Hit or Miss: The Cannery Adds Vegetarian Menu

The Cannery Restaurant is a landmark on the Newport Beach Peninsula. The upscale establishment with bay views is housed in a building that was once home to a fish cannery in the early 1900s, which is where the restaurant got its name. It's not surprising then, albeit still unfortunate, that the menu here is chalk full of dead fishies.

When my Mom recently chose The Cannery as the place to have her vegetarian/vegan children take her for her birthday lunch, I figured I'd be eating another expensive salad or just having bread and drinks. (I will, however, mention that when we came here for Thanksgiving many years ago I mentioned to the server that I was vegan and the head chef came out of the kitchen, talked to me about my taste preferences, and then proceeded to make me a giant and super delicious plate of vegan items.) Luckily, my sister called ahead and found out that they had recently launched a full vegetarian menu. While many of the veggie dishes contain dairy, most of them can be made vegan, and the curry vegetable entree and stir fry tofu dish are already vegan.

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Palmo Project Spring Equinox Dinner and Chef Raya's 30th Birthday Celebration 3/21

Exactly one month from today, Palmo Project from Chef Raya Belna with be hosting their Spring Equinox Dinner as well as Chef Raya's 30th birthday celebration at Avanti Cafe in Costa Mesa at 7pm. If you saw my post about the Fall Harvest Dinner, you would be a fool to miss this. I mean, a five course gourmet raw/vegan/vegetarian dinner for $35? You absolutely cannot beat that. I'll post the menu when it's available.

Click here to visit the Palmo Project site for tickets.

Click here to follow Chef Raya on Twitter.

Click here to visit the Avanti site.

Click here to follow Avanti on Twitter.

Is Fashion Island the Most Vegan-Friendly Mall in America?

Photo courtesy of The Irvine Company

(Note: This post is about food and food only. Please save the comments saying veganism is a lifestyle and Neiman's sells furs, etc. I agree but that's not the aim of this entry or this blog in general.)

While we're not lucky enough in SoCal to have an all vegan mini-mall like they do in Portland, we do have some pretty quality vegan food choices at our local malls. I mean, even Brea has a Loving Hut in the food court now.

While I was sampling all sorts of vegan deliciousness at the Native Foods Fashion Island preview day last month, I realized that this upscale outdoor mall with an ocean view might be the nation's most vegan-friendly mall. While it doesn't have any vegan-specific clothing retailers, it does have giant versions of your standards like Urban and Forever 21, so you can still get your plaid and faux leather on. What I'm talking about here, however, is the FOOD.

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Restaurant Review: Le Pain Quotidien

When Le Pain Quotidien first opened at Fashion Island in late 2011, I knew I had to try it. Fresh baked organic bread is enough of a draw, but when I found out about the large variety of vegan options available, I made visiting a priority. The bread and bakery chain, with a bunch of locations in New York, Los Angeles and all around the US, has clearly labeled the vegan choices with a (v) right on the menu, making it super easy to order.

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Product Review: Amy's Vegan Margherita Pizza with Daiya

It was almost a year ago when I mentioned trying the extraordinary new frozen vegan pizza from Amy's at Expo West (which happens to be coming up again in a few weeks, look for full coverage). I waited and waited and waited for it to show up in stores, and it took until about a month ago to get them into local Whole Foods and Mother's Markets. Let me just say it was worth the wait, because Amy's Vegan Margherita Pizza with Daiya Cheeze is the BEST FROZEN VEGAN PIZZA ON THE MARKET.

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