Your Vegan Mom

Mandoline Grill

YVM: Is that the best tofu ever?

6yo: Mmmmyes.  (chewing)  Kind of sweet.  (chewing and head-cocked contemplating)  Kind of salty. (chewing and nodding)  Best tofu ever.  

3yo: And the noodles are really good.

Mandoline Grill (outside of LACMA last Sunday)

Viva La Vegan Grocery Store

Your Vegan Mom: What should we say about our field trip to Viva La Vegan?

The Three-Year-Old: They have donuts!  They have vegan donuts!

YVM: That’s important.  But I thought maybe you would say, it was a really long drive, or it was totally worth it because it was so awesome.  Or that Mommy let you eat total junk for dinner.  Or we got to hang out with our friend.  What else?

Clean Slate: What I neglected to mention last year

I'm cleaning blog house this month.  Here's several odds and ends that I forgot to mention.  

Sweet Potato Dinner Pie

 

We had such a nice break.  The boys had two weeks off school.  Paul managed to take the whole time off too.  I lined up activities and pals to play with for every minute of it, and then on approximately the first second of vacation Desmond came down with a cold.  And then the next day, of course, so did Felix.  So I called the pals.  Cancelled plans.  And it was just the four of us.

A Pirate and an Astronaut Walk Into a Bar: the four-year-old's review of Mohawk Bend

Me: So, Desmond, what did you think of Mohawk Bend?

Desmond: I like it.

Me: What was the best part?

D: Coming to the hiking path.

(This interview was conducted after dinner on our way to the Silver Lake Reservoir for some after dinner running around.)

Me: Okay, but dinner - what was the best part of dinner at the big new restaurant we just went to?  How was the pizza?

D: I liked it.  I liked that pizza.

(He had the kids meal.  It comes with a really good little pizza, vegan or dairy - be sure you specify!  It was cut into 6 tiny slices so it was perfect for our two under-fives to share.)

Me: Your pizza came with a salad - did you like it?  

D: Yeah.  I liked the salad.

(It was simple and crunchy and perfect for a kid with any level of salad tolerance.)

Me: What else did the kids meal come with?

D: Did it come with those little...with the spicy things...with the fried vegetables?

Me: No, that was Mommy's dinner.  I had the squash and chips, which was actually tempura vegetables.  (In that picture up there it was already half eaten.  It was madness at our table.  Everything was gobbled up in a swarm of legos that I had brought to keep the boys entertained in case of any sort of waiting.  As it turned out, we ordered an artichoke approximately the second we sat down and that kept the boys occupied until dinner arrived even with a couple ordering snafus.  So as I cleaned up all the legos the boys devoured everything on the table.  I quickly photographed and ate what was left in their wake.) You liked that, huh?  Was the sauce good?

D: (Nods enthusiastically.)

(The spicy things the boy referred to were the two tempura-battered chiles.  They were delicious.  I didn't have to share those.)  

Me: Yours came with fries and fruit.  

D: I liked the fries because they were little.  I never had little fries before.

Me: How about the burger?  Did you like the burger that Daddy ordered?

D: No.  Nah.

(I did.  It's a big fat quinoa - lentil patty served on good bread smeared with avocado and dressed with a little pile of ume pickled onions that I loved and wished were a bit more copious.  There's a nice little wedge of homemade-tasting sweet pickle on the side and a little bowl of exceedingly dull coleslaw.  I grudgingly gave him two tiny bites of my half of the burger, so he's not really one to judge.  But to be fair to the burger, he did ask for a second bite and it is comprised mostly of quinoa - which the boy avowedly hates.  It was good...though just a touch under dressed.)

Me: What else should we talk about?  Wasn't the place cool?

D: (Nodding.)

(We sat on the patio in front that is mostly shielded from Sunset Boulevard.  But if you have a runner, well then you're probably not going out to eat, but still I think the best option for families might be the pleasant atrium in the back that doesn't open onto a busy street.  And to deal with more practical matters for families - they have highchairs, but no changing table in the bathroom.  Though there there is a sink with a short counter in the large stall that could serve in a pinch.)  

Me: Should we go there again? 

D: (More nodding.)

Me: Is that restaurant good for kids?

(More enthusiastic nodding.)

Me: I think so too, Buddy.

 

Both of us: Cheers!

(Oh also, if you're looking for a kid's drink, they do serve more than beer.  There's a nice little citrus spritzer of fresh squeezed juice and sparkling water that the boys I think mostly spilled but also enjoyed.  I never got around to asking for a cup with a lid - so I'm not sure if they have them.  And of course, the beer list is excellent and Paul and I want to go back without the kids and sample the entire thoughtful cocktail list - everything just sounds perfect.  Actually, the whole place just about lives up to my restaurant fairy tale expectations.)