The Choosy Foodie: Los Angeles - Issue #14
Dairy-free Cheeses, Gluten-free Products, & Swanky Restaurant Options in LA
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Hi all,
Hope you had a great Halloween!
As the weather gets colder, I’ve been thinking a lot about melted cheese🧀.
To be fair, I’m always thinking about cheese, and being dairy-free doesn’t seem to stop me (probably only makes it worse)… So, I thought I’d share some of my favorite vegan cheeses for different occasions:
Grilled Cheese🧀🥪 — Getting that oozy melted cheese effect isn’t always easy with vegan cheeses, but Violife has cracked the code. They have “American Sandwich Slices” but I really love their “Smoked Provolone Slices” for this!
Cream Cheese🧀🔪 — I recently tried FYND, a new product made of fungi protein. I had their onion chive spread, and although it’s not super creamy, I still liked the unique taste (though it is different so be warned). It’s a nice break from nut-based cheeses, and the price to size ratio is decent (not outrageous).
Casserole or Puffed Pastry Filling 🧀🥧— If you mix Kite Hill’s Ricotta with their Cream Cheese you won’t be disappointed. I use this combo for making stuffed mushrooms, spanakopita, and the like.
Lastly, it’s not often you come across a vegan cheese shop with both incredible taste, variety, and production practices. The Vreamery in Paso Robles (not far from San Luis Obispo) may be a ways away, but it’s a true gem. I love their products. Check out these vegan cheese box photos from their Instagram:
Okay putting cheese aside…
Let’s get into it!
WHAT'S COOKING LOS ANGELES
1) Levain Bakery🍪— Levain opened up a new location in Larchmont Village this past June! Although this bakery chain is not dedicated gluten-free, Levain is really popular, and for good reason. Their giant, chunky cookies are delicious, and lucky for us they now have a GF & V option available (walnut chocolate chip). Here’s a photo from their Instagram:
What Else is Simmering…
(restaurant news)- Another food hall, LA Chef’s Kitchen🥗🏢, recently opened up in the San Fernando Valley. It sits at the ground floor of the Panorama Tower apartment building in Panorama City and hosts many different vendors.
(restaurant news/video)- Popular free-from bakery, Erin Mckenna, closed its location in Santa Monica recently🔐😢, but its other locations are still open.
(restaurant news)- Recently opened plant-based eatery in Culver City, Love Life has closed after just 7 months🔐😢. Unfortunately, the restaurant business in LA (and in general) is super cut-throat, and a lot of them have closed. Eater LA has put together this running list of LA restaurant closures this year.
(beverage news & photos)- A new speakeasy bar with a secret bookcase entry near Park La Brea🍸📚 just opened up and it looks like a good time.
(food news)- In order to stay in business, many street-side taco shops are serving up smaller taco sizes🤏🌮with less meat. The “taco shrinkage” as Eater calls it, is real.
(recipe)- Really digging this pumpkin curry shakshuka🍅🍳 recipe from
!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
The LA Times recently reported on this spot called Level 8. I have no idea what the allergy-friendly options are but the spot was too insane to not mention (so it’s going in this section of the newsletter…). It has “8 unique dining, drinking, dancing & entertainment concepts created by the Houston Brothers” — so basically Vegas has now come to LA. Check out this 2-minute promo video of Level 8:
(food news)- Whole Foods’s food predictions for 2024🥗⁉️ include plant-based fish, elevated instant noodles, and more.
(food news)- Beyond Meat recently struck a deal with Madison Square garden 🚫🥩🌱- a first of it’s kind partnership.
(food news)- Following in Costco’s footsteps, Sketcher’s stores will now have food courts👟🍕. Why? Who knows… besides “the algorithms”.
(food news)- Coca-Cola came out with a limited edition flavor. Coke’s Y3000 (Year 3000) is supposed to taste like the future🔮🥤. Cool cool cool😅…
(food news)- Governor Newsom recently signed a bill that will increase wages for fast food workers 💵📝across the state of CA.
(cooking tips)- Here’s a nice consumer reports article on how to clean your air fryer🧼, in addition to some recs for the easiest to clean options.
(podcast)- This great podcast episode on the origins of coffee☕will take you “from seed to cup”.
tweet 1 by: @egoraptor, tweet 2 by @anylaurie16:
Closing Thoughts…
As always, feel free to hit reply to this email. I’d love to hear your feedback on how I can improve this newsletter to better suit our free-from community.
I’ll be in your inbox next month!
Hugs,
Noam
🙆🏻♀️ website: noamleead.carrd.co
📖 book editor: Happier Being by Dr. Tal Leead
🥗 referral link: click to sign up for Thrive Market (love this delivery service)
**If you’re reading this newsletter and haven’t subscribed yet, please do and support my work. It’s free! You’ll get future issues sent to your inbox once a month!**
I need to get all those cheeses asap. I miss cheeeeese
Yum! Violife is definitely one of the better plant-based cheese brands out there. I recently bought their plant-based parmesan shreds and they're really good on top of gluten-free pasta!