Review of Swingers

I gave Swingers and overall score of 4.6, or 5 stars, based on the following 7 categories: number of visits 4 of 5, I don't need a menu. price range 4 of 5, I only have a $20. family friendly? 4 of 5, Wait staff entertains kids. % menu vegan 4 of 5, Humm, what to have quality of service 4 of 5, Attentive and friendly quality of food 4 of 5, Happy toung local mainstay? 5 of 5, Route 66 hangout Comments: I can’t believe that I haven’t reviewed this place yet. For quite a while, this late night, irreverent, slice of hipster Americana was our weekend hangout. …though, we usually hung out at 7am when the help staff is still hung over. Inside, you’ll pass a very small but usually crowded waiting area, Andy Warhol cows plastered on the wall to the left, Evel Knievel overhead, and red plaid booths and blue plaid stools along a cupcake lined counter on the right. A wall of windows fill the area with natural light and Bob Dylan tunes fill the airways. It definitely has a diner feel, but assembled in artsy Hollywood pickers’ style. Vegans, you’re in luck; they have plenty of offerings on their decked out menu with iconic images from the golden age of the diner. Since I’m in early, I usually stick with the vegan breakfast burrito, which is loaded with quinoa and is spanglicious. If I am feeling like breaking out, I go for the steel cut oatmeal or the soyrizo scramble. There are good options for lunch and dinner too, though the thought of cross contam is a little disconcerting. And though this place is a diner, it’s definitely not a greasy spoon. Overall, Swingers definitely has diner tasting coffee, but the rest of the menu is a step above. I enjoy the vegan options and miss this place being around the corner. And though I haven’t made it to the Hollywood location yet, I would doubt that it’s any more, ya, Hollywood.

Additional Info
Address: 802 Broadway, 90401
Area: Mid City
Reviewed Meal: Breakfast, Lunch
Ethnicity: American
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Review of LA Vegan

I gave LA Vegan and overall score of 3.2, or 3 stars, based on the following 7 categories: number of visits 1 of 5, Once was enough. price range 4 of 5, I only have a $20. family friendly? 3 of 5, No kids menu. % menu vegan 2 of 5, You can piece something together. quality of service 4 of 5, Attentive and friendly. quality of food 3 of 5, TV dinner. local mainstay? 3 of 5, Been here since I've been here. Comments: Upon a friend’s recommendation, we ventured out of town a bit to LA Vegan in West LA. It’s an Asian Buddhist place with a lot of Thai on the menu. It’s fairly typical for this type of place, right down to my “not really vegan” fears. We parked in the street out front and chose to sit inside; they do have 2 small tables outside. The interior is nicer that the exterior and they have some artwork that brightens up the place. Though it has that, “we tried but didn’t try that hard” look. We ordered a couple plates with the friendly wait staff, confirmed that everything is vegan, and got our order fairly quickly. My mouth watered when they arrived because they looked and smelled delicious. However, my 1st bite brought back some familiar fears; something didn’t taste quite right. …could it be fish sauce or egg which is often the case with these cheap imported ingredients. This only turned out to be a minor setback since I was hungry and gave them the benefit of the doubt. Once I returned home however, I found this article which seems to suggest that they aren’t always vegan.  This happens all too often in these restaurants. I find it astounding that SE Asia Buddhists monks justify eating fish and fish sauce by rationalizing that they voluntarily commit suicide by swimming into fishing nets. I think this speaks toward the lax nature at these Asian Buddhist places. I try to stay away from Asian Buddhist places since they seem to always spawn my “not really vegan” fears. I put that aside for this friend’s recommendation and got burned. If you are vegan and want to feel comfortable eating in the area, do your research before making the trek to LA Vegan.

