Breakfast: Swingers
Swingers is attached to our hotel, but we've been known to make trips way out of our way to eat here in the past. So breakfast was a no-brainer. We both got hot tea (me: green, him: earl grey). I had the soyrizo scramble: tofu, soyrizo, black beans and fresh salsa with sourdough toast smeared with agave syrup. DH had the organic eggs with veggie bacon, potatoes and toast. I think the veggie bacon is directly responsible for his intense love of all things Swingers.
After breakfast, we hit Whole Foods to stock up on staples, wandered through the Farmers' Market and headed out to Golden Apple and Secret Headquarters, two of L.A.'s many fine comic book shops.
Lunch: Flore Vegan Cuisine
Two things sold me on this location: 1) it's located right across the street from Secret Headquarters, and 2) they have a tempeh reuben. Ever since Beggar's Banquet closed in DSM, I've been without the joys of a tempeh reuben. Flore did not disappoint. We got hot twig tea to drink, the crispy kale as an appetizer (never knew kale could be so tasty! And crispy!). I got the tempeh reuben, of course, which was delectable. DH got the tempeh bacon and mushroom pizza with vegan mozzarella, which he pronounced scrumptious. I can't be totally certain, but I'm pretty sure I saw Flea, the bassist from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, at the table next to us.
Snack: Scoops
Two words for you: vegan gelato. Even though we were filled to bursting after lunch, we dashed in here quickly to share a scoop of the vegan orange-basil gelato. I would never have believed it didn't have dairy if I hadn't seen it clearly labeled 'vegan.' Freaking amazing.
After lunch, we headed back to the hotel, where I changed and ran back out to do an hour and a half of yoga at Liberation Yoga, on La Brea. (Have to burn off the gelato somehow!) Yoga left me exhausted and slightly sore, so it took some effort to decide where to go for dinner. Exhausted though we were, we decided to head out to Soul Vegetarian on Pico. Alas, their supposed location seemed to be occupied by a disco. Not to be deterred, we ventured forth.
Dinner: Rahel's Vegan Ethiopian Cuisine
At this point, I was seriously craving some curry, so I almost derailed us to Electric Karma (billed as 'the most romantic Indian restaurant in L.A.'). But neither of us had ever tasted Ethiopian food, so we stopped here instead. The place was small, dimly lit, interestingly decorated, and presumably authentic. I got a traditional drink made from barley, flax seed and sunflower seed, all blended up and mixed with agave. It tasted a little like a cereal milkshake. I ordered one of the combos, and DH got a single vegetable stew. When it came out, we were both boggled. Way too much food, especially considering our already-stuffed state. We made a good go of it, but there was only so much we could accomplish, being absolutely full and exhausted.
Which brings us to now, curled up in our delightfully decorated room in the Beverly Laurel Motor Hotel and trying not to fall into instant slumber.
Tomorrow we do it again!
