the Cafe Gratitude’s vibrant atmosphere.
The flavour-abundant desserts are so dense and packed with nutrients that it is better to share the nut-based cakes. A bite into the dark chocolate cube filled with heavenly creamy almond butter will send you jumping to the moon, while the lime cheesecake, lighter and fresher is the perfect sweet breakfast or afternoon treat with a cup of tea. Some non-vegans come just for these luscious agave sweetened indulgences. Most menu items change seasonally.
MUST HAVE:  FABULOUS raw lasagna, PRESENT bruschetta, BRIGHT sautéed spicy broccolini, guacamole with corn tortillas or flax or buckwheat crackers, or the wholesome sesonally changing COMMUNITY BOWL with brown rice or quinoa. The almond chocolate cubes and the raw nut-based desserts such as I AM AWAKENING Key lime pie or I AM ADORING Tiramissu. Sip on the warm IMMORTAL immunity tonic, the fizzy GUTSY kombucha on tap or the refreshing ZEN inpsired burdock juice.

 Plant Food + Wine

plant-based diningPlant Food + Wine in Venice
Opened by the guru of vegan chefs’ education in America, Matthew Kenney, the squarely named Plant Food + Wine is another Venice favourite. ‘Healthy’ in the United States often translates as giant bowls of rich, often sugary sauces poured over vegetables or gluten-free bowls of grains and animal protein, but Kenney learned from the French nouveau cuisine that size also matters. His head chef’s pedigree is impressive. He trained at many top European kitchens including the Copenhagen’s alma matter Noma. At Plant Food, the chef creates organic, seasonal, plant-based gourmet small plates sprinkled with bright edible flowers and verdant herbs. Unless you order their nine courses market-inspired tasting menu, the nibbling portions may not fill you up. The cosy outdoor patio, heirloom vegetable garden and friendly service comfort most cravings. Their mostly raw seasonal menu flattered our European taste buds.
Beyond the raw coolness, some warm dishes like the Farro Balls accommodate the LA’s chilly dessert nights out. The cocktails, by-the-glass selections, as well as their biodynamic and organic wine list are well suited for the setting. To truly rejuvenate though by eschewing alcohol opt for fresh juices or herbal spritzers. At Plant Food + Wine you will less likely consume too may calories thriving in the nut-packed raw foods jammed in large platings.
MUST HAVE: Truffle macadamia cheese with pickles, white strawberries, chilli peppers, bread and raw fennel crackers; Leaves; Chlorella Olive Oil Cake with Balsamic Gelato.

 Crossroads

LA's best vegan eats
Tal Ronen, perhaps the most serious US vegan chef spotted his luxurious opening on Melrose with an eagle vision. West Hollywood has remained the city’s trend setter despite the upcoming and more edgy Venice. With white linen covered tables, bulby chandeliers, massive wood furnishings and the classy bar attract many non-vegans in search for a meat-less break when dining out. The Bloody Mary cart with garnishes like an almond milk truffle dill cheese, dehydrated tomato wheel or roasted balsamic cipollini onion, will roll any brunch out with style.
Inspired by the Mediterranean, to me the menu seems like a homage to Italy. The main dining room is closed for lunch, but the adjoining bright café space is less busy while catering to the casual lunch seeking locals. The lunch is much more basic consisting mostly of sandwiches and salads. A warmly decorated private dining room and wine and cheese room with a retractable rooftop are fit for special occasions. For tipples the smartly assembled cocktails and wine list accompany any animal-friendly indulgent evening out.
MUST HAVE: Artichoke ‘oysters’, “Crab” cakes, Porcini truffle fondue, Tortelloni pasta, Scaloppini Millanese, Coconut sorbet.

 Grazias Madre

Grazias Madre Los Angelesdining at Grazias Madre vegan Mexican restaurant
While Crossroads is more elegant and classy, Grazias Madre cajoles by trendy and cool ambiance. San Francisco transplant and a sister to Café Gratitude, this organic Mexican cocktail den swished into the veganovores’ vogue in West Hollywood. The Mexican team of chefs whip out the best vegan eats. The tasty and rich shareables, its lively, by trees and umbrellas shaded patio, and a hotspot bar scene, draw in a youthful crowd. Most of thee seasonal ingredients come from their own Be Love organic farm in California. Some of the dishes that are strongly patriotic of their Mexican roots (like the enchiladas) are hearty so you better share them.
The eyballs roll up above the impressive tequila list, while the organic or biodynamic wine selection and natural cocktails are more nutrient dense than the typical tipple. The most rejuvenating drinks are the warm teas or the American style iced teas like the immunity-boosting hibiscus. Ask for agave-free drinks to avoid any added sugar and for mocktails for an alcohol-free outing.
MUST HAVE: GUACAMOLE CON TORTILLAS, TACOS with cashew cheese, slightly spicy ENCHILADAS CON MOLE, margaritas.