Additional Info
Address: 4507 S Centinela Ave, 90066
Area: Outskirts - West LA
Reviewed Meal: Lunch
Ethnicity: Thai
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Review of Cora's Coffee Shoppe

I gave Cora's Coffee Shoppe and overall score of 4.6, or 5 stars, based on the following 7 categories: number of visits 4 of 5, I don't need a menu. price range 4 of 5, I only have a $20. family friendly? 3 of 5, No kids menu. % menu vegan 3 of 5, At least one good entrée quality of service 4 of 5, Attentive and friendly quality of food 5 of 5, Sorry Mom, but this place knows how to cook. local mainstay? 5 of 5, Route 66 hangout. Comments: Cora’s has really good oatmeal and toast. Their prices are high, but it‘s in a good location, has solid eats, and seats you at a very cozy table to bring in the new day. Cora’s is located on Ocean, where it has been for many years. And although it’s very close, there are no ocean views since it faces east. It’s a very small building with a much larger, but still small, outdoor area under a floral arch. It’s a beautiful place to sit with birds going about their daily business in the canopy, the sun cheating through and illuminating portions of the table, the sounds of the cyclists and runners seemingly overpowering the cars on Ocean, and any coldness being quenched by the background radiation of the patio heaters. The food at Cora’s is solid, though not many options for vegans. My regular is steel cut oatmeal with fruit, dry rye, and jam. The oatmeal is usually cooked to perfection, but the toast is the highlight; it is thick cut, toasted appropriately, and ready for the not too sweet, chunky and delicious jam. I always polish it off with a reliably solid cup of Joe. The service is rather laid back and not too aggressive as evidenced by their somewhat gray opening time. We’ve arrived a good 15 minutes after open only to find them unlocking the door with sleepy eyes. It’s the service that I prefer that early in the morning; though I shy away if I have somewhere to be. As I stated before, Cora’s has really good oatmeal and toast. Unfortunately for vegans, that’s about all they have. If you’re not into oatmeal, then stop by early to welcome the sun with coffee and toast. It beats any chain coffee house scene, though it’s probably more expensive.

Additional Info
Address: 1802 Ocean Ave, 90401
Area: Ocean
Reviewed Meal: Breakfast
Ethnicity: American
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Review of True Food Kitchen

I gave True Food Kitchen and overall score of 2.9, or 3 stars, based on the following 7 categories: number of visits 1 of 5, Once was enough. price range 3 of 5, Let's splurge tonight; less than $35. family friendly? 3 of 5, No kids menu. % menu vegan 3 of 5, At least one good entrée. quality of service 3 of 5, Didn't notice. quality of food 3 of 5, TV dinner. local mainstay? 2 of 5, Fresh paint, but it's a good color. Comments: After True Food Kitchen’s facade caught my eye about 30 times, and after about 30 declarative statements like “we should try that place,” we finally stopped. This place catches your eye because it’s a beautiful location, on the western edge of our stylish new outdoor mall. The interior is trendy, with a sweet, sunlit eating area on the west, kitchen on the east. After we were seated by the energetic hostess, the waiter started his cycle of neglect. We wanted an appetizer, but after the waiter’s first cycle of neglect and apology, we decided that we had better get our entree order in. It came, we ate, and after the 2 quick visits by the mildly apologetic waiter, we decided to take a chance and ask for the desert menu. After realizing that the desert menu wasn’t coming before COB, we put our credit card on the table. They immediately swooped up the card and returned the receipt. Well, that is after the intervention with the waiter and another that we flagged down, again after waiting seemingly forever. Somewhere in this cycle of neglect, I became the waiter. In this flurry of activity, I found myself enjoying a tomato and kale pizza. It was very good with one exception; way too much sodium. This observation was echoed by my wife who had a different entree. They have an extensive menu, with plenty of vegetarian options. But vegans, you’re a little out of luck because they won’t substitute out the dairy or other offending ingredients. …really, a strawberry chopped salad can’t be served without the Goat Cheese! Then again, this may have been intentional misinformation to manipulate us in our waiter’s cycle of neglect. The facade and atmosphere caught my eye, as did the menu, but the service reminded me of an Eminem song. I’m glad that we finally stopped, if not only so we can cease with the declarative statements as we stroll by. Overall, it’s a decent place and it’s nice to have more vegetarian options around, but, for me, service is paramount.

