We went to LA, y'all! This week on the show, we'll talk about the vegan burger at Hotel Figueroa, bagels from Yeastie Boys, and our decadent Erewhon Market shopping spree.
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A big group of our good friends live out in LA, and it's frankly criminal that we just now have gone to visit them. Our friend Ally did an amazing job helping us find food and fun, and she joined us today to talk about the vegan food we had in LA!
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We had Hotel Figueroa's vegan burger!
We stayed at Hotel Figueroa, which is in downtown LA. Our flight arrived late, so we dipped into their restaurant for a bite to eat before bed.
The hotel offers an Impossible burger, which isn't vegan on its own, but you can ask them to make it vegan. Without all of the dairy additions, it gave us strong Big Mac vibes, and that is in no way a dig. We were into it!
The burger is a double patty, and each patty is thick, so it was perfect for us to share, especially since it came with a side of fries or a salad. We went with the Caesar salad, because the server told us that their Caesar dressing is vegan!
Related: Kale Caesar Salad Recipe
If you order the Caesar, make sure to specify no cheese, though. Ours arrived topped with shredded cheese, and they ended up making us a new one. That new one, though, was a stellar vegan Caesar.
If you're out in downtown LA late, this is a solid vegan option for sure.
The bar at Hotel Figueroa is a total party, so just be prepared for that. It's not a quiet dinner spot by any stretch.
The highlight of our meal at Hotel Figueroa, though, was the free chips and salsa that came out first thing. The chips they serve are "chewy chips", which are thick corn chips that puff in the deep frier. So incredible! I need to find chewy chips in Atlanta, ASAP!
We ate Yeastie Boys Bagels!
When Ally picked us up for hiking the next morning, she brought us bagels with vegan cream cheese from Yeastie Boys Bagels, an LA food truck.
Not everything at Yeastie Boys is vegan, but they offer several flavors of non-dairy cream cheese.
I had an everything bagel with scallion cream cheese, which was stellar. I ate the whole thing, which never happens! I thought the bagels were a perfect texture, and the cream cheese held up well to summer heat and didn't have any aftertaste, which some vegan cream cheeses do.
Dave had a plain bagel with plain cream cheese and said it was great, too!
We shopped at Erewhon Market!
Our LA trip was over July 4th weekend, and Ally suggested that we see Kool & the Gang and fireworks at The Hollywood Bowl. What a great idea! Hollywood Bowl is a beautiful venue, and the show was big fun.
Hollywood Bowl allows you to bring in food and drinks, so we went shopping for snacks at Erewhon Market.
If you're not familiar with Erewhon, it is a super upscale supermarket that makes Whole Foods look like bargain shopping. This was a very fun splash out for a special evening, though, and we had a blast shopping and eating!
Honestly, it was a little bit overwhelming, just because of the sheer volume of vegan options in every single section. Deciding what to leave behind was tough!
Here's what we got:
- Celestial Cinna Pecans - These cinnamon-sugar covered pecans tasted like little churros and were one of the standout snacks for me. Definitely recommended, if you come across them!
- Kii Naturals Cranberry Cashew Crackers - Ally and I loved these, but Dave found them too sweet. I thought they were perfect paired with the vegan cheese spread that we got!
- Misha's Kind Foods French Connection - This was the cheese spread that we paired with the crackers. The nut-based spread was super creamy with herbes de Provence seasoning and olives in the mix. An absolute dream!
- Mia's Plant Based from Italy Prosciutto - We had high hopes for this vegan meat, and it was...just okay. The texture was fine, and the flavor was salty but not really very prosciutto-like. Just a miss overall.
- Cherry Plums - If you ever see these tiny plums at the store, snatch them right up! They are a sweet treat and so fun to snack on!
- Peeled Snacks - This is a dried fruit snack that leaves the peels on. We got the apple, pear, and strawberry blend, and it tasted like dried fruit. It was light on the strawberries, though those were really lovely and tart when you did get one.
- Bjorn Qorn Spicy Nutritional Yeast Popcorn - This was another standout snack! The flavor was incredible, and it was totally addictive. They use jalapeño powder for the heat which gives it a really nice, pepper flavor.
- Droplet Seltzer - You've probably seen these advertised on Instagram. They're seltzers that are supposed to be mood-enhancing. I can't speak to that, but my yuzu, ginger, and reishi mushroom seltzer was spicy, tart, and lightly sweet with no mushroom flavor at all. Super refreshing on a hot day, and I'd definitely get this again!
- Justin's Dark Peanut Butter Cups - We forgot to open these, but we've all had them before. Dave is not a fan, but Ally and I love them! Dave thinks that the chocolate is too dark and that the peanut butter isn't great. Obviously, this is incorrect. The chocolate is fantastic, and the peanut butter is perfectly savory and salty.
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