#lavbf

The 5th LA Vegan Beer & Food Fest is May 17, 2014 on The Sunset Strip!

Quarry Girl, Tony's Darts Away and The Roxy present the 5th Los Angeles Vegan Beer & Food Fest on May 17, 2014! TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW AT http://bit.ly/lavbf5 The 5th edition of LA Vegan Beer Fest will be the biggest and best yet, featuring Southern California's best vegan food and beers. With unlimited samples, you can taste beers from participating breweries with your ticket and receive your very own LAVBF glass. Last year 40 breweries and 30 food vendors took part in the fest... plus five bands, live art and much more! VIP tickets include 12pm entry and special brews. GA entrance is 1pm. Address: 8950 W. Sunset Blvd., 90069 Tix: http://bit.ly/lavbf5 FB Page: Los Angeles Vegan Beer Fest Twitter: @veganbeerfest Instagram: laveganbeerfest

i cannot believe it’s that time of year again already, but the LA Vegan Beer and Food Fest is coming back to the sunset strip for it’s 5th year in a row!! tickets go on sale today at 10am PST, so grab yours quick because this event sells out every year. 

if you have never been to the LA Vegan Beer and Food Fest, let’s just say it’s the best vegan event on the planet if you’re a fan of beer, food, music and all around awesomeness in general. ticket price includes UNLIMITED BEER from a slew of craft breweries handpicked by Tony’s Darts Away, band performances curated by Nic Adler, owner of The Roxy, and access to the best of the best vegan food vendors that Los Angeles has to offer, selected by me. 

a limited amount of non-drinking tickets are available on the cheap for the food fans and designated drivers…and for a little extra you can get a VIP ticket which includes early entry to the fest and access to our comfy VIP lounges with special VIP beers. 

for tickets, go here now. and like i said, be fast! tickets do not include the price of food.

for photos of last year’s fest taken by attendees, click here. and watch this snazzy video put together by wesawit.

oh and i’m including my photos from last year below, although i was too busy running around to take very many. to give you an idea of how amazing it was, we had over 30 vegan vendors (think seabirds, doomies, frankenstand, sage etc) and over 30 craft breweries (think golden road, stone, anchor, drakes and loads more). this year is going to be even bigger and better with an upgraded beer list and even more food. wowie!

hope to see you all there, and watch this space for updates on beer, musical acts, and food.

fun in the sun

pretzels from the san diego pretzel company and hefe from golden road brewery

jackfruit tacos from seabirds

frankenstand and amanda’s bakery ready to serve

the cannibal from frankenstand aka the best sandwich of my life

vegan bacon maple donut from amanda’s bakery

live music

we even had a live art wall that was painted during the fest

mini snacks from the golden road pub

vegan curly fries from fresh fries

loaded nachos from m cafe

meaty tacos from guru’s

sushi boxes from shojin

jackfruit bun from susan feniger’s STREET

nachos with food for lover’s queso

vegan tamale menu by mama’s hot tamales

healthy tacos from sage

doomie’s crew kickin’ it.

LAVBF, PART II

Hey, there, heeeeyyy! I promised you part two, so I give you part two of my one day adventure to the 2013 Los Angeles Vegan Beer Fest. In part one I gushed about meeting Tony Kanal, & shared delicious eats from Shojin, The Franken Stand, Mohawk Bend, & Susan Feniger's STREET. And as if that wasn't a lot of food already, oh you betcha, there's more!

