quarrygirl

had a ridiculously good dinner tonight with some friends at the somewhat recently reopened fatty’s in eagle rock. top notch food in a really nice environment—-this is definitely one of the best vegetarian restaurants in LA, and the ambiance can’t be beat. go there if you haven’t been.

clara’s cakes provided the delicious dessert (not available at fatty’s).

(click through the gallery to enlarge)

vita cafe is one of my favorite spots to hit up in portland. the menu is huge, almost entirely vegetarian, and everything on it can be made vegan. big hearty breakfasts, sandwiches, burgers, salads, entree platters, even tap beer—-vita has it all.

(click on the images to enlarge and see descriptions)

vegan “bbq sloppy faux” sandwich on special right now at mendocino farms: shaved seitan and pinto beans slow braised in chipotle citrus barbeque sauce with avocado puree, vegenaise, pickled red onions, candied jalapenos, tomatoes, shredded romaine on toasted ciabatte. $9.50

jon wiener ate it, loved it, and sent us these pix. here’s his review:

Unlike The Shitty Beatles, the Sloppy Faux isn’t just a clever name.  It’s a fantastic combination of thinly-sliced seitan, big fat pinto beans, lettce, vegenaise, etc on amazing soft (with just the right amount of chew) ciabatta bread.  Each bite is a struggle because you are so happy to be eating the amazing sandwich, but so sad that each bite contributes to it being finished sooner.

What I wanted to say, however, has nothing to do with the experience of the sandwich, but with the name.

The Sloppy Faux is clearly a take on the Sloppy Joe.  When most people think of the Sloppy Joe, they probably are thinking about the meaty, saucy concoction that gets served in a bun so porous that it is incapable of holding the aforementioned death-slop, resulting in an in-tact top bun and a piece of bread-slime on the bottom.  

You probably remember them from the classic scene in Billy Madison (warning: the following clip contains ground up animal carcass - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJf8Je5H7-k ).

I grew up in New Jersey, not too far from New York City.  Where I’m from, a Sloppy Joe is something totally different.  It’s a t stacked sandwich consisting of several different meats (pastrami, corned beef, roast beef, turkey, etc), cole slaw, swiss cheese & russian dressing on rye bread.    It’s basically the TurDuckEn of deli sandwiches.  This is what they sometimes look like (warning…more rotting flesh): 

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_V2vvFqyFKZ8/SLYru_oqcfI/AAAAAAAABo0/nCPA-MH32X0/s400/EvergreenSloppyJoe.jpg

Here’s an accurately labeled diagram from a very vegan unfriendly site called The Porkchop Express: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_V2vvFqyFKZ8/R-lT—OTDMI/AAAAAAAABYg/Er1kcjQEu8w/s1600/AnatomyOfASandwich.jpg

In my “pregan” days, these were a fixture at Super Bowl parties and downtown “hangs” with my friends.  Jeez…I was so young and stupid!

Anyway, as much as I loved the SLOPPY FAUX, it should consider a name change, should Mendocino Farms decide to add it to the regular menu, and create a true SLOPPY FAUX that matches the name more accurately.  Has anyone ground up seitan for a classic Sloppy Joe vibe?  Maybe create a New Jersey Sloppy Faux using different “meats” along with the seitan.  In fact, I’d like to challenge several Los Angeles vegan delis to step up and give it a try.  Locali?  Figuroa Produce?  Let’s start giving the Ruben a run for its money in the sandwich wars.  

really lame anti-soy/almond/rice milk commercial put out by the dairy industry. can’t they do better than this? the kid would have WAY worse nightmares if he knew what really happened to dairy cows…