After Blogger Beach Cleanup last year, we knew where to go for our celebratory dinner: SEED. This Japanese-American fusion vegan macrobiotic restaurant in Venice donated prizes for Blogger Beach Cleanup volunteers, after all!

So The Daily Ocean‘s Sara Bayles and I headed over to try the vegan fare, made with local, organic ingredients. My curry smelled so amazing I quickly stuck a biodegradable fork in it to take a bite — then remembered to take a picture (above).

Sara said her Macro Bowl was amazing too — and healthy! We then indulged on a more fattening but yummily crunchy-sweet side of sweet potato fries — Yum!

The vegan desserts, however, were horribly disappointing. Caroline on Crack, in her review of the restaurant, said that the cupcakes were bland, oddly-flavored, and muffin-like in density — which is why I went for one of the tasty-looking mousses instead. Alas, I found the wobbly colorful morsels pretty to look at but strangely devoid of flavor or sweetness.

Still, I’d happily eat SEED curry every day — and try the soups, salads, paninis, and burgers too — except that would mean going through a lot of disposable food packaging. SEED’s a casual dining restaurant that has a few indoor and outdoor tables but relies heavily on take-out orders — which is why even in-restaurant diners get their food in disposable containers. Biodegradable containers, but one-use-only nonetheless.

[Update, 3/2/10: SEED's PR representative let me know that as a small restaurant that does not have public facilities,  SEED is by law not allowed to employ reusable plates and utensils.]

If the restaurant starts offering reusable options, I’ll drop by more often to dine in.

SEED Restaurant. 1604 Pacific Ave., Venice. 310.396.1604. 10 am – 9 pm daily.

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