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

‘Food’

6/24/2009 Culver City

Dipping With Honey at Honey’s Kettle Fried Chicken

Who would think to put this in honey?
Who would think to put this in honey?

When I first took a gander inside Honey’s Kettle Fried Chicken in Culver City, I was a little taken aback because the crowd didn’t look exactly like people who would be eating fried chicken. They looked more like people who would rather go somewhere like Rush Street or Ford’s Filling Station. Nevertheless, I had heard good things, so I went in.

A quick look at the menu revealed a wide range of non-vegetable fried options that I could enjoy, except that they all seemed to come with pickles. I decided on the three piece breast strip meal, which came with fries, a biscuit and pickles. I ordered without the pickles and asked the cashier why it was called “Honey’s Kettle,” thinking there was somehow honey involved in the fry batter. She told me that it was actually because the guy who created the batter realized that it went perfectly with a special kind of honey that they have in the restaurant.

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6/18/2009 Rancho Mirage

Two for One at The Right Bank

Ewww orange veggies.
Ewww orange veggies.

For my last meal in Rancho Mirage, I headed to The Right Bank. Why it isn’t called the Left Bank boggles my mind, but at least it isn’t called the West Bank.

As I sat down and looked at the menu, I couldn’t get over how expensive the place was, but then my grandparents revealed to me that just about ever night they offer buy one get one free for entrees. This was a pretty good deal, so I didn’t feel so terrible about ordering something decent.

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6/17/2009

The Meat Industry Supports America

According to a recent study, the meat industry and all its components contribute more than $832 billion (5.8% of the GDP) to the US economy. That is no small figure. In these days of economic recession we hear giant numbers tossed around like they are pennies, but let’s consider what this particular huge number does, other than provide sustenance for unvegans all over the country.

This money goes towards employing more than 6 million people who will earn almost $200 billion because of the industry. But it is not simply about the individual people, but what the industry does for the country as a whole. 

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6/16/2009 Palm Desert

A Wholesome Breakfast at Palms Cafe

Looks good enough to eat.
Looks good enough to eat.

While visiting my grandparents in Rancho Mirage, they took me to a great little breakfast place called Palms Cafe in Palm Desert. Knowing my grandparents would never lead me astray, I was pretty excited.

We took a seat outside and perused the menu. As most cafes go, they had a pretty good collection of food, but I sought out my favorite breakfast food, the omelet. Since I don’t think I had ever seen turkey offered in an omelet before, I ordered one with turkey and cheese. I also got some bacon on the side.

It came out pretty quickly and was one of the most interesting omelets I’ve ever seen.

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6/10/2009 Los Angeles

Old Timey Mexican at El Cholo

The biggest burrito in the world.
The biggest burrito in the world.

El Cholo has been part of LA since Prohibition, which is no small feat in a city that flocks to trends like they cure cancer.

It took me a while, but I finally made it to the original El Cholo in Koreatown.

I had a difficult time deciding what to get from the menu. The prices were a bit steep, but I figured it was worth it to try an LA classic. In a cool little nod to their history, on each menu item they list the year that it became part of their menu, I finally decided on the great barometer for Mexican food, the burrito. At El Cholo, they call it the Burrito Dorado, which they began serving in 1977, making it seven years older than me. According to the menu, it’s composed of chili con carne, beans, rice, cheddar cheese, tomato sauce, sour cream and guacamole. I hoped none of these ingredients would be older than me.

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6/5/2009

Stephen Colbert: Unvegan Hero

Stephen Colbert welcomed Eric Schlosser, the man behind Fast Food Nation and the upcoming Food, Inc., to The Colbert Report last night. In these films, Schlosser tries to convince the world how terrible the current food system in our country is.

Colbert, in his typically hilarious way, seems to have a retort for everything that Schlosser says. At one point he says, “God gave us dominion over the animals…and if we can get 50,000 of them in one spot, why shouldn’t we?” Who can argue with that?

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6/5/2009 Manhattan Beach

Rockin’ the Lunch at Rock’n Fish

Skin or no skin?
Skin or no skin?

For a fancy Sunday lunch, I went out to Rock’n Fish in Manhattan Beach at the request of my favorite girlfriend. The name makes it sound like some sort of gimmicky musically inclined restaurant. It’s actually nothing of the sort, and more of a fancy little place.

I’ve never been the biggest fan of consuming fish before dinner time, so I looked more closely at the cow and chicken options. The place had some good unvegan choices, but I finally settled on the Hibachi Teriyaki Chicken, which didn’t have a vegetable in sight. It also included two sides, so I got shoestring fries and the spicy mac ‘n cheese.

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6/2/2009 Farmington

Sliders Done Right at Greene’s Hamburgers

Those are what I call sliders.
Those are what I call sliders.

The Metro Detroit area seems to have been blessed with a number of great slider joints. Although Hunter House in Birmingham seems to get the most public acclaim, Greene’s Hamburgers in Farmington is no less worthy, if only for the fact that they are open 24 hours a day.

Greene’s resides in a little unassuming porcelain tile-covered building with the words Greene’s Hamburgers written in a basic black font, with the emphasis on Hamburgers. Inside, the place smells like burger heaven, with no large number of stools placed around the counter and against the windows. The menu barely contains more than hamburgers and fries, but there’s really no need to look beyond those items, because they are the real reason people come to Greene’s.

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6/1/2009 Farmington Hills

Back Home at Buddy’s

Rectangular is the new round.
Rectangular is the new round.

A friend of mine and I have a longstanding tradition that every time I head home to Michigan, we make a special trip to Buddy’s Pizza in Farmington Hills, a Detroit suburb. The most recent trip was even more special because I hadn’t been home for a solid nine months, and because Buddy’s had recently been ranked one of the top 25 pizza places in the country.

We took a seat at their relatively new outdoor seating. Being regulars, we had no need to look at the menu and ordered our usual, a large pepperoni pizza. To accompany our pizza, we ordered a round of drinks indigenous to the area. My friend got a Labatt Blue, imported from across the river in London, Ontario, Canada, while I ordered Bell’s Oberon, from the Bell’s Brewery in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Bell’s is a special brewery that doesn’t have too much distribution outside of Michigan, while their Oberon is only brewed during the summer. Combine those and you have a truly rare beer that I was especially happy to be ingesting at Buddy’s.

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5/29/2009 Los Angeles

Dining Alone at Di Vita’s Pizzeria (CLOSED)

Totally worth the wait.
Totally worth the wait.

A drunken stumble across the street from Cabo Cantina in Brentwood, sits Di Vita’s Pizzeria, a relatively unassuming pizza parlor.

After an evening of drinking at Cabo, I found myself across the street at this parlor peering through the window to see what it looked like. I saw a couple at a table and decided they looked pretty happy. As we walked in, the couple stood up and we realized they both worked there and we were the only patrons in the place.

We looked at the menu as one of my friends frantically tried to read about the place on his iPhone. Finding nothing online, we decided to stick it out and ordered a large pepperoni pizza. Then we waited. And waited. And waited. Perhaps it only took 10 minutes to get our pizza, but our drunken hunger got the best of us and it felt like hours.

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