 Shojin Culver City

the best vegan eats include vegan sushi in Los Angelesvegan sushi
Do not miss the discreet entrance of this smarter vegan transport from the Japantown in Downtown, since Shojin in Culver City offers Asian best vegan eats in LA. Their organic shojin-ryori, which is a strict vegan Buddhist diet, is extended to accommodate contemporary tastes. The sushi rolls are the most interesting, tastiest, fish-free and therefore more sustainable versions of maki that I have tried so far. A smooth background music and the subtle and precise Japanese service inside the cosy and sensitively lit restaurant do not yield to the modern rush. Be patient, your food will arrive soon. The comfortable seats, tasteful art and a bottle of wine will relax and entertain any restless mind.
Trying both, the weekend brunch and a weeknight dinner, the evening broadened our options with a full a la carte menu along with a tasting menu. The recommended items proved to be the best vegan eats at Shojin. We were not very impressed by the Caviar over the Rainbow Roll and Sweet Eel Dragon Rolls. Go for the Dynamite Roll since it has been consistently ravishing. After the meal, their subtly sweet cookies (Earl Grey, spicy Chocolate Jalapeño or Lemon with Poppy Seed) pair well with tea or a floral rose infusion.
MUST HAVE: Spicy ‘Tuna’ on a Crispy Rice, Dynamite Roll 2.0, Shojin Crab Cake Tartar, Chocolate and Jalapeño as well as the Sesame Seed cookies.

 Sun Café Organic

Sun Cafe vegan organic foodthe best vegan eats in Los Angeles
Studio City also has its own cultish spot for the health and sustainably minded. The Universal Studios frequenting stars and crews also seek the best vegan eats in this valley area and Sun Café Organic is one of the nicest places for ‘plantvores’. Being mostly gluten-free and offering not too complicated but ingredient driven raw vegan food the superb concoctions of Ron Russell, co-owner and its veteran chef, draws in loyal healthy customers. Sun Café Organic has flourished over the years into a summery lunch spot outdoors, where also a take-out counter serves the time-pressed, while inside its Southern flare decoration invites for a dinner date during the cool desert nights. Colorful flowers rise from the pots scaterred around, and vines climb up on the patio where the fire sparks up any romance in the evenings.
All organic selection of 18 wines-by-the glass, seductive bottles, and craft beers on tap free your tongue for a joyful conversation. You can dine light, but the ‘vegivoriously’ transformed comfort foods such as mac’n’ cheese, lasagna and pad thai without the gluten and carbs of typical pasta are as much satisfying as their naughty originals.
MUST HAVE: Caesar Salad, BBQ Cauliflower, Lettuce Leaf Tacos, Kombucha Dog on tap; seasonal specials.
vegan desserts vegan desserts

Weight watchers and allergy sufferers beware

“Healthy” became the recent hot marketing prerogative of many US restaurants, cafés, and even packaged foods companies. With this hype, and this word’s fleeting meaning in the culture of progressive science that refutes one claim by its opposite braced by the newest research, it is wise not to overindulge even in these “healthy” tagged foods.
Los Angeles, radiating Hollywood’s glamour, is the epicentre of the new diet trends that digest through the ravenous media appetites and the celebrities’ quips that inspire the icons adoring world. Now, that the  organic vegan fare is available to all of you, beware, since nut allergy sufferers won’t find their soulmate in the contemporary vegan diet since it became largely fixated on using nuts instead of dairy and meat.
vegan cookiesI gained almost 10 pounds when savouring the many filling, calorifically generous cookies, nutty bowls, burritos, soups, salads, wraps and ultra-energising “nourishing” smoothies. These energy fillers are fine for the serious athletes, but those of you watching the scale may panic, so do not overindulge and try to eat the same portions as with normal foods. The accent on yummy flavours makes it harder to resist, but listen to your gut, savor mouthful after another, mindfully, and you will get it right.
Salut! to this more healthful, animal-free, organic dining movement that is slowly being embraced by more global cities from New York though London to Hong Kong.

La Muse Blue philosophy: Balance, is the ultimate definition of health.
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