hey vegans, i know i have been updating you on the situation with the gardein meat or “garden blend” at chipotle in regards to which grill it’s cooked on, and most of our info has been coming from phone calls and conversations with the nyc staff. well finally, someone who works at chipotle has taken the time to send an official written response that will hopefully clear up any confusion. here ya go:
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since we wrote our open letter to chipotle, it appears as if they heard our plea and begun cooking the vegan gardein meat (aka garden blend) separately from all the real meat!
i was first tipped off by a commenter, and then called the west chelsea location myself…and it appears that it’s true!!!!
on the phone, chipotle said the garden blend is vegan. when i asked if the gardein is cooked separately than the meat, they replied, “of course it is! otherwise it wouldn’t be vegan!” they also said they made the decision to cook the gardein in a separate pan LAST WEEK after several people complained. ahem.
so if you are lucky enough to live in NYC (i’m jealous), head on over to the west chelsea chipotle on 8th avenue between 17th and 18th street for a VEGAN GARDEIN BURRITO.
oh and since we got chipotle’s attention with the last letter, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to ask for one more thing….
dear chipotle,
PLEASE bring vegan garden burrito to ALL YOUR LOCATIONS!!!! and if that’s not possible, and you can only bring it to one more storefront, please bring it to los angeles.
i love you!
quarrygirl
there are a few chipotles in chelsea, and i have read some inaccurate info online about which location has the garden blend. so here is a map just to make sure you go to the right one:
30
Dec
UPDATE 1/7/10: THANKS EVERYONE who read this and wrote in to chipotle!!!! they have CHANGED THEIR WAYS and now cook gardein separately! read the update!
dear chipotle,
thank you so much for being the only fast food chain where i can get a decent vegan burrito. i really appreciate you not using meat in your black beans, chicken stock in your rice, or lard in your tortillas.
when i heard that you guys would be testing out gardein (one of the best vegan proteins EVER) re-branded as “garden blend” at some of your locations, i was overwhelmed with excitement.
so much excitement, in fact, that on my first day of vacation in new york i hustled 3 miles to the chelsea chipotle eatery on 8th avenue (between 17th & 18th street)…the only storefront in the state to offer the coveted garden blend burrito. when i arrived, i was out of breath from hurrying through the manhattan streets and my nose was bright red from the below freezing temperature. no worries though, all would be worth it for a genuine fast food chipotle gardein burrito.
i pushed my way up to the front of the line and asked for the “vegan garden blend burrito”. the nice chap behind the counter looked at me and smiled apologetically while explaining, “oh yes, that’s our new soy meat. we cook it on the same grill as the real meat though, so technically it’s not even vegetarian.” sure enough, he pointed at a super gnarly looking grill with chicken, beef, and mystery meat clumps piled atop it, with animal fluids oozing all over the place. he saw that i was clearly disappointed and offered, “our vegetarian burrito is completely vegan, without cheese. and it’s very popular!” i told him that i’d come special for the garden blend burrito, and he apologized again. needless to say, i left bummed and hungry.
why, oh why, oh why, chipotle?!??!?!?!!? you are awesome. you already have the best vegan burrito in town (and that’s with just vegetables in it!), then you join forces with gardein (the best animal-free protein ever!), then you non-veganize the gardein by cooking it on the same grill in meat juice with all the other dead animals….and THEN you educate your dude-bro employees to warn me against ordering your otherwise vegan soy meat because you’ve contaminated it!!! i am epically confused, chipotle! what are you doing?!
this is me asking you to, begging you to, and insisting that you please carry legitimate vegan gardein protein at all your locations. all it would take is a quick clean or a small separate section of the grill. and we would love you for it, more than we already do!
gardein plus chipotle could change the world….if done right.
i love you! xo
quarrygirl
PS: oh, and all vegans who read this, please bug chipotle about the same grill issue. if enough of us complain, we may get our way! yay!
actually, make that: i am thankful for whole foods, gardein and field roast. although i’ve got holiday/family celebrations going on throughout the weekend, my meal on the actual evening of thanksgiving came from the prepared foods section of whole foods west hollywood. and boy, what a feast.
