The Choosy Foodie: Los Angeles - Issue #18
New restaurants with GF, DF, & V options, cool coffee shops, and free-from product launches!
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Hi all,
It’s been a busy month for the Leead family!
My sister is getting married soon and the festivities have already begun! Here are some photos, and GF food (of course), from her bridal shower:
The cake pictured above is a 9-inch, gluten-free chocolate caramel cake🎂🍰 from one of our favorite spots, Cake Monkey Bakery. It was delish and weighed 17 lbs😅. The food, (pictured on our plates) was from a Mediterranean chain called Soom Soom that we also enjoy.
Both spots have a lot of gluten-free and dairy-free options - as well as some vegan options too.
With that, let’s get into it….
WHAT'S COOKING LOS ANGELES?!
1. New plant-based sandwich shop w/gluten-free options opens up in Santa Monica
B&T’s Deli - This new sandwich shop (opened just last month), features meatless deli items, inspired by the owners’ difficulty of finding plant-based subs in LA 🥪🥖. According to their website, B&T’s items are “housemade, organic, and locally sourced when possible”. All their sandos can be made gluten-free and/or nut-free upon request. Check out some photos from their Instagram:
2. Popular Hawaiian-style poke shop opens second location in Lomita
Poke & More - This popular poke spot (original location in Long Beach) just opened up its second front 🐟🍚🍘! In addition to traditional poke, you can get Hawaiian dishes like beef ribs or loco moco. Poke & More recently made Eater LA’s list of under the radar spots for January. Their menu is NOT gluten-free but they can make accommodations and are worth it. Check out some photos from their Instagram:
3. New Pitfire Pizza opens up an Echo Park location
Pitfire Pizza - The popular pizza chain is expanding! For those who may not know, Pitfire has a couple gluten-free crust options as well as house made cashew cheese 🍕🤤. They’re taking over the space of beloved vegan gastropub, Mohawk Bend, which closed after 12 years. They’re also keeping a handful of the former tenant’s plant-based favorites like the Impossible meatballs and buffalo cauliflower. Check out this photo of vegan pizza options from their Instagram:
4. Quentin Tarantino’s new coffee shop opens in Los Feliz
Pam’s Coffy - This new coffee shop is attached to the Quentin Tarantino-owned Vista Theater (which has undergone its own revival and re-opening recently) ☕💅🏼. The name, Coffy, is the name of a 70’s movie starring Pam Grier. Check out a couple photos from their Instagram:
5. Don’t miss this coffee bar on a bicycle!
WAFI Coffee - If you couldn’t care less about Quentin Tarantino’s new coffee shop, you should definitely care about this one☕🫘. This roving coffee bar moves from one popular pedestrian zone to another via bicycle! WAFI stands for West African Farmers Initiative - an organization that WAFI Coffee owner, Dennis Garsinii, co-founded to train farmers and help them gain access to global markets. The coffee beans Garsinii uses are sourced from farms in his network. Check out some photos from their Instagram:
6. Product Launch Roundup
There have been a lot of new product announcements I wanted to highlight for you all:
Trader Joe’s has GF/DF glazed chocolate donut holes🍩, and they’re all the rage!
GOODLES now has GF and GF/V mac & cheese options🍝🧀to choose from.
The GF/V meat brand, Beyond Meat, is now using avocado oil🚫🥩🍔 in their patties with protein composed of peas, brown rice, red lentils, and fava beans.
Oatly debuted oat-milk based creamers🥛for you V/DF coffee drinkers out there!
JUST Mayo and JUST Ranch are available again🫙nationwide if you’re looking for new vegan condiments.
What Else is Simmering…
“Plant-Based Macaron Shop Verón Closes Brick-and-Mortar Downtown LA” (VegOut)
“Street Food Vending Is Now Completely Legal in LA’s Tourist Hot Spots” (Eater LA)
“Here's What the First Cell-Cultivated Chicken Dish on a US Menu Will Look Like” (Food & Wine)
“Inflation has fallen. Why are groceries still so expensive?” (Washington Post)
“Gluten-Free Vegan Aloo Gobi Recipe” (VegOut)
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
🙆🏻♀️ connect: LinkedIn & Instagram
📖 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!**
The bicycle-based café is genius! Thanks for the tip about TJ’s GF donut holes—I assume they’ll be available at my local TJ as well.
I may be headed to LA for a work trip this summer, so I'm taking notes - glad to see so many new places opening up with GF options! And I hope I can find the GF Goodles mac and cheese near me soon!