Category: Vegan

Vegan

Top 10 Restaurants I Frequented in 2019 (San Diego, CA)

Before social pressures, we would just eat and tell others to eat wherever we always ate. These days, it seems, recommendations come skewed by hype (to which I too am not immune) when what we really should be sharing are the places we return to over and over even when no one is looking.

So, here is an un-scientifically compiled list of the restaurants I frequented in San Diego the most in 2019, which was totally inspired by this tweet:

https://twitter.com/heyadamroberts/status/1204928270283632640

Grains

Hands down one of my favorite restaurants in San Diego. I love about 90% of the menu and never hesitate to recommend it to anyone. While I rotate between many of the dishes, the Black Pepper Cashew Chicken—trimmed mushrooms battered and fried in “beef jerky” (my words) sauce served with always perfect rice—special (above) is almost always on my table.

… Top 10 Restaurants I Frequented in 2019 (San Diego, CA)

Asian Vegan Vietnamese

The Purple Mint Vegan Bistro (San Diego, CA)

Summer Rolls are one of the great culinary inventions in the history of man. A perfect package of crunchy vegetables, fragrant herbs, and the soft but snappy bite of rice paper enriched with the sweetness of some sort of sauce. At Purple Mint Vegetarian Bistro I appreciate that they don’t dilute the rolls with extra noodles, offering rice paper stuffed with tofu, purple mint, lettuces, basil, jicama, and carrots.  The sauce, although spiked with crushed peanuts and pickled carrots, runs bland and benefits greatly from a kick of hoisin ($5.95).

… The Purple Mint Vegan Bistro (San Diego, CA)

Vegan

Vegan Friendly: Telefónica Gastro Park in Tijuana

The indoor/outdoor Telefónica Gastro Park offers an array of global flavors infused with the creativity of some of Tijuana’s rising chefs.

The Vibe

Long under the influence of its northern neighbors, the relatively recent dip in tourism has given rise to a brave new breed of Tijuana restaurant. Aimed at feeding the local’s hunger for innovation and community, chefs are pushing the boundaries of Baja cooking.

Telefónica Gastro Park encapsulates this shift.

Read more here: https://www.ediblesandiego.com/articles/vegan-friendly-telefonica-gastro-park-in-tijuana

Home Cooking Vegan

a god-awful small affair: A Bowie Dinner with Joshua Ploeg

I’ve long espoused the idea that foodie culture rose from the smashed emotions of the Great Recession swizzled with Yelp. But lately I’ve been reading the theories of food as entertainment—a phrase that immediately rings true. Because foodie culture also rose along side Food Network, increasing obesity, grocery abundance, Salt Bae, and other bastions of 21st century American culture.

Our Birthday Lady, Beth

But for longer than that, food has been the fuel of the party season. Entertainment not aimed to sell us more or make us docile, but to share a bit of joy with friends, and friends of friends. Touring chef, Joshua Ploeg, tied it all together in an unironic David Bowie themed dinner theater for Beth’s birthday.
… a god-awful small affair: A Bowie Dinner with Joshua Ploeg

Fast Food Vegan

Vegan Friendly: An Unbiased Review of Every “Beyond Meat” Vegan Menu Option at Del Taco

Every January healthy resolutions and organized efforts drive up the demand for vegan food and someone will proclaimed it the “Year of the Vegan.” Then February rolls around and the food world returns to the status quo. This February is different.

Towards the end of 2018, partnerships between thriving plant-based protein brands and the fast food industry were taking root. One of the biggest pairings here in Southern California was the union of Beyond Meat and Del Taco.

But, why?

While vegan options at fast food outlets may seem absurd—as an insider in the vegan community I can tell you that this has been the goal of many all along.

See, I often hear omnivores deflect vegan ideas, lamenting “…if only the food tasted good…”. But we all know that in reality, most Americans will eat plastic garbage if it’s cheap enough. And for new vegans, what many miss more than eggs and cheese are cheap convenient foods.

Read more at: http://ediblesandiego.ediblecommunities.com/eat/vegan-friendly-unbiased-review-every-beyond-meat-vegan-menu-option-del-taco

Home Cooking Vegan

Sweet Earth Foods

It’s not often that companies offer me products—and even rarer that I accept. But seeing as Sweet Earth already has a place in refrigerator, I accepted their mystery swag box.

This plant-based company, helmed by former Pepsico and Burger King important person Brian Swette and former Calvin Kline important person Kelly Swette, offers an ever growing array of refrigerated vegan meats and vegetarian and vegan frozen foods to grocery stores nationwide. Though known mostly to me for the unexpected burrito combinations, my box arrived with (2) frozen bowls and (2) mock meats.
… Sweet Earth Foods

Pub Vegan

Vegan Friendly: The Far West Lounge by Modern Times in Encinitas

The Short and Skinny

Large windows open onto Highway 101, pulling the ocean breeze into Encinitas’ newest vegan food and beer destination.

The Vibe

Dozens of cyclist fly by as the crowd slowly forms outside of The Far West Lounge by Modern Times in Encinitas. Within 20 minutes of opening, the bar is full of breakfast sandwiches and beer flights.

Curling around a marble top horseshoe bar, friends sip beer as their kids climb the underlit stadium seating in soccer practice threads. The papered walls wear badges of the company’s strong “mid-century maximalist” branding—from trays of felted TV dinners to cross-stitch rackets by Modern Times’ inhouse “art gnomes.” In the corner, a mini mart offers beer cans, coffee beans, and Modern Times branded swag to-go.

Read more at: http://ediblesandiego.ediblecommunities.com/eat/vegan-friendly-far-west-lounge-modern-times-encinitas