hey los angeles vegans! just a quick post to let you know that whole foods has some special holiday offerings including seasonal products from gardein and field roast.
in the prepared foods section, you can find a whole holiday spread which features stuffed turk’y roasts by gardein and stuffed hazelnut cranberry en croute by field roast. both products look absolutely delicious, although i haven’t had the chance to try them yet.
gardein stuffed turkey at whole foods
they also are offering gardein rosemary grilled breast. seriously, there is no excuse not to have a vegan thanksgiving. everything you need is at whole foods!
also, at whole foods west hollywood (fairfax and sanmo) they will be offering 50% OFF all whole and 12 inch prepack pizzas! This includes the basu’s homestyle pizzas, the black garlic pizzas, or you can create your own! they also have a hummus pizza and a field roast pizza, which i haven’t tried yet. whole foods uses daiya cheese on their vegan pizza and they do a fucking amazing job, so i suggest you take this opportunity to check it out if you haven’t already.
i know i will be hitting up whole foods for some vegan thanksgiving eats, as well as a post-holiday pizza.
recently we wrote a very sad blog post about morningstar farms which included the fact that they not only un-veganized some of their products, but discontinued our favorite vegan steak strips. yep, at the meal starters that we’ve used for years just suddenly disappeared from store shelves and from the morningstar website without explanation. total bummer.
morningstar farms steak strips discontinued!
but wait! it turns out that almost the EXACT SAME PRODUCT, gardein’s beefless tips, is available in the los angeles area…and probably at your local ralphs, in the freezer section right next to the spot that morningstar farms steak strips used to occupy.
as of a few weeks ago, gardein (the leading maker of faux meats in america) launched a frozen line which included a product called “beefless tips.” it turns out that gardein is the same company that used to make the discontinued morningstar steak strips…and this new product tastes EXACTLY the same! did you hear me? the product we were mourning is still available, it is just in different packaging and has a slightly rounder shape! YES! HELL YES!
when i tried the “new” gardein beefless tips, i was just beside myself. the round little faux beef balls were flavorful, chewy, and spiced ever so slightly…exactly how i remembered my old vegan steak favorite. i ate these beauties in a bowl of vegetables along with homemade tofu sauce, but they are open for interpretation.
los angeles vegans: next time you are at ralphs and want to grab the old familiar morningstar farms meal starters steak strips, grab for a new white gardein bag instead. the taste is the same, and this time it’s coming from an all vegan company—we can count on gardein not to get all shady and start adding egg whites to stuff.
and hey, if you have never had morningstar farms steak strips before, that’s even more of a reason to check this stuff out! gardein is so good, it will probably get you hooked. i am placed firmly under the vegan beef spell.
i can’t wait to put these beefless tips to use in my favorite cornish pastie recipe. 
gardein vegan chicken scallopini
Throughout my entire professional life, I’ve spent most of my waking hours with omnivorous coworkers. I’m used to being a wallflower at pot lucks, pizza parties, brown bag lunches, birthday celebrations and fancy executive dinners, fortunate to nibble on some fresh fruit or dry burger buns while my omni-workers fill up on stuff I won’t eat.
I’ve lost count of the number of times somebody has walked up to my desk and offered some “amazing left-over” food. Everything from caviar crackers to chicken wings to home made cookies, I’m always the one saying “Oh, that looks amazing, but I have to pass as I’m a vegetarian/vegan”.
Sometimes, I’ve been pleasantly surprised when somebody has prepared something specially for me, like the time the IT guy in Seattle made vegan cornish pasties on a whim: “I thought it would be a challenge, you know”. After I ate all three of them before I got home I can confirm that he met said challenge with aplomb.
What I’d never participated in, though, is the random: “I made too much of [insert non-vegan food] last night. Want some?”. Until, that is, last week when my only ever vegan coworker (the amazingly talented Benny Strange) popped in to my office and casually said “Hey, I made WAY too much vegan pesto last night. Want some?”. Did I EVER.
vegan bennystrange pesto
The timing could not have been better, frankly, as back home I had some amazing Gardein Chick’n Scallopini burning a hole in the freezer, and was already considering some Italian-style accompaniments: The thought of a meal based on vegan pesto (something rather difficult to find in the wild) immediately resonated with me, so I rushed home with pesto in hand and started to cook up a storm.
