If you love organic, macrobiotic fare — but are on a tight budget — June’s a great month to stop by M Cafe de Chaya. Visit the Melrose location and you’ll get to take advantage of the cafe’s 5-year anniversary specials (PDF) — for just $5!
This week, $5 will get you either a falafel wrap and an M Chopped salad (above; to-go only). Next week, it’s a 2 Salad Combo (below’s one pair of options — the Scarlet Quinoa Salad and the Sesame Soba Noodle Salad) or a Tofu Bento (to-go only).
I’ve been a fan of Tender Greens since I first visited its Culver City restaurant in 2006. Since then, the fresh, eco-friendly eatery’s expanded to four locations — the latest in Hollywood!
Tender Greens Hollywood’s been open for a few weeks now, but it celebrated with a grand opening party just a week ago. Conveniently located on the corner of Sunset and Vine, this new spacious spot’s got a draw SoCal locavores won’t be able to resist: A 1200-square-foot patio perfect for a sunny lunch or weekend brunch, decorated with greenery and quietly situated at the back of the restaurant away from the noisy streets.
Best known for its fresh salads, Tender Greens makes veggies tasty with local produce from Scarborough Farms in Oxnard and other small-scale local farmers. For a simple healthy lunch, go for one of the big salads — My favorite is the Tuna Nicoise, with line caught tuna from Pacific, of course.
Or pick from the grill — whether a hormone-free marinated flat iron steak, free range chipotle barbecue chicken from Petaluma Poultry, or Oxnard vegetables — and get it one of three ways: on a sandwich with side salad, as a hot plate with mashed potatoes and side salad, or atop a full salad with garlic herb crostini.
Any way you get your dish, you can pair it with an organic wine or beer — or one of Tender Green’s bottle-free house sodas. Then enjoy your meal sitting in booths covered with recycled fabric — or at the outdoor tables, bought second hand for reuse at Tender Greens.
At the opening party, I got to try smaller, bite-sized versions of the menu items — like the marinated flank steak with mashed potatoes and peas served skewered (above) and the deliciously creamy green hummus usually served on the Happy Vegan salad.
All of that was fresh and delicious — but what really made my day were the ho hos — or perhaps no hos, since these are desserts made without the weird ingredients and preservatives in real Ho hos. I also got to try Tender Greens’ strawberry cupcakes — morsels of moist fruity sweetness.
Desserts change up all the time, so follow @TenderGreens on Twitter to find out what’s on the menu. Following those tweets will also keep you in the know with Tender Greens Hollywood’s one-day-only farmers’ market specials every Sunday, created from the fresh founds purchased the Hollywood Farmers Market that morning!
Tender Greens Hollywood. 6290 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles. 323.382.0380. Other L.A. area locations are in Culver City, 9523 Culver Blvd., and West Hollywood, 8759 Santa Monica Blvd.
Los Angeles is home to many fad dieters, strange diet practitioners, and picky eaters, where any and all food preferences and intolerances get their own aisle in grocery stores and special diet-specific eateries about town. But now, all these factious groups can dine together — at a casual organic spot called Pizza Fusion.
Pizza — generally considered a red flag item not just for vegans but also for the lactose, soy, wheat, and gluten intolerant and environmentalists trying to avoid rBGH, high fructose corn syrup, hormones, preservatives, and factory farmed meats — seems like an unlikely unifier for the picky healthy dining crowd. And granted, pure raw vegans won’t have a lot of options. Everyone else, however, can find something tasty to order!
Vegans can have their pick of two cheeses — the local Follow Your Heart soy cheese or Daiya cheese — while their gluten-sensitive friends can select toppings to go on a gluten-free crust. Then the two can split a dessert — the vegan, gluten-free brownie (below)!
Most runway shows during last week’s L.A. Fashion Week were not exactly eco-friendly showcases, but last Saturday, the Green Initiative Humanitarian Fashion Show gave Angelenos a look at the new trends in eco-fashion. The Sunset Gower Studios went green with fashions from three eco-minded designers: Emily Factor, Lizzie Parker, and Puridee.
Sponsored by Green Youth Movement, a student group that seeks to educated kids about living green, the Green Initiative Humanitarian Fashion Show kicked off with a brief intro by Mikey Koffman (below) of The Gallery Los Angeles — and the Mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa (above), who showed up to pick up a humanitarian award, talk about Million Trees L.A., and take in the fashion show from the front row.
Emily Factor’s designs — made with “reclaimed materials, non-toxic dye, organic and sustainable fibers, local production and a zero tolerance for animal products” according to her website — wowed the audience with their sexy silhouettes.
>> Santa Monica’s celeb-studded sushi spot The Hump could be shut down for serving endangered Sei whale meat, after Heal the Bay president Mark Gold called them out. The restaurant’s on city property, which means the city can terminate its lease if restaurant owners commit a crime. More in two weeks, after the city investigates the issue.
>> Love Tender Greens‘ local, organic produce paired with organic wines? A new Tender Greens location opens at Sunset and Vine in Hollywood today.
>> Grace restaurant will move to downtown L.A. later this year — and plans to get up to a quarter of its produce from its own garden. to the rectory of St. Vibiana’s later this year, Owner Neal Fraser “has an idea for taking diners into the garden to pick, say, five ingredients for a tasting menu.” This feature article from the L.A. Times also highlights the green efforts of many other local restaurants, including Tender Greens, York, Comme Ca, Napa Valley Grille, and Mixt Greens.
>> The City of L.A.’s growing gardeners with a green gardener training course intended to give eco-friendly and marketable skills to lower-income residents:
Thirty-one gardeners participated in the pilot training program that began late last year, and 89 are expected to be trained soon through the program, which was funded with $250,000 in federal stimulus money, through the city’s Community Development Department, and conducted in partnership with the Institute of Popular Education of Southern California, an immigrant education group.
Earlier: A Green landscape design contest — and 6 free green garden events
Photo by Jory .
