Vegan Dinner Los Angeles

My husband made reservations to a vegan pop up dinner several weeks ago, but neither of us gave it much thought until the day of. Not knowing what to expect, I was delighted to find that it was taking place at an old house in Hollywood, which is being reincarnated into some sort of night club called "No Vacancy." Normally we couldn't be persuaded to leave our house on the Westside of LA to go to Hollywood on a Sunday, but the lure of a visiting vegan chef and the design of the newly renovated space was hard to resist.

First, the space. Elegantly renovated, it made me long to get my paws on a historic house and restore it to its former glory. A little digging revealed that it is owned and was renovated by Houston Hospitality, a company owned by twins responsible for several other LA clubs. All I have to say is thank god I was experiencing this venue in the context of a sedate vegan dinner, because this girl does not do clubs. At all. Not in my twenties, and definitely not in my thirties. While I loved the feel of the space, and it has been meticulously restored and decorated, I can only imagine being crammed in there with 200 other people. Blech. But kudos to them for bringing life back into this old house. 

The first floor bar at No Vacancy LA

As for the dinner, it was amazing. We got to meet the chef, Makini Howell, who was so friendly and signed the cookbook we bought - Plum: Gratifying Vegan Dishes from Seattle's Plum Bistro. We joked about how hard it was to find good vegan recipes that non-Vegans will actually enjoy.

I'm not much of a "foodie," so I won't give you a blow by blow description of everything we ate, but suffice it to say it was delicious, beautifully presented and paired with amazing wines from the Vegan Vine. If you want more food description, check out this entry about the event by Serious Eats. 

So, A+ on all fronts - the beautifully renovated No Vacancy, Makini Howell's cooking and the Vegan Vines' wines!

Vegan Fine Dining: Shojin

If you would have told me a couple years ago that my husband would be turning vegan, I would have said you were crazy. This was a man who enjoyed fois gras, bone marrow and all the other meaty products that most American meat eaters won't even touch! However, people change, and we are now on a mostly vegan diet.

In light of this, we've been searching for new restaurants that have great ambience and an upscale feel that also offer enough menu options for vegans. This is no easy feat. While I love the food at Real Food Daily and Native Foods, the atmosphere of these restaurants doesn't exactly scream "date night."

Enter Shojin. I'd read about this restaurant a few months back, but the fact that it is located in downtown LA was kind of a turn off for this westside lady. Downtown is fun, but driving there on a Saturday night can be decidedly unfun.  Great news! As if reading my mind, the owners of Shojin opened a Culver City location last week.

Here comes the ironic part. After reading the reviews and looking at the menu, my husband and I were ecstatic to try this place! Unfortunately we couldn't get a reservation. Boo. So, what do we do? Call and get a reservation at the downtown location. You know, the one we haven't been able to drag ourselves to for the past few months since hearing about? (Photo of downtown interior at top left.)


Well, I'm glad we did. The food and service was amazing. I mean, look at this menu! Can you believe it is vegan?!! We ordered the Shojin Gyoza, Spicy "Tuna" on Crispy Rice, a couple of the "sushi" rolls, the Orange "chicken" Seitan and a Molten Lava Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream. (Pictured above and at left are the Gyoza and the Rainbow Roll.)

This is definitely a special occasion type of restaurant, as the prices are a bit above what you would pay for a quick bite to eat. However, the quality and variety are well worth it! I'm so excited to try the Culver City location next, as driving to downtown was the only negative part of this dinign experience.