First, I need to take a moment to talk about the Gardein Chick’n, which is a seriously tasty and flexible alternative to fake meats and, of course, real meat. They arrive pre-cooked so all you have to do is heat them to your taste, season further if you like and cook ‘em. For this dish, I brushed them with a little olive oil, fresh garlic and dried Italian herbs then seared them over the grill for 5 minutes.
For the rest of the dish, I boiled some angel hair pasta in salted water for a few minutes, and then drained and added the vegan pesto, mixing throughly.
Adding some steamed broccoli was the icing on the cake, as this wonderful dish came together rather well. Spearheaded by the sublime smoothness of the absolutely amazing vegan pesto (better than the stuff you can buy in Whole Foods), some al dente pasta and the sumptuously juicy Gardein Scallopinis this really was an excellent meal.
I’m really grateful to Benny Strange for bringing in his leftover pesto as it ignited a meal idea I’d never have considered, and which turned out to be truly amazing. Let’s hope many more vegans show up in workplaces everywhere so we can bring our leftovers and trade them with each other. Who knows, our omni coworkers might even learn a thing or two about how wonderful cruelty-free food can be.
i am loving gardein’s new vegan frozen food line, and finally it’s available in los angeles. i’ve already told you all about the amazing spicy buffalo wings, so today it’s all about chick’n good stuff.
this little meal comes in packs of two and is basically a vegan take on stuffed chicken, complete with marinara sauce and daiya cheese in the middle. i topped mine with even more daiya cheese that i had on hand, and served it up with roasted brussels sprouts and collard greens.
on bite of this thing, and i was SOLD. the crispy bread crumb coating was garlicky and flavorful, and the vegan chicken was moist and perfectly chewy. as soon as i cut into it, rich daiya cheese and marinara sauce oozed out of it all over the place. the sauce was awesome, and i’m sure you already know how amazing daiya is. i’ve never had a vegan frozen product this tasty….seriously!
each stuffed chick’n is definitely enough for a 1 person meal…i even had a bit left over. these things pack so much decadent taste, i couldn’t believe it when i picked up the package and saw they only contain 210 calories each! i know i will be eating these on a regular basis.
oh and it looks like i CAN be eating these on a regular basis, because they are available at ralphs! i’d never seen gardein at a normal supermarket before, so i was pleasantly surprised when i saw their entire frozen line in stock at ralphs in hollywood yesterday. and at just under $4.50 per bag, the price is right as well.
come on, it’s VEGAN CHICKEN stuffed with VEGAN CHEESE….available at the grocery store!!!! i never thought i’d see the day!
it’s been a bad year for some of our favorite restaurants. a taste of life has closed its storefront, that’s amore is completely gone, and flore cafe is on the brink of shutting down as well. on top of all this, today i found out that the shitty economy is threatening the best place to get vegan pizza in los angeles: purgatory pizza.
vegan pizza: daiya cheese, roasted garlic, fresh basil, tomatoes, red onions.
the owner of purgatory pizza tweeted this morning, “TRYING to stay open…. Damn economy!” i dug a bit deeper, and the restaurant confirmed that if business doesn’t pick up, it’s a very real possibility that they could be forced to close their doors. i can’t even stress to you WHAT AN EPIC TRAGEDY THIS WOULD BE FOR THE LOS ANGELES VEGAN SCENE. after all, purgatory was named one of the top 5 omnivorous restaurants in los angeles. i know that tons of places in LA are offering daiya pizza now, but purgatory is the only place where you can get pizza with daiya cheese, gardein vegan chicken, AND field roast artisan grain meats. it’s also the best place to get nyc style vegan pizza in town, and they even have vegan pesto as well!