Additional Info
Address: 395 Santa Monica Pl, Ste 172, 90401
Area: Mid City
Reviewed Meal: Lunch
Ethnicity: American
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The Vegan Footprint

Our carbon footprint is a very complex iceberg.  There are the obvious contributors like speeding along the 405 parking lot in a Suburban, and then there are the not so obvious like the pesticide truck in the right lane that hasn’t moved for 5 minutes.  After really digging in, I found that my footprint is very small compared to the average.  And it turned out that it’s not because I drive a Prius, it’s because I’m vegan.
It’s hard to get too detailed because the products we consume have massive supply chain tentacles.  However, there’s info on general categories and how much of each of those categories is contributable to getting food to our gullet.  For instance, when looking at the following categories, we see that food makes up 21% of an average footprint.

1.    Goods and Services:  64% overall, 15% food

2.    Personal Transportation: 20% overall, 3% food

3.    Home Energy: 16% overall, 3% food

So, trips to the grocery store comprise 3% and storing in the fridge and freezer and then briefly in the skillet comprise 3% of an average carbon footprint.  Notice that the only category that comprises an overall slice larger than the food footprint is the catch-all Goods and Services category.  This is the category that contains the massive supply chain.
Now, what can we do about reducing our footprint?  I usually get around 50 mpg in my Prius while the US average for light cars is around 35 mpg.  Since the auto footprint is approximately proportional to the amount of gas burned, switching to a Prius would save on average 30% of your transportation footprint, or 6% overall.  But surprisingly, switching from a conventional diet to a vegan diet would reduce the goods and services portion of your food footprint by around 94%, or 14% overall (see graph below).  This is significantly greater than just changing up your car.

To break down vegan savings, let’s look at why other diets have large carbon footprints.  Amongst many other factors, here are 4 that increase a carbon footprint:

1.    Clearing of Land:  Burning that troublesome jungle is one of our greatest ecological threats.  An area close to the size of Germany is cleared each year, and the generated soot is well over a 1,000 times more potent than CO2.  This is because it leads directly to greenhouse warning by trapping heat.  In fact, this alone accounts for 60% of the melting ice core.

2.    Methane Emissions:  Methane from that livestock is up to 100 times more potent than CO2, depending on its age.

3.    Agriculture Additives:  Pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, and fertilizers are energy intensive to manufacture leading to direct CO2 emissions.

4.    Transportation:  Getting food to our market leads to ground level ozone which is about half as potent as CO2.  However, transportation is multiplied when livestock demands are factored in.

Carbon footprints grows exponentially the further removed the production is from our plate.  Since 70% of grain is used for livestock feed, the deforestation and agricultural additives used to grow this feed become significant.  In fact, nitrogen use to grow livestock feed in the Midwest is so abundant that much of the Gulf of Mexico is biologically dead due to runoff that flows down the Mississippi.
So the ultimate question is, are you greenie enough.  It’s easy to buy a fuel efficient car and become smug; you’re not really giving up anything.  If you really want to chip away at your carbon iceberg, don’t trade in the Mustang for a Prius, trade the jerk chicken for organic beans and rice.  You’ll reduce your carbon from 20 tons to 17.  And, if you want to reach for the green stars, trade in for the Prius and knock off another ton.

