Pizza Fusion in Hollywood

I have to say, one of the best perks about living in a big city like L.A. is all the amazing vegan options that are available. Luckily, though, there are restaurants with vegan options popping up all over the country! One such establishment I've recently visited is Pizza Fusion in Hollywood. Pizza Fusion has locations all over the country, offering a wide variety of vegan and gluten-free options. They even have a vegan and gluten-free dessert! As an extra bonus, Pizza Fusion is an environmentally conscious company that uses eco-friendly business practices and features an entirely organic menu.

The Fiancé and I visited Pizza Fusion a few weeks ago, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Here are some of the yummies we devoured.

Organic and vegan Hefeweisen

I started off with a nice cold beer, and it was hard to choose which one to order. They offer a big selection of organic and vegan beers and wines, and everything is labeled clearly so there's no confusion. 

Fusion Salad with Goddess Dressing

Next, to balance the heavy pizza we were planning to devour, we enjoyed the Fusion Salad with Goddess Dressing. I expected it to be Annie's Goddess Dressing, which I'm very fond of, but Pizza Fusion has their own recipe. It's absolutely delicious! This salad may have been my favorite part.

Large Very Vegan Pizza with Gluten-Free Crust and Daiya Cheese

As our entrée, Fiancé and I shared a large Very Vegan Pizza. We went with the gluten-free crust option, which was nice and crisp, and chose our very favorite vegan cheese: Daiya. The Very Vegan comes with two of my favorite toppings: mushrooms and garlic. Delicious!

Fresh Homemade Brownie with Coconut Ice Cream

Finally, since we were feeling a little bit decadent, we decided to order dessert. The obvious choice was the vegan and gluten-free brownie, with a side of coconut ice cream. Not only did it look beautiful, but it was rich and had a great consistency. It was the perfect end to our meal!

I really enjoyed our visit to Pizza Fusion, and I'm sure we'll be back again soon. They also offer local delivery in their eco-friendly hybrid vehicles! Check out their website to learn more about Pizza Fusion, and to see if there's a restaurant near you.

P.S. Apologies for the iPhone photos, sometimes I get stuck without my camera! I'll do better next time. 

Beverly Hills Farmers Market

Though it's really hard to put up with sometimes, L.A. really is a great place to live. We are hugely fortunate for all the wonderful vegan options available to us, as well as an abundance of delicious, local produce. There are loads of farmer's markets around the area to choose from, and most of them operate year-round. Though we normally visit the Hollywood Farmer's Market, a few weekends ago Fiancé and I decided to branch out and visit the Beverly Hills Farmers' Market. It is definitely smaller than the one in Hollywood, but the quality of produce was stellar, and it was way less crowded. Here are some shots from our trip.

A sign leading us in

As you can see, not very crowded, but lots of booths

Capay Organic booth. They offer home delivery as well,
which I'm seriously considering!

Beautiful carrots at the Capay booth

Wheatgrass! We bought two of these. Sooo pretty.

It was snack time, and this hummus was delicious. Great ingredients!

Lemon flavored pita chips. They were fresh and delicious.

The artichoke hummus was amazing, and we ate it all. 

The bounty we brought home: tons of greens, daikon,
carrots, apples, & wheatgrass.

Beautiful golden apples (they tasted great in juice)

Rainbow Chard and Kale

If you live in L.A., or come for a visit, make sure you don't miss out on some of its awesome farmers markets. There is a great list here. You can learn more about the Beverly Hills Farmers' Market by visiting their website. They operate every Sunday, rain or shine, from 9 am - 1 pm. Yummy!

Sante La Brea

I'm back from the holiday vacation and ready to get myself all caught up! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Sadly, I will most likely not be able to catch up in full (still have 8 posts to go in order to complete VeganMoFo!), but I'm going to try my darndest. I have a lot of great things from the past few weeks to share with you, so get ready! First up is a little recap of a lunch I enjoyed last week at Sante La Brea.

I discovered Sante La Brea last year after they'd had their Gordon Ramsay reality-show makeover. While I still haven't seen the episode, I understand he gave the place quite a facelift, and helped them to create a new menu. What impresses me most about this place is how many vegan options they offer. Almost anything on the menu can be made vegan, and they have an entirely vegan dessert menu. Yum! I enjoy stopping in here for lunch when I feel like a treat. Also, I feel like it's a little hidden treasure because it's almost never full. You can always get a table, and can make it in and out within an hour for the most part.

Pizza Rustica with Melted Cashew Cheez

Last week, I went in for lunch and ordered the Pizza Rustica with Melted Cashew Cheez. It took a little longer than I'd hoped for them to make it, but once it arrived I was not disappointed. It was packed with toppings and really flavorful. I loved all the basil, olives, and tomato, too. The cashew cheez was good, but not the best I've had; it could have used a little more flavor. All in all, a delicious and filling lunch!