Vegan Chicken Pesto Pizza with Gardein and Daiya at Purgatory Pizza.
seriously, purgatory pizza is a one-of-a-kind restaurant and we can’t let it go out of business. they were the first pizza place to bend over backwards for vegans in los angeles, and i think it’s safe to say they have some of the best (if not THE BEST) vegan pizza in LA. they are a little bit out of the way for most folks, but the food is worth it and they have a quiet atmosphere where you can BYOB! so get out and spend some money at purgatory pizza ASAP. i highly recommend you try either the gardein chicken with pesto or the “classic” pizza with added field roast sausage. they know how to melt daiya vegan cheese perfectly, and i’ve never had a pizza there i didn’t absolutely love. if they shut down, i will cry.
purgatory pizza
1326 East 1st Street
Los Angeles CA 90033
(323) 262-5310
gardein classic style buffalo wings.
this fall, gardein is launching a new frozen line all over the united states & canada, so keep an eye out for their products coming to a whole foods near you. if you live on the east coast, you may have already seen this stuff. gardein sent me a sampling of their new line to try out, and i immediately fell in love with their classic style buffalo wings. spicy, tangy, moist and chewy, these bite-sized snacks were everything you could want in a meaty appetizer. they packed a lot of heat, and went down perfectly with cool and creamy vegenaise dip.
being a vegan is super easy with companies like gardein around to create cruelty-free versions of old meaty favorites. stay tuned for more gardein products coming soon to a freezer near you. and if you spot these wings when you are out grocery shopping, trust me, YOU GOTTA TRY ‘EM. i am gonna buy up bags of these wings as soon as i have the chance.
just a brief bit of vegan news for you all in los angeles…
on tuesday september 29, veggie grill is opening its newest location in west hollywood. 8000 sunset to be exact, at crescent heights in the sunset 5 complex. woo hoo!
veggie grill already has a few locations in southern california, and they make awesome fast-food style cuisine using mock meats such as gardein. get over to weho and check them out asap.
welcome to the neighborhood, veggie grill!
veggie grill
8000 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90046
323.822.7575
daiya vegan cheese pizza with gardein crumbles
a couple nights ago i got together with some friends and had a good old-fashioned vegan pizza throw down. the los angeles vegan pizza scene has kind of exploded lately, since daiya vegan cheese has become available at purgatory pizza, cruzer, whole foods and zpizza—so i went for quite a while without making pizza at home.
luckily now, daiya vegan shreds are available not just on take out pizza, but for to-go purchase by weight at nearly every whole foods in the los angeles area. no more ordering online and paying outrageous shipping fees—now you can take a stroll to the nearest whole foods and buy as many containers of daiya as you can carry. i suggest you follow my lead, round up some friends, and throw your own pizza party.
we made several pizzas, although some of them were devoured before i could photograph them. in addition to covering the pies with daiya, we also topped them with products from one of our favorite fake meat providers, gardein. if you haven’t had gardein yet, you really need to find out what you are missing. they have the BEST mock chicken product around, as well as mock pulled pork, mock beef, and other mock meats. you can find their stuff at whole foods, trader joes, fresh and easy, and even sometimes at ralphs. for more info, check out their website.
on the pizza pictured above, we used gardein’s meatless crumbles which were insanely delicious. they were soft and flavorful and tasted so much like what i remember ground beef tasting like…but without the weird animal texture. my favorite pizza of the night, however, was the one pictured below: white sauce, sauteed mushrooms, garlic, gardein chik’n strips and daiya vegan cheese. this thing was freaking incredible. the white sauce was filled with herbs, oil & seasoning, and was the perfect compliment to the meaty chik’n strips.
white vegan pizza with daiya cheese and gardein chick'n strips
these chik’n slices are definitely one of my favorite gardein products—i have had omnivores tell me they taste way better than real chicken. they are moist and full of flavor, but not overly dry like gross real meat. seriously, a bite of these mixed up with melted daiya and oily sauce is nothing short of heavenly.
as you can tell, the pizza shindig was a huge success thanks to all the amazing toppings, and also to the excellent pizza chef studiodrome who spent a lot of time in the kitchen making these things.
so what are you waiting for? everything you need to make the pizza of your dreams is available at nearby supermarkets. to think a year ago in los angeles, there were basically no vegan pizza options—and now we can make incredible vegan pizzas AT HOME with cheese and meat that taste like the real thing…it’s pretty damn amazing.