At last year's LAVBF (recapped here) I experienced the magic that is the Seabirds Truck for the very first time. Their fried avocado tacos & jackfruit tacos are legit. I seriously craved them all year long, counting the days for the next LAVBF! They make daily appearances throughout Orange County, & will be opening a restaurant, Seabirds Kitchen, in The Lab this summer, so I really have no excuses if I let another year fly by without visiting them again! It was while I was in line at Seabirds that Tony Kanal walked by, so I jumped out of line to bother, harass gracefully approach him & when I returned to order my food I was so starstruck/flustered that I forgot all about the jackfruit tacos & delicious cupcakes they were offering. I did manage to blurt out a frenzied request for an order of the "Beer Battered Avocado Tacos," while I tried to gain my composure. And once again those tacos did not disappoint! My friend also ordered the "Cheesy Potato Taquitos," oh yeah! I had serious a late night love affair with potato taquitos back in my bar-hopping days, & pretty much O.D.'d on them years ago, but couldn't pass up an opportunity to try out the Seabirds creation! Crispy, cheesy, comfort food, a perfect beer fest snack, for sure! Please, Seabirds, please come to San Diego before you retire the truck!

Follow Your Heart, the makers of everyone's coveted vegan staple "Vegenaise," & of my favorite vegan mozzerella, was there cooking up samples of grilled cheese sandwiches & quesadillas to show off their new line of gourmet shreds & sauces. The samples were gone just as quickly as they were plated, so I wasn't able to snap photos, but I did catch them in their cute shirts while I stuffed my face! And lemme tell ya, move over Daiya, there is a new shred is in town! This stuff gets melty like whoa, & in the best way possible, & tastes divine! I cannot wait to get my hands on these shreds, & the "Chipotle Vegenaise!" Oh the culinary possibilities!

Next up a trio of "Cryptozoological Gonads on a Stick" by Doomie's Home Cookin'! Holy, ha whaaaaat??? While I did not sample these myself (my friend got them for the road) I absolutely had to take a photo to share the ridiculous but creative awesomeness that is "Unicorn Nuts, Abominable Snowballs, & Loch Nesticles." OMG! Haha! I wish I could give a better description of what these were comprised of, but I all know is that, while they appear to be sweet treats, they were actually savory! Absolute A+ for presentation & marketing!

Last, but most certainly not least I enjoyed a cone of vegan "Mint Chip Ice Cream" from Kind Kreme. They share a space in Echo Park with Sage Organic Bistro, where I had the pleasure of dining for lunch on my birthday! Although I was tempted to try a scoop of Kind Kreme that day, I knew there would be much more indulging later, so I refrained. When I saw them set up at LAVBF, I knew I wouldn't be leaving without an ice cream cone in my hand! Even though I'd had more than my fair share of food that day, what's a tiny scoop of ice cream? Besides, "vegan" means "guilt free" right? Sure! I hadn't had a lick of mint chip since the dairy days & it was worth the indulgence. Sage was there as well, serving up mozzerella sticks & butternut squash tacos, but then my friends would've been rolling me out the door!

Thus, that concludes my 2013 LAVBF recap! There were so many other amazing food vendors with amazing looking food that I wish I could've stuffed into my belly - M Cafe, Cafe Gratitude, Gracias Madre (yep, they're opening one in West Hollywood, yay!), LA Vegan Crepe, Mandoline Grill, Golden Road Pub, & more, more, more! LA, you've got it going on! I only hope that San Diego can get more on the ball & follow suit. Maybe a SDVBF in the future? We'll just have to see!

LAVBF Part 1

Wow! What can I say? The 4th Edition of the Los Angeles Vegan Beer Fest presented by QuarryGirl, Tony's Darts Away & The Roxy, was all kinds of AWESOME! This event was so much bigger than last year (2012 recap here!) - more food, more beer, more vegan peeps! It was so big, in fact, that they moved it across the street from its original location. It was so inspiring to see so many people out & about & living la vida vegan! It's apparent that L.A. vegan foodie scene is going off right now - the amount of vegan food vendors was staggering, & that was just a small sampling. Kinda makes me wanna move to L.A., or get a stronger movement in my hometown of San Diego!

