LAVBF

The Vegan Beer Festival this Saturday, May 4, from 1-5 p.m., is set to delight buzz-seaking meat-abstainers of Southern California for the fourth year. By popular demand the venue for the beer and food celebration was recently upgraded to the lot across from The Roxy Theatre, nearly doubling the capacity for this year's meatless merrymaking.

Co-hosts Tony's Darts Away, The Roxy and L.A. vegan blogger Quarry Girl have corralled local beer from Golden Road, Monkish, El Segundo, Cismontane, Noble Ale Works, TAPS, and Bootlegger's along with California staples Sierra Nevada, Anchor, and Lagunitas and many, many more. Ticket holders will receive a tasting glass for unlimited samples from the 40+ breweries, access to over 30 vegan food vendors, and live music from a number of bands toting vegan-friendly names.

Most people react with surprise upon hearing that beer isn't always vegan and that there is an entire festival devoted to those that are animal-free.

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Sanae Suzuki

Original Kale Salad by Seed Kitchen

Seed Kitchen in Venice is a macrobiotic vegan restaurant, but chef-owner Eric Lechausseur may not emphasize it when he and wife Sanae Suzuki host a dinner party at home.

"I don't even tell people. I find that they don't know until I let them know," Lechausseur says. He makes hearty one-pot entrées like cassoulet with soy sausage and white beans or a three-bean chili. True to macrobiotic philosophy, the flavor profile changes with the season; he might opt for something spicier in the summer, whereas the dish would be thicker, more gravy-heavy in the winter. To complement the main dish, he'll prepare four to five other dishes -- grains, greens, or seaweed salad.

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Hope Lee

faux shrimp at Soho Thai

Lomita is known for two things -- a railroad museum and as the place where Olympian Jim Thorpe died -- and veganism isn't one of them. But thanks to Soho Thai Fusion Bar & Grill, that might change.

Soho's menu features a "Vegan Zone," which includes soy chicken, soy shrimp fish, soy crab, soy salmon and tofu steak. These items can be substituted into any of the eatery's "regular" meals, with a handy reassurance that you aren't getting animal flesh because the menu states that these dishes contain "No Meat, No Fish, No Poultry, No Eggs, No Milk, No MSG, No Fish Sauce, No Animal Products."

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Anuar Pinto Velasco

Vegan pate at BLD

A vegan pâté, or any charcuterie not reliant on meat either faux or real for that matter, is not commonly found as a regular menu item at restaurants in Los Angeles. That may be why the smoked mushroom vegan pâté at BLD on Beverly Boulevard was met with wariness at first.

"Initially, when we first launched it, there were a lot of people who were a little hesitant. So I tried to give out samples to bring people in," said Lewis Chan, the restaurant's chef de cuisine.

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Christine Chiao

Street tacos platter at Sage Organic Bistro

With a long civic history, Meatless Mondays remains as relevant a strategy used to curb the ever-growing list of public health and environmental issues as ever. In fact, last November, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously passed a resolution approving Meatless Mondays, making this the largest city in the U.S. to do so.

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Ryan Ritchie

Lenny & Larry's vegan cookie

Let's just get this right out of the way: Northridge-based Lenny & Larry's makes the best pre-packaged vegan cookie on the market.

That's a bold statement, but the numbers -- and taste buds -- don't lie. Last year, Inc. Magazine ranked the company at No. 1,314 on its list of fastest-growing private businesses in the country, which is pretty impressive for a 12-person operation from the Valley.

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Disney ABC TV Group via flickr

The Taste judges

We're guessing there won't be many vegan dishes featured on ABC's new show, The Taste. On last week's episode, three vegan cooks got a smackdown when the judging panel sampled the non-meat offerings.

"I suspect vegetarianism," intoned Anthony Bourdain, as if someone had just served him a dirty sock; "Oh uh oh" uttered Ludo Lefebvre (at least that's what we think he said); "I need meat cooked on my team," said Brian Malarkey (Really? For every course of every meal? Malarkey!) and from Nigella Lawson: "I'm confused."

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Hope Lee

breakfast at The Vegan Joint

The Vegan Joint can't be smoked, but that's OK because all three locations (West Los Angeles, Hollywood and Woodland Hills) serve breakfast all day. Some might say that's even better than a vegan joint. They'd be wrong, but they'd say it.

Owner Rattana P. (who'd prefer her last name not be used) opened her first Vegan Joint in Culver City in 2006 and a second location in Woodland Hills in 2011. A third restaurant (in Hollywood) opened Nov. 8, so the idea of a 100 percent vegan eatery serving breakfast all day is obviously something that gets people excited.

And how could it not? It's hard to beat chicken pancakes (pancakes and crispy soy chicken) for lunch, or tofu scramble pancakes (pancakes, tofu scramble, faux cheese and soy bacon bits) for dinner -- or tropical pancakes (served with bananas and blueberries).

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No Udder Desserts' Facebook page

chocolate cake

There's plenty to say about No Udder Desserts, an all-vegan bakery located in a Woodland Hills mini-mall. However, for just one second, forget all about the fact that the eatery sells tempting treats such as chocolate cake and Vinkies (vegan Twinkies, basically), brownie cookies, gluten-free whoopee pies, apple turnovers, cheesecake, myriad cupcakes and organic fair-trade coffee.

Because the most important thing to know about No Udder Desserts is that they sell a cake that looks exactly like a hamburger. Yes, a hamburger.

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Hope Lee

The menu at Hermosa Beach vegetarian restaurant The Spot Natural Food Restaurant indicates that the place serves desserts, but unless you're the reincarnation of Andre the Giant, you'll never know for sure. Because only the former Eighth Wonder of the World would be able to complete the Tamale Combo Plate and still have room for more.

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