check your local whole foods for daiya vegan cheese, and check gardein’s website for where you can find their products.
oh, and if you feel lazy and want a gardein daiya pizza made for you, head on over to purgatory pizza. i’m pretty sure they are the only place that carries both these products right now. and they make the best pesto pizza with gardein chik’n that i’ve ever had.
gardein chicken sandwich: gardein chicken breast marinated w/ rosemary garlic & lemon juice, baby spinach, fresh tomato, cucumber, daiya cheese and vegenaise. $6.99
while the westside has lots of perks like money, beaches and prius-driving environmentalists, one thing it has been lacking for quite some time is quality vegan-friendly restaurants….especially in culver city. sure, for a while they’ve had m cafe, tender greens and akasha…but there hasn’t been a place to get a huge, cheap, satisfying vegan meal…until now. green peas casual food is a new cafe that opened in late june and offers loads of vegan options including sandwiches, salads, quesadillas, and even pizzas.
we checked out green peas recently and were quite impressed with the quality of food, low prices, and friendly staff. the first thing we ordered was the gardein chicken sandwich, a thick ciabatta roll topped with gardein chicken breast, melty daiya cheese and fresh vegetables. the sandwich originally came with bell peppers, and when we asked for them to be left off, the dude at the counter suggested we replace them with any other vegetable. see that? nice, helpful service? most places will just omit ingredients without offering to replace them.
the sandwich itself was huge and awesome. it came with a large side salad of dark leafy greens, and was absolutely packed with vegetables, gardein and daiya. i couldn’t believe this thing was only $6.99. at most vegan places, a sandwich this good with a side would be around $11-$12. what a score!
we also ordered the vegan pizza which came piled with grilled vegetables and daiya cheese. even though the menu at green peas describes it as soy cheese, rest assured, this stuff was definitely daiya. again, we got this without bell peppers and opted for sundried tomatoes instead. now you can’t really tell by the picture, but this pizza was massvie…enough for 2 people and only $7.99. i love that so many places are serving daiya now, we are truly spoiled in los angeles when it comes to vegan pizza.
vegetable pizza: grilled carrots, grilled zucchini, grilled eggplant, grilled red onions and daiya cheese. $7.99
the vibe at green peas is upscale casual. everything is super clean and well-presented, but you order at the counter and seat yourself. the food comes out rapidly, i’d we went from ordering to eating in less than ten minutes.
so westside vegans, head over to green peas as soon as you can. fill up on gardein packed sandwiches, daiya covered pizzas, quesadillas, salads and tofu scrambles. everything on the menu is under ten bucks, the portions are huge, and the food is fucking delicious. definitely one of my new faves.
green peas
4437 Sepulveda Blvd
Culver City, CA 90230
(310) 397-9815
6am-10pm
if you read the LA vegan sites, you’ve probably heard of jennshaggy’s recipe blog. well recently, jenn has been doing more than blogging; she’s lent a hand to fratelli cafe on melrose and has helped them design an extensive vegan menu. now the small eatery has a variety of vegan sandwiches, wraps, and salads stuffed with high-quality meat substitutes, fresh vegetables and marinated tofu. i have dined at fratelli cafe twice, and both times the food was delicious.
chinese tofu salad: marinated tofu, lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, red onions, crushed peanuts and organic sesame soy dressing. $10.95
on my first visit to fratelli, they had just run out of their meat substitutes, so the only protein option they had was marinated tofu. my friend and i decided to get two entrees and split them: the chinese chicken salad (with tofu instead of chicken), and the mexican cilantro wrap. while i was a little skeptical of having tofu rather than chicken in the salad, it turned out to be wonderful. this was indeed some of the best marinated tofu i’ve ever had. it was slightly crisp and oily on the outside, then soft and juicy in the center. seriously tasty stuff. the rest of the salad was on point as well, all extremely fresh with an excellent vegan dressing.
the mexican cilantro wrap did not disappoint, either. it was filled with the same amazing tofu plus vegetables, salsa and vegan cheese. since a jennshaggy designed the menu and told fratelli which brands to buy, you can trust that things like the fake cheese and meat are truly vegan. for a cheese substitute they use follow your heart, which isn’t my favorite, but it tasted pretty good in this wrap.