Close-Up: Check out all that Basil!

Next time you're in the area and are looking for something a little different, definitely stop by Sante. I'm certainly planning to visit again soon.

Vegan Samplings from the Farmers Market

On Friday, I posted some photos from my visit to Monsieur Marcel's in the Farmers Market here in Los Angeles. Now for the best stuff from the trip: the food! Martina has long dreamt of attacking the Farmers Market from top to bottom, ordering all her favorites in one day. In honor of her birthday, we went for it. We had a ball, and I wound up absolutely stuffed because there are so many vegan offerings.

For those who have never been, the Farmers Market (no apostrophe!) on Third and Fairfax is a tourist's must-see when visiting Los Angeles. The market was established in July 1934, when a group of farmers were invited to sell their produce out of the backs of their trucks at Gilmore Island on the corner of 3rd and Fairfax. The market gained popularity quickly, and soon permanent stalls were built. The market has been operational since, now featuring not only produce but a wide variety of restaurants and shops. It's easy to spend a whole day here sampling all the delicious food!

The famous Farmers Market clock tower

The crowd at the Farmers Market

We started at Lotería Grill, for a little Mexican appetizer of guacamole and chips. I love to watch the staff working at this place, because everything is made fresh, including the tortillas and chips. The chips were still piping hot when we got them, and the guacamole was absolutely delicious. So good. 

The Lotería Staff, hard at work

Lotería's Guacamole

The amazing fresh tortilla chips

Fresh tortillas being made

Our next stop was one of my very favorites, Moishe's Restaurant. They make the best Mediterranean food! We ordered my three favorites: Baba Ghanouj (an eggplant dip), Taboulleh (a salad with parsley, lemon, tomato, and bulghur), and Dolmas (grape leaves stuffed with rice, tomato, and spices).

The spread at Moishe's

Baba Ghanouj. Oh so creamy and delicious.

Taboulleh. Heaven on a plate.

Delicious Dolmas!

 The final stop was a favorite of Martina's: Sushi a Go Go. The restaurant inhabits the smallest stall in the market, but makes the freshest, most delicious sushi. Their veggie roll is delicious; stuffed with avocado, asparagus, and cucumber. The staff consists of two sushi chefs and a woman working the cash register and taking orders. They were all so sweet, and fun to talk to. The woman at the register gave Martina a free green tea drink for her birthday!

Sushi Chefs at work

Martina with her birthday present

My veggie roll with avocado, asparagus, and cucumber.

Despite our lofty goals of eating our way through the Farmers Market, our full tummies only allowed us to make a dent. I'm sure there are tons of other vegan options there to be had, but one can only eat so much in one afternoon. Have you ever been to the Farmers Market? What's your favorite treat there?

Monsieur Marcel Gourmet Market

Recently I took a long, leisurely visit to the very famous Farmer's Market on Third and Fairfax here in Los Angeles with my dear friend, Martina. We spent an afternoon there, and ate until we could eat no more (more on that later). We also visited Monsieur Marcel, a beautiful little gourmet food shop tucked in to the southeast corner of the market. While the shop features many non-vegan items, they also carry a treasure trove of vegan delights! This is a must-visit for anyone who is passionate about cooking.

The shelves are stocked with beautiful bottles, tins, and packages, and everything is just so pretty! I couldn't help but take a bunch of photos. Here are some of my favorites.

The view upon entering Monsieur Marcel. Check out those barrels of olives!

The aisles are stocked with beautiful items. I want that clay pot. 

They have a huge selection of tea, all beautifully packaged.

Beautiful vintage-style seasoning tins.

These marinated leeks look scrumptious! 

This Missoni-styled Pellegrino bottle made me smile.

This beautiful pasta was colored using all natural ingredients, like fruits and veggies.
I was impressed that such vibrant colors could be produced naturally!

There were so many beautiful shapes and colors available.

The wine "cellar," with a wide selection of domestic and foreign wines.

This one made me laugh. Really? Gaga?

Aren't these chocolate wrappers lovely? I want to wallpaper my house in these patterns.

Surprise! They're vegan too. What a nice ingredient list.

This was a really special treat that I haven't had since living back East.

They're made of 100% maple syrup! Can't argue with that. 

We wound up purchasing a Mast Brothers chocolate bar (how could we pass up artisan chocolate inside such a gorgeous package?), the maple candy, and a bottle of truffle oil that I didn't get a photo of. We shared the chocolate later that day, and it was delicious. We had the sea salt and almond flavor, and it was just decadent. I brought the maple candy to my future mother-in-law who loved it. I had a piece, too, and it was so good. Just like I remember it! And of course, the truffle oil is amazing. All in all, a fruitful trip!

If you haven't visited Monsieur Marcel, I highly recommend a visit, even if you just go to drool over the merchandise. Se magnifíc!