I had an audition today. On a Saturday. To celebrate how well it went, (no known outcome yet), we couldn't help stopping at one of most loved restaurants on the way down La Cienega blvd-Real Food Daily in West Hollywood realfood.com, as we headed home to the beach.
Sylvie was wincing in the back seat and I couldn't help dreaming of mint carob cookies so Ryan quickly veered down a side street, (not too quickly) to locate my secret un-metered parking spot that I remembered back in the days when I used to work at RFD.
Real Food Daily is more down to earth than I remember these days, sporting a Feng Shui kind of vibe. It was hard to get cozy with a 12 month old trying to pour sesame salt in my kukicha tea, and pilfer nachos from the adjacent table, but the new kids menu reminded me that she was indeed welcome.
Ryan had a tempeh reuben sandwich, myself the basic 3-choosing seitan with vegetarian gravy, arame sea vegetables, and the house salad, and Sylvie had a fairly large meal off of the kids menu-veggies, potato, lentils and cashew cheese sauce, with a kids cup of rice milk.
I never remember RFD feeling this laid back and kid-friendly before, it seemed as though when I used to work there, it was full of dieting waifish supermodel types, and neurotic foodies, "Um excuse me, how many calories are in the sea vegetables?", and my personal favorite, "I'm allergic to ice".
Maybe since macrobiotics and vegetarianism in general -even veganism, have all become somewhat mainstream, RFD is attracting a well rounded bunch of people, including families with children. So...I overall recommend it.
Ann Gentry's creations are really one of a kind. The desserts are stupendous, and all sweetened with either maple syrup, fruit juice or agave nectar, everything is organic, the service is prompt, and the salisbury seitan will leave you craving more. We ended up spending more than we wanted to spend, but sometimes celebration trumps frugality.
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1 year ago
I saw that you had tempeh for lunch.. I actually came across it in the grocery the other day, and was quite suprised at how good it was. Do you know any other ways to use it other than frying it?
ReplyDeleteHi Eliza,
ReplyDeleteTempeh can be cooked many ways, and never eaten raw. It can be steamed, boiled, and broiled. I love it pan-fried and then in a salad. It adds some warmth and crunch. It's also delicious in a sandwich with saurkraut, lettuce and mustard.I'll be posting more recipes soon. Taking a little hiatus for my daughters 1st birthday.
In the meantime here is a recipe using boiled tempeh:
1.
You need:
tempeh
ginger
shoyu
scallions
slice tempeh into 1" cubes and place in saucepan. add water almost to cover. brin to a boil. reduce flame to med-low and simmer for about 15 min. Add a little shoyu and grater ginger. Simmer 3-4 minutes. Add sliced scallions and simmer about 1 min until liquid is gone.