mexican cilantro wrap: chicken or tofu, lettuce, tomato, salsa, red onions, avocado, cilantro dressing, vegenaise, and shredded mozzarella. $10.95
i hit up fratelli cafe again a few days later, and luckily the fake meat products were back in stock…
mediterranean salad: chicken or tofu, spinach, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, sun dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, white balsamic vinaigrette, shredded mozzarella. $10.95
my friend ordered the mediterranean salad with chicken, and we were pleased to find it topped with huge thick slices of well-seasoned gardein. the only complaint i’d have about this salad, is it seemed to come with normal lettuce, not spinach like the menu indicated…and the follow your heart cheese was cut in cubes, not shredded. it impressed my omnivorous friend though, and she happily ate all of it.
pesto chicken sandwich: chicken, lettuce, tomato, red onion, non dairy pesto, mozzarella and mayo. $10.95
i ordered the pesto chicken sandwich was also stacked with gardein chicken and a garlicky vegan pesto sauce. this is my favorite thing so far i’ve ordered from fratelli. gardein is just so moist and flavorful, with stuff like this out there, i don’t understand why anyone eats meat. the pesto was also incredible, creamy and so full of flavor, the dairy was not missed one bit.
so next time you find yourself on melrose, head over to fratelli cafe and check out their new vegan menu that our local jennshaggy designed. just grab the laminated menu and flip all the way to the back for the vegan selections. yum.
fratelli cafe
7200 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90046
(323) 938-2233
7 days 6:30am – 11pm
in the mood for a huge, hearty, warm, melty, fake-meaty vegan sandwich for under $10? look no further than chango coffee house in echo park. the hipster cofee shop/art gallery is located at echo park avenue and delta street, a spot that locals have dubbed “chicken corner,” and has recently added two unbelievably tasty vegan sandwiches to their menu. i had the chance to try both over the weekend, steak & cheese as well as chicken pesto, and each one brought a kind of sandwich satisfaction that isn’t available anywhere else in town.
vegan steak and cheese sandwich. $7.50
the vegan steak and cheese sandwich is basically a vegan version of your typical “philly cheesesteak,” with thick soy steak strips and dairy-free mozzarella, along with sauteed onions and mushrooms. chango toasted the sandwich when i ordered it, so the bread was warm and crispy and the soy cheese was perfectly melty. for the steak chango uses gardein, and for the cheese they use teese from chicago soy dairy…each being the best replacement out there for its animal-product counterpart. i can tell you, this steak and cheese sandwich was so amazing, even a meat-eater would fall in love with it. not since doomie’s or the vegan spot (both are closed down now) have i had such a great vegan sandwich.
vegan chicken pesto salad panini. $7.50
the vegan chicken pesto sandwich was equally impressive, with thick chunks of gardein protein, creamy cheese-less pesto sauce, fresh basil, crisp lettuce and juicy tomatoes. the pesto was really garlicky, just the way i like it, and the bread heated up to be perfectly toasty and crunchy. where else can you buy a big chunky chicken pesto sandwich that’s vegan in los angeles?!? …that’s right. nowhere.
the thing i love about chango’s new sandwiches, are they are unlike the normal “vegan” sandwich options you can get just about anywhere. rather than just some grilled vegetables and maybe tofu on a bread roll, chango take its vegan sandwiches to the next level with fake meats, soy cheeses, and incredible homemade pesto sauce. plus, they are really well prepared, perfectly assembled with just the right amount of ingredients, and toasted to absolute perfection. you aren’t gonna get any other sandwich this good for well under 10 dollars, i guarantee you.
the atmosphere is also great at chango, it reminds me of a hip seattle coffee shop with its bohemian customers, shelves full of books to peruse, and bright art adorning the wall. seriously, it’s the perfect place to sit back and relax with a cup of caffeine and a huge vegan sandwich. get your ass over to chango asap and see what this food is all about. the vegan items are listed right now on the “specials” chalkboard to the left of the counter, not on the main board.
chango coffee house
1559 Echo Park Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90026
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