Back from La-La Land

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Coming back to real life after a vacation always feels surreal and a little bit painful painful. This was an especially great and escapist break as it involved the wedding of a good friend from high school, the wedding of my brother-in-law (and now sister-in-law), my own anniversary, house guests, several flights, a couple of road trips, tons of new restaurants, and a whole lot of open bars.


I'll be posting lots of photos soon to the Los Angeles and San Diego pages on Veg Table, but here are some overall impressions.

We ate at a restaurant in SD called Spread that was one of my favorite dining experiences ever. It's mostly vegan and the menu changes daily, and with each bite you can tell that they're using the absolute best ingredients possible. Super friendly staff, fun decor, and the food is all really pretty:

On the recommendation of a friend, we ate at a very veg-friendly Mexican restaurant called Pokez instead of a vegan deli we'd originally slated in. I think it was a good call. Potato flautas are awesome and the grungy vibe felt like the Mission, minus any actual Mexicans though.

LA has a huge array of restaurants to choose from and we didn't get to hit nearly all the ones we'd wanted. The people at XIV had to cancel our reservation for our Anniversary. I was really mad, but we decided to go to Akasha instead and had great cocktails, a great meal, one of the best desserts I've ever had, and a chat with the owner, Akasha herself.

I also enjoyed Cafe Flourish, had a "Faux-stess" cupcake at Real Food Daily, and loved Pure Luck, where I got to try a "pulled-pork" sandwich made from jack fruit. Can I get Bender's to start making this please?

The family wedding this weekend was in Santa Rosa, and I had the chance to try a new Marin County restaurant, which I rarely do. It was called East West Cafe and Restaurant. The food didn't blow me away (everything was a little Tahini-heavy) but there were a lot of vegan choices, all clearly marked which is always appreciated.

Now that the dust is starting to settle, be sure to look out for lots of Veg Table updates over the next few weeks!

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