Flore

Last night I met up with an old co-worker of mine that just returned from a three month journey in India (cue jealousy).  This is a guy that made over $50,000/year working at a major studio for a boss that never showed up to work. Literally he didn't have to go to work unless he felt like it. He gave it all up to do some traveling and now couch surfaces while he looks for a temporary job until he goes back to school. Obviously I'm more than jealous now.  One of the cool things about this transition however is that he is now a vegetarian and agreed to meet me at an East Side vegan restaurant called Flore.

I ordered The Wrap, which is brown basmati rice, roasted veggies, kale, baked tofu and dill dressing all wrapped up in a whole wheat tortilla.  Honestly I'm not usually a wrap kind of girl. While I like tortillas, I don't LOVE them. Wraps are usually more Becca's style. I suppose part of me knew I would never finish it all and could give the left-overs to her (for which she was totally grateful at 10 pm when she finally stopped working and burst into tears over the stress of starting her new job while still working at the old). The Wrap was delicious but what made this all the more amazing was the POTATO SALAD. Omg this was amazing, tasted perfect despite all animal products. I practically gulped it all down in one swallow while trying to politely maintain a conversation with my dinner companion. I didn't get to take a picture of it because I always feel a bit awkward when in the company of work-related friends.  Suffice to say that Flore will be on my list of second go around restaurants.

Then today I had the best beet salad from Whole Foods.  I love that they are embracing the whole vegan lifestyle in their display cases, although I did notice that one item said Vegan on the label but a closer look at ingredients clearly mentioned eggs and egg whites...hmmmm.  However, the golden beet salad was amazing.  The picture does not do it justice. Granted a medium sized container was $7 but I couldn't even finish it all at lunch.  The funny thing is I've always loved pickled beets and canned beets. However, I never realized there was such a thing as golden beets until I joined a CSA and started to embrace a vegan lifestyle. Now I realize there are a myriad of colors, shades and textures. My favorite is still the blood red beets that stain everything with their color but golden come in a close second. They're sweeter and soak in everything when cooked; in this case onion, parsley, oil and celery. Man I might actually head up to the fridge momentarily and finish them up!

Tonight Becca and I have dinner with one of my best friends. She is moving back to the Bay Area (again cue jealousy) and this is one of her last nights in town. I am so proud of her and we're heading to Toi so I'm excited to see what vegan cuisine options I have!  Cheers.

Flore
3818 W Sunset Blvd.
(at Hyperion)
Los Angeles, CA 90026