One of my favorite restaurants in Los Angeles is Real Food Daily. It is a FABULOUS vegan restaurant which is loved by I’m sure all veggies in L.A. and even non-veggies! When I was recently in L.A. my friend and I went there for dinner and she is not at all a vegetarian or vegan but she loves the restaurant.
As much as I wanted to try something new I had to stick with one of my favorites – El Bandito Rojo – wheat and gluten free Corn enchiladas, seasoned tempeh, salsa roja, Spanish rice, black beans, pico de gallo,
tofu sour cream, guacamole, and drizzled with cashew cheese. It’s AMAZING!! Lesli had the Country Vegetable Miso which of course I had to try and it was awesome – the perfect combination of chunky veggie soup and miso – fabulous idea! For her entree she did a Basic Three – where you select one from each category: veggies, beans & grains and plant proteins. I can’t remember what she got but I know she loved it.
If you’re in the area you must try RFD – there is one in West Hollywood on La Cienega and one in Santa Monica on SM Blvd.

My Delicious Lunch at Lemonade - L.A.

Last weekend I went back to Los Angeles to visit friends, enjoy the warmer weather and eat at all of my old favorite restaurants.  I did however try a new spot and am so glad I did.

Lemonade has three locations – on Beverly in West Hollywood (where I went!), on Flower downtown, on Abbot Kinney in Venice Beach.  There will soon be another at the MOCA!

The restaurant is super eco-friendly from what I could tell.  I suppose they could be more eco-friendly by using real plates and flatware for inside diners but since they use disposable they are good about using utencils that are bio-degradable, recycled paper bowls and plates and recyclable/bio-degradable cups and take out containers.

OK – to the important part – the FOOD and DRINKS!

I have to start with the LEMONADE of course!  I had the Rosemary Watermelon Lemonade and it was the most amazing thing!  They also had Cucumber Mint, Ginger Peach and Blueberry Mint (which my girlfriend got – also amazing!).  The lemonades are all very colorful, full of flavor and very refreshing.

As far as the actual food goes – I don’t even know where to begin.  First off there are PLENTY of VEGGIE options – so many in fact that I had a very difficult time making my selections.  I opted for the Red Top Turnip Soup, Roast Cauliflower with Golden Raisins, Almonds and Curry, and Avocado & Cherry Tomatoes with Pine Nuts in a Lime Vinaigrette.  Turnip Soup may sound bland and boring but I assure you it was full of flavor.  I’m a huge curry fan so the cauliflower was amazing – the adition of raisings added a sweet touch to this savory dish.  I will definitely try to replicated these dishes at home.  My friend Lesli had Israeli Couscous with Wild Mushrooms, Parmesan and Truffle Vinaigrette and something with cubed sweet potatoes but I can’t find it on their menue now – I tried both and they were fantastic.  I think she may have had the seared ahi as well along with a couple of other sides that I can’t recall.  She loved them all but one which was too much like cole-slaw, which she doesn’t like.

I love that the food is set up deli-style so you can try a little of several different items.

For meat eaters they have tons of different pot roasts which look so cute in their colorful LeCrueset roasting dishes.

To complete my meal I had a small red velvet cupcake. The size was perfect – not a full cupcake but not a one bite mini.  It was moist and delicious – much better than the one I had the day prior at Toast (sorry L.A. friends, but I’ve decided theirs are always too done and not moist enough for my liking).

If you live in Los Angeles put this at the top of your list of places to try.  If you don’t live in L.A. nor are you going to be visiting soon, check out their menu for ideas.  They give enough detail for each of the their marketplace sides that you could have a go at replicating them.