While I enjoyed tons of incredible food, sampled some tasty brews, & caught up with a few of my favorite vegan bloggers, the highlight of my day was meeting Tony Kanal of No Doubt! I'd caught wind that Tony would be in attendance via twitter & just about lost my you know what. I love that he is vegan & is becoming more & more outspoken about animal issues. I've been a huge ND fan since high school & was lucky enough to see them play a very intimate show at when I was in college at UCSB in '94. I shared that memory with Tony & he said "those were the best shows!" I've met very few "celebrities" in my life & it's super out of my comfort zone to approach someone like that. But I'd seen him taking photos with other "fans" & took my opportunity! YOLO, as they say & I must say that he was super gracious while I dorked like a mega-fan. He was super gracious & his kindness totally made my day!

So let's talk about what you see in some of the photos! It was nearly IMPOSSIBLE to decide where to start with the food, but there were a few "no-brainers."

First off, I devoured the "Dynamite Roll" from Shojin, LA's all vegan, macrobiotic, & organic sushi spot. I went there for this year's pre-Moz show birthday dinner & it was awesome, so when I saw them on the bill I knew I needed to seek them out. Best vegan sushi ever!

Stopping by The Frankenstand is also always a must. They were slammed & sold out of frankenweenies by 3 o'clock! So glad my friend was able to grab one of the last "Creatures" before they closed up shop. The duo behind the cart "Wolfie & Vampy" are total characters & I love their spooky theme concept!

My friend Sarah recommended I try the "Korean Bibimbap Lettuce Wrap" offered by Susan Feniger's STREET. I first learned about STREET from QuarryGirl's video. While not an all vegan joint, there are vegan/vegetarian options always offered at the restaurant & is one QG's top picks for dining out in LA. I had put it on my list of must tries, & there they were! The lettuce wrap was delicious. Super light & crisp with seasoned rice, tofu, kimchi & veggies. YUM!

Another dish that caught my attention was the "Chilled Soba Salad" from one of my fave LA joints, Mohawk Bend. I love a soba salad & this was super tasty with radish, avocado, orange, crispy onion, sesame, carrot, & soy vinaigrette. They were also giving away a small cup of "Spiced Horchata Cake" - how could I say no to that?

Obviously I was feeling the Asian foodie fare!

As for the beer...there was a lot. People consumed a lot. I however, did not. For one, I was driving. For two, I am not a day drinker. For three, & try as I might, I'm just not THAT in to beer. I can hear my craft beer nerd friends GASP at the sound of it! Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate beer, especially vegan craft beer, but I just don't geek out on it! But I was super happy to see a familiar face, though, as Lee Chase, the vegan 1/2 of SD's Blind Lady Ale House & Tiger!Tiger! Tavern, & the brewmaster behind Automatic Brewing Company was there with his "Don't Run Me Over" Tangerine IPA. And because I am a creature of habit, I naturally gravitated toward what I know I like - Saison - & really enjoyed North Coast Brewing Co's "Belgian Style Farmhouse Ale." Other than that, I stayed pretty dry & enjoyed watching the drunken shenanigans of others go down! You put that many people & unlimited beer pours together on a hot day in LA & you know tomfoolery is gonna go down hard. Fortunately, as this was a place full of compassionate vegans, no one had a drunken bro-down throw-down! At least not that I witnessed. Sloppy, yes. Disorderly, no.

Believe it or not, that's not all folks! Oh yes there's more! And you bet I didn't forget about Seabirds! Oh no! Their fried avocado tacos really float my boat. But you'll have to wait for part II to hear all about that.

Bring your own blanket and small beach chair! Check-in for all ticket holders and will call is across the street at The Roxy (we're sold out - there will be no day-of sales). See you Saturday!

in case you haven't heard the news already, the LA Vegan Beer Fest has gotten so big that we had to move it across the street from The Roxy to a vacant lot on Sunset. we are going to have more food vendors and more beers than ever before, so don't miss what's sure to be the most epic event of the year! 

For the latest and greatest info on the festival, please visit losangelesvegan.com.

And to buy tickets, click here.