Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Silver Lake

Two Saturdays ago (can you tell that I meant to post this blog much, much sooner?) started out on the crappy side since I woke up to a very smoky house and ash on all the surfaces where ash could have gotten inside. Fortunately for me, the Sylmar fire that started late that Friday night was several miles away, far enough that my home wasn't in danger, but close enough for me to feel the effects of the smoke and ash. My heart goes out to all those who lost homes and suffered on a far greater level.

My plans for that day included yoga followed by a fun afternoon of cooking at my house with Your Vegan Mom. We ultimately decided that it wasn't going to be fun to cook in a smoky house and met for lunch instead. I FINALLY ate at Flore!



After chattering away with a folded menu for long enough to prompt our server to give me a verbal nudge, I ordered the Burrito Flore (from the menu: Brown rice, black beans, tempeh bacon, cilantro cream, cashew cheese, lettuce, avocado (none for me!), and tomato wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla. Served with pico de gallo and green salad.). This was a very yummy burrito! It needed a little spice (I've been on a spicy kick for some reason), but was otherwise quite satisfying. I liked the tempeh bacon and wished there had been more of it! It was all on one side of the burrito and I would have preferred it throughout. The tahini dressing on the salad was good, too, with a little citrus twist.

It was hard to not play "spot the blogger" at Flore. I kept wondering if there were others hiding behind their menus!



Flore's dessert options that day didn't appeal to me, so YVM and I headed over to Vegan Spot to get me one of those ever-elusive vegan Twinkies that the amazingly talented JennShaggy makes. I have it on good authority that there were no Twinkies to be found at Vegan Spot the following day, but when I was there, there were at least 10. Don't worry, I only bought one and took it to go, so it's not my fault that there weren't any the next day!



Once the Twinkie mission was accomplished, we took a walk through the neighborhood behind the restaurant, climbing a very long staircase (at the top of which we saw two butterflies engaged in a prolonged kiss), admiring the pretty houses, and then walking down the famous Music Box Stairs. I was growing more and more enamored by the minute with the view of the city that YVM was giving me, but it doesn't stop there!

Our next stop was Nature Mart, which is split into two parts: a bulk foods store and a natural foods store. I didn't have my grocery list with me, but I had a great time browsing.

Then, we headed over to Skylight Books, a fabulous independent bookstore in Los Feliz. I absolutely loved the little block where the bookstore was situated! There was a newsstand, a brasserie, a playhouse, the bookstore, and an independent movie theatre all sandwiched between two side streets on Vermont Ave. Oh, and across the street, there was a beautiful brick apartment building with fire escapes.

So, you see, that Saturday afternoon was a very happy one. I can't wait to explore that area a little more!

P.S. Can you tell from the photos that YVM introduced me to my camera's macro function that day?

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a great way to spend a Saturday! Those Twinkies bring back so many memories (haven't had one in eons). And what lovely close-up photos of them, too! ;)

Anonymous said...

I ate at Flore about a month ago while visiting some friends in LA - it was so delicious! I wish it wasn't 2 hours away from me.

Anonymous said...

wow, mr. meaner and i actually went to flore tonight! we got food to go and haven't eaten it yet, but i'm sure it will be awesome as usual.

i love that you and YGM had such an awesome afternoon. sounds like you had a lot of good food and great company.

we also frequent the music box stairs quite a bit. as big laurel and hardy fans, it's fun to go see what they look like now.

GREAT post! :D

Anonymous said...

oops! i meant YVM as in Your Vegan Mom!

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad you weren't closer to that fire - we've been seeing the sadness on the news here. Poor folks.
And you got to hang out with YVM? How cool! And j'ai trop envie de ton twinkie! That would sound dirty in English I guess...

Joanna said...

those twinkies are adorable!! i would love to taste a vegan twinkie. i used to eat regular ones in my lunch everyday in highschool. they are just perfect.

Anonymous said...

*gasp* Vegan. Twinkies. Could vegan life get any better! They look amazing:]
And, lol, I'm pretty sure that if I had an expresso machine in college EVERYONE would want to be my friend, hehe;) Well, at least the coffee addicted ones like me

¡Yo Soy Liz! said...

this sounds like the best day ever--you went to all my favorite spots!

Liz Ranger (Bubble Tea for Dinner) said...

I'm glad you were safe from the fire! and I can't think of any better way to avoid ash than how you spent your saturday, it looks so gastronomically (and butterfly-y) perfect!

trina said...

I am so happy that I can be here to introduce you to your city and your camera. I look forward to next time!

Ruby Red said...

Haha, the day I discovered my macro setting was a very happy one! What a fun Saturday, too! Thank goodness your house was okay, but at least the smokiness gave you an excuse to get out of the house and explore!

I'm wondering if the vegan Twinkie is anything like vegan cupcakes... I always hated the non-vegan artificial tasting cupcakes as a child, which is why I hated Twinkies too. But I love vegan cupcakes, so maybe vegan Twinkies would tickle my fancy too!

Jenn Shagrin said...

Great Twinkie Photos! Thank you :)
And I'm so glad you dug the galettes. I'm going to use the crust to make some pie for Tofurkey Day.

Stupid captcha. I have a mac, too, and for some reason was locked out of commenting for a week. Then it just magically went back to normal. Curious, indeed.

tofufreak said...

ooh that sounds like so much fun! FLore food looks great! as do veg twinkies :D

River (Wing-It Vegan) said...

The pictures look fabulous! What a lovely day you had, and such delicious foods!

I hope your house isn't smokey anymore!