The Unvegan

Recent Posts

10 Years of Unvegan
A Quick Bite at Burrito Express
Serendipity at Northern Waters Smokehaus
Twerks and Burritos at Casa Amigos

‘Bacon’

2/5/2010 Palm Desert

Memories of the Elephant Bar (CLOSED)

-
Made with real elephant. Wait. No.

EDIT: Sadly, this location is extinct, but there are still other Elephant Bars living elsewhere.

As a child of 13, I went to the Elephant Bar in Palm Desert and loved the perpetually moving straw fans on the ceiling. Of course, that was all it took for me to like a restaurant at the age of 13. Now things are a little different. Those fans still cater to my easily distracted mind, but my taste buds require something more. A quick look at the menu made me feel like the Elephant Bar was suffering from mild schizophrenia. While most of the menu was filled with American fare, for some reason a whole page was devoted to Asian stir-fry-esque meals. This threw me off and made me feel like this place wasn’t made for Asian food. I flipped back to the American comfort zone and found what I wanted.

Read More

1/28/2010 Beverly Hills

Loading up on Dough at CPK

-
Bread!

A long time ago, I tried out the BBQ Chicken Pizza from California Pizza Kitchen (CPK). By this time, the restaurant was in Michigan everyone had been raving about it. I tasted it and was really disappointed. Using BBQ sauce instead of tomato sauce disturbed me, and the onions hidden in the cheese made it even worse. Later on, I tried many different pizzas from CPK and was pleased. Yet, since moving to California, I have had very little, if any contact with CPK. Recently, though, I had the chance for a revisit to their Beverly Hills location and decided to once again try out their BBQ Chicken Pizza. But this time, I was prepared.

Read More

12/22/2009 Mobile

A Breakfeast at the Buttermilk Truck (CLOSED)

Hungry workers.
Hungry workers.

EDIT: The truck is no more, but apparently the food can now be found at Willie Jane’s in Venice…

As I sat on my couch in the morning, waiting for my English Muffin to toast, I realized that I didn’t actually have a Newsweek to read. This was very disappointed, so I turned to my iPhone and checked Twitter. Thinking nothing new would be there at such an ungodly hour (8:30), I was just hoping to kill time. But then I saw it. The Buttermilk Truck was already on the streets and serving up breakfast in El Segundo, essentially across the street from where I work. I shot up from my couch, grabbed the English Muffin from the toaster and tossed it back into the fridge, then hit the road to get some breakfast from a truck.

Read More

12/16/2009

It’s a Bacon Bash

Guest blog courtesy of Joel Danto and Bacon.

If your mouth isn't watering, you may be dead.
If your mouth isn’t watering, you may be dead.

December 4th was a very momentous day. You may be wondering, just as my people do during Passover, “Why is this night different from all other nights?” Well, friendos, prepare to be shocked and possibly appalled, as I have done something completely reprehensible. I…ate…bacon. And I didn’t just eat bacon, I threw a BACON BASH — complete with a six course menu. Yes, if it existed, I would probably be going to Jewish Hell, which likely consists of strapping me to a chair and making me watch Joan Rivers television shows on repeat with a bagel, cream cheese and lox slightly out of reach. Hopefully this is a Hell that few will ever have to experience.

Read More

12/9/2009 Mobile

Dogs on a Truck from Dogtown Dogs

A prefectly unveganized hot dog.
A prefectly unveganized hot dog.

No, this isn’t LA’s new mobile petshop, although that is a genius idea that someone should really get on. Instead, it is another one of LA’s constantly expanding collection of mobile food trucks. Dogtown Dogs specializes in hot dogs, which isn’t entirely creative considering the existence of Let’s Be Frank. Despite this, I tracked them down one night after hearing some pretty good things about their dogs. As with most mobile eateries, I ended up finding them parked near the Brig on Abbot Kinney.

Read More

11/17/2009

Getting All Cubic with Sweet Square

Mmm squares of sweetness.
Mmm squares of sweetness.

The ladies of Sweet Square in Culver City contacted me recently because they wanted to give me a sampling of their dessert bars. I’m more of an expert on the savory end of the food spectrum, but never one to turn down free food, I obliged and we set up a date for them to hand-deliver them. In the interim, I checked out their site and saw a bunch of sweets that looked pretty good, but the best-looking one of all was their “Makin’ Bacon” Bar. I have made it well-known throughout this blog that I am not one of the proponents of the bacon craze that is sweeping the nation. Let there be no doubt that I love bacon, but I am constantly baffled by the notion that bacon has become the ultimate topping. Nonetheless, bacon in a dessert bar is intriguing, and I looked forward to the moment that meat would hit my taste buds in dessert form.

Read More

10/27/2009 Mobile

The First Melt at the Grilled Cheese Truck

So shiny and like-new
So shiny and like-new

The highly anticipated Grilled Cheese Truck finally rolled into town tonight and due to my frightening obsession with cheese, I made sure to greet the truck. In the tradition of other great ks before it, the unveiling took place at The Brig on Abbot Kinney. I arrived 15 minutes before the scheduled 8:00 start time and was shocked to find the parking lot at The Brig empty except for the shiny orange truck. Apparently, I was to be the first in line!

Read More

10/2/2009 Boston

A Perfect Sandwich at Ula Cafe

No substitutions necessary.
No substitutions necessary.

While waiting for a tour of the Sam Adams brewery in the Jamaica Plain are of Boston, we took a short walk to Ula Cafe to grab lunch. Both the brewery and Ula Cafe are located in a strange complex that formerly housed some other, now-defunct brewery.

That brewery’s loss was my gain, for as I perused the menu on the wall of Ula Cafe, I came across a sandwich of dreams. No, this wasn’t some meat-filled cardiac-arresting behemoth, but it seemed to good to be true. The name was Roast Turkey, but that didn’t begin to tell the tale of what would lie beneath the slices of bread. This sandwich was composed of turkey, guacamole, bacon and provolone. Not a vegetable in sight. I had to ask the woman at the counter just to be sure that my eyes didn’t deceive me. She told me it came as noted on the menu, with nary a tomato or lettuce leaf thrown in. I ordered it immediately.

Then came the hard part.

Read More

9/18/2009 Santa Barbara

Getting Cheesy at Mad Dogs (CLOSED)

Nothing green here.
Nothing green here.

After a long day of drinking in Santa Barbara, I stumbled upon a little hole in the wall joint called Mad Dogs. Hot dogs were their specialty, which was perfect for me to soak up the remains of the day.

They had a variety of hot dog choices to please anyone, and I decided to do a little custom thing. I ordered a bacon and cheese dog with a side of cheese fries. Apparently I am not afraid of destroying my arteries in one sitting.

Read More

9/17/2009

King Curtis: Unvegan Hero

A few of my loyal friends enlightened me to the existence of this wonderful video circulating the interwebs. It is a clip taken from the life-destroying reality show known as Wife Swap. This particular episode features a delightful little boy who humbly refers to himself as King Curtis. His new mother, Joy, has taken it upon herself to rid the house of junk food (ie. good food) and King Curtis wants nothing to do with that.

As Joy is about to throw away the bacon, King Curtis declares, “Bacon is good for me.”  It seems he is a little unvegan in the making.

Read More

Previous Page
Next Page