Review of Urth Caffe

I gave Urth Caffe and overall score of 4.0, or 4 stars, based on the following 7 categories: number of visits 4 of 5, I don't need a menu. price range 4 of 5, I only have a $20. family friendly? 3 of 5, No kids menu. % menu vegan 3 of 5, At least one good entrée quality of service 4 of 5, Attentive and friendly. quality of food 4 of 5, Happy toung local mainstay? 3 of 5, Been here since I've been here. Comments: In the beginning, Urth Caffe West Hollywood consumed our every Sunday morning; half the morning taken by commuting over there and back. I was amped when I heard they were coming to my neck of the woods in Santa Monica. We monitored the construction closely during our bicycle drive-bys, salivating for those vegan muffins. Like West Hollywood, Urth Caffe Santa Monica has limited indoor seating and a lot of outdoor and patio seating. You order at the counter with the busy register jockeys and then grab a seat amongst the somewhat forced, voguish milieu. The help staff then quickly shuffles your drinks and food to your table and the dishes from. Though the Santa Monica location is a model home version of the West Hollywood location, it still has a pleasant atmosphere with a great location on Main. The menu is somewhat limited, but has enough vegan lunch options to keep me interested. I enjoy breakfast more than lunch, but that’s only because they have great organic coffee. However, unlike West Hollywood, Santa Monica does not carry the vegan muffins; though I tried hard but unsuccessfully to change this. This leaves me with my only breakfast option of oatmeal with soy milk. Oh, and of course my soy latte, cappuccino, or just coffee, black. Overall, Urth Caffe Santa Monica has good food and great coffee for a somewhat reasonable price, though their location is their biggest asset. They are quick and usually busy, but with the late crowd; eat early and you won’t notice. They open a half hour early for drinks, so go early, grab a coffee and a table, and build your appetite while enjoying the peaceful, misty and cool Santa Monica mornings. Though we are no longer religious about our Urth Caffe Sundays, every so often, we still stop for a relaxing soymilk drowned oatmeal and coffee during our bicycle drive-bys.

Additional Info Address: 2327 Main St, 90407 Area: Ocean Park Reviewed Meal: Breakfast, Lunch Ethnicity: American Click for more info.

Review of Mrs Winston's Green Grocery

I gave Mrs Winston's Green Grocery and overall score of 3.6, or 4 stars, based on the following 7 categories: number of visits 1 of 5, Once was enough. price range 4 of 5, I only have a $20. family friendly? 2 of 5, You're cramping my style. % menu vegan 5 of 5, No worries. quality of service 3 of 5, Didn't notice. quality of food 4 of 5, Happy tongue. local mainstay? 2 of 5, Fresh paint, but it's a good color. Comments: Mrs Winston’s is a great little salad shop and green grocery, the type that I wish was on every corner. The Water Garden is a blight on Santa Monica. Mix the 2, and you get GW Bush at a Kanye West show. For our first venture to The Water Garden, we entered the central area, made our way along the vacated ponds and streams to Mrs Winston’s, found a nice outdoor table next to the water, and leaned our bikes on each other, next to the table. The landscape was serene but very sterile and manufactured; think poorly funded Disney or a suburbia park that’s struggling to pull off the wealthy community feel. It seems extremely out of place in Santa Monica. Mrs Winston’s has a solid, but not large, salad bar; eclipsed by Whole Foods up the street if you don’t mind the lack of intimacy. Additionally, they have a lot of green grocery merchandise that is packed into this very small space. It’s a fun store with plenty for vegans and greenies, and cheaper than you would expect for a corner grocer. However, they do not have “for here” plates and utensils, which is a big strike in my book. Once we paid for our food and returned to our table and bikes, we realized that Gestapo had locked the bikes together. It turns out that The Water Gardens frowns on anything that takes away from their crappy, sterile look. They “prefer” that bikes get parked underground in the subterranean car parking structure. This was strike 2. I didn’t ask directly, but I would guess that they also prefer no facial hair or unescorted women. Mrs Winston’s is a great little green grocer corner store with a good salad bar. For some strange reason, they chose to put one in The Water Garden. Which brings me to strike 3, there’s another Mrs Winston’s within 2 miles on Ocean Park. If you want to try this place out, ride another few minutes and avoid the juxtaposed suburbia at all costs.

Additional Info Address: 2450 Colorado Ave, 90407 Area: Mid City Reviewed Meal: Lunch Ethnicity: American Click for more info.