A big benefit of my job is I travel the world.
And a vegan’s gotta know where to eat.
Here’s a list of my faves-
Please add yours so we all know where to go!!
NEW YORK:
Pure Food and Wine Totally overpriced raw food but in a class by itself. Love the Dr. Cow cheese plate (nut cheeses made in Brooklyn) and the Corn Tamales. Also the mushroom appetizer is sick. But I get sick when I look at the check.
Caravan of Dreams. Totally hippy inside but the Burrito will feed you for a week. Also try the Pumpkin Goji berry shake for a hearty stomach filler. Their guacamole can’t be beat and also I love their default salad dressing. Try not to go when music is playing or you will be annoyed and can’t hear your lunch mate speaking.
Quintessence. Is all raw and has a fantastic brunch. I go here at least once a week when I’m home. Try their Fofu Benedict made out of Irish moss (a seaweed). Also this place got me through my pizza addiction- try the raw sausage pizza. The desserts aren’t my favorite but other people like them.
Organic Avenue: Their smoothies rock and come in cool glass bottles. I love the blueberry spirulina coconut one. Also watch out for their deep dish raw cheesecake. Really pricey though. But hey, these ingredients are expensive. You can do a fast with them and they will deliver to you. Can’t beat NYC- a cleanse delivered right to your door!
Raw Soul. Raw soul food in Harlem. My friend was supposed to take me and he flaked and I’m still waiting for him to take me. Apparently it’s amazing.
Jivamukti Cafe I basically live here because I am always at my beloved yoga center. Amazing rosemary seitan salad! When i used to eat bread i would always get the grilled portabello mushroom. Also before i quit sugar i had an addiction to the vegan red velvet cupcakes, they are dangerous. Not so great for raw but it’s getting better. The best part about the cafe is the vibes- special place that is!
Also need to shout out my pal Moby’s Teany although he doesn’t own it anymore. The tea selection is out of this world and the peanut butter bomb cake is lethal.
CALIFORNIA:
Planet Raw. Me and my good friend Heather Laine ate a raw pasta fettucini made with kelp noodles and macadamia nut cheese and seriously you could not tell the difference from real pasta. I know sometimes people are like- oh you wouldn’t taste the difference between this raw pizza and real pizza and you are like, yeah right, whatever-but seriously, you couldn’t tell. We talk about that pasta all the time and have tried to imitate it and just can’t.
UK
LONDON:
Inspiral Lounge in Camden. Has some raw and some cooked options. I had a lovely nutburger here and the guys behind the counter are really really cute and friendly which of course I love. However, they had real milk and some other dairy there and I was not impressed with that. At least make it vegan people if you have raw there, that doesn’t make sense at all!
SAF in Shoreditch. Even though it’s tainted by a bad fight with my ex-boyfriend, still one of my favorites of all time. Try their raw lasagne. It totally beats Pure Food and Wine’s raw lasagna although that kicks ass too. Also their raw ice cream- Maca flavor. Oh man. Like whoa.Pictured above is the beetroot ravioli with nutcheese, also awesome. Live nachos good but not as good as at my hometown spot, Caravan of Dreams. Non-vegans totally flip out here at SAF so it’s good to take them and blow their minds!
I also had some nice food and some wheatgrass at Planet Organic around Oxford Circus. Not all vegan though. I did pay nearly $25 for a bag of raw cacao nibs there too which was stupid but hey, a girl has to have her chocolate.
GERMANY
LEIPZIG:
Zest Wow was this a surprise. Imagine being in the middle of Germany land of wienerschnitzel or however you call it (I don’t even wanna know) and finding this INCREDIBLE restaurant which makes vegan food into an art form. I would go gig there again just so I could eat there. Hear that Mr. Promoter? Invite me back!
BERLIN:
Yellow Sunshine in Kreuzberg. This is not really healthy junky vegan food like deep fried fake corn dogs and nice soy mango lassis. I can’t eat there anymore it’s too fried but good to take your non vegan friends so they can marvel and the faux rib sandwich.
Majas Deli This place is more healthy and they make nice salads. But the real thing is here is the dessert. Wow, vegan cupcakes, brownies and delicious cakes, get a side of soy whip. Yum.
This just in- La ManoVerde gets HUGE props for being one of the best vegan (with raw options) in all of Europe. Try the raw fettucini alfredo made with zucchini and the raw sushi. Incredible and not too heavy like other raw restaurants. We had the best time hanging out with the guy that opened this and SAF- Jean. He even gave me a free chocolate mousse which was unbelievable. I want to open one in NYC!
And while in Berlin, have to give a shout out to the best yoga studio run by my darling friends Anja and Christian- YogaLoft
MUNICH:
My buddies run the Jivamukti yoga studio in Munchen, which has a small vegan deli next door with slim pickins. But the real prize is the incredible restaurant Zerwick. I like the Indian plate and also the chocolate dessert- I can’t remember what it was but it was like a chocolate bomb!
Apparently there is also a SAF here but I haven’t been.
JAPAN
TOKYO:
Brown Rice Cafe. I walked by here and it looked great but like most things in Tokyo it has weird hours.
My manager and I ate at another vegan restaurant which was quite good, in fact we were starving because it’s so hard to be vegan in Tokyo- everything has fish in it! We ordered 3 plates of food which were delicious but I remember it was impossible to get any sort of salad there which I really wanted. And I forgot the name. Maybe he will post it, Dave…?
AUSTRALIA
BYRON BAY:
I totally thought there would be more vegan places here because it’s all hippied out but they did have a very nice health food store with a great juice bar called Santos. It was also there that I ate my first chermoya fruit. HOLY SHIT. Have you ever eaten one of those? it’s like candy drippy ice cream, but a fruit. Have never been able to find it since. So if you ever want to seduce me just find me one and i am all yours.
There are more but I am forgetting.
So-PLEASE PLEASE -people post your links so we can make a nice worldwide vegan restaurant database here!
