During the summer, my husband and I ventured out to the wild wild west; the west coast that is.  Our first stop on my grub fest tour was Native Foods Café.  My father and step mother absolutely loves this place and would rub it in our faces every time they made a trip out to L.A. and was able to indulge in all of the many vegetarian and vegan offerings at the many restaurants in the area.   My father always told me, that once I went out to the west coast, I would absolutely love it. Once again, my father was right and I can’t wait to return to experience more areas of Cali and discover the many meatless temptations that are served by the many talented vegetarian and vegan chefs.  Before my trip to Los Angeles, I honestly didn’t believe vegetarian or vegan ONLY restaurants existed.  I mean sure, I could go to a restaurant that claimed to have vegetarian friendly recipes on the menu, but we all know what those options are right?  Your typical side salad, French fries, or pasta that leave you both nutritionally deprived and unsatisfied.   I began to wonder;   are vegetarian restaurants really hard to find?  Do delicious meatless café’s really exist?

After visiting Native Foods Café, my confident answer is YES!   For those of you who have had the joy of dinning and indulging at the acclaimed vegetarian and vegan restaurant, you already know what I am talking about.  Native Foods Café’ is the “food child” of vegan chef Tanya Petrovna and has been serving vegetarians and vegans delectable delights for the past 17 years in over 11 locations throughout Chicago, Los Angeles, Orange County, Palm Springs, and Portland.  Chef Petrovna has carefully crafted a menu that is entirely meat and dairy free…even down to their mayo and dipping sauces.

For those of you who have not yet experienced Native Foods Café or do not have one in a city near you, then it is my pleasure to share with you this video of my pigging out and enjoying every bite of my vegetarian meal at Native Foods Café’, Culver City location.  If I could’ve ordered one of each of the 35+ meatless and dairy-free chef crafted menu items, I would’ve been in absolute heaven.  As I entered the vegan café’ the vibe of great food mixed with excellent customer service, and smiling faces reaffirmed that I had indeed selected the right spot to enjoy a meatless meal on a beautiful summer day in L.A.  In anticipation of chowing down, I had already done my research by browsing Native Foods Café Online Menu so I didn’t have to waste any time in line trying to figure out what I was going to “inhale” once I got there.  For starters, I had decided on the Nuevo Native Nachos which were absolutely out of this world.  The Native Chipotle Crema with the Native Cheese was insane.  I was licking my fingers and my plate (thank goodness my husband did not catch that to video).  All of the flavors combined were such a treat.  I highly recommend them.  Next, (of course, I wasn’t done), I had one of Native Foods Earth Bowls.  I chowed down on the Gandhi Bowl which was loaded with blackened Tempeh, veggies and a very flavorful wild curry sauce, while my husband enjoyed the Greek Gyro Bowl, which had the Native Peppered Seitan with quinoa, steamed veggies and an awesome lemon garlic sauce.  Wow! I was happy and stuffed when I left Native Foods Café.

For those of you that live near a Native Foods Café and have yet to try an item on their unbelievably delicious menu, I encourage you to nix your current lunch or dinner plans and replace them with a visit to your nearest location.   For those of you in the same situation that I am in, where we are hundreds of miles away from a Native Foods, you can settle for living watching my experience or by purchasing Chef Tanya Petrovna’s “The Native Foods Restaurant Cookbook” and bring the Native Foods to your Native Family.

What are some of your favorite vegetarian and vegan spots to chow down at?  What is an absolute must visit restaurant?

Thanks for tuning in.  Until next time…

Take Care,

EJ

P.S. – Oh, if you are a visitor, make your self at home.  Simple fill out the form to your right, with your name and email address and I will send you a e-cookbook that is loaded with over 100 vegetarian recipes!  Enjoy.