Get Real...Food Daily

This is my 30th post! I'm a month old! Here's a great subject for an anniversary...

Question: Did Julie and Julia know that some of the food they were working with wasn't necessarily real? The restaurant I visited by default last night, or rather by synchronicity, bills itself as "Real Food Daily". By "real food", they mean, organic and vegan.

The way I ended up there is as follows: I had an appointment to meet with my Petticoat Junction book editor/agent, Jim, whose house is in Toluca Lake, very close to where Paul Henning lived. We got our times mixed up and when we finally connected via cell phone, he directed me to meet him at a restaurant in West Hollywood instead. When he told me the name of the restaurant, Real Food Daily, the name rang a bell. I had seen it online somewhere listed under vegan or veggie restaurants.

What I meant by synchronicity, is that as I've been writing this blog, I have been yearning to find a vegan gourmet restaurant...and in the midst of my other activities, my necessary activities, one fell into my lap...so to speak. I was also really jazzed to find out that Jim is vegan and he knows quite a lot about it. For example, when I was looking at the menu, I noticed the vegan wine list, and I wondered why wine had to be labeled "vegan". Isn't all wine vegan?? Jim explained that the wine processing often involves animal products.


I had already eaten, but I got a small vegan Caesar salad and it was delicious. Jim was working on some huge wonderful looking salad with all kinds of goodies on it, in it and through it; one thing he really praised was the cashew cheese, which Real Food Daily makes in house.


He offered me a bite of his banana cream pie before happily gobbling it up himself and it was very tasty...loaded with a creamy banana filling and covered with whipped "cream". It tasted good but not as heavy as it sounds.


My starter Caesar salad was just the right size for someone who had already had dinner. :) It tasted very much like a regular Caesar salad, but the dressing was vegan and the croutons were made of blue corn...gluten free. It was sprinkled with a generous amount of capers, which tickled my caper-lovin' taste buds.


The atmosphere of RFD is quiet; it is decorated with earthy tones and has uniform wooden tables and chairs. There's something about the classy simplicity of its look that reminds me of Frank Lloyd Wright.


This is definitely a gourmet vegan restaurant, simple and elegant. The main protein bases are tofu, tempeh (my favorite) and seitan. These are prepared in any ethnicity or style. :)


The menu boasts a wide array of fresh juices, teas and coffees. You can get a ginger root or lemon boost for fifty cents. :) There are six varied starters, including "not-chos" and lentil-walnut pate. (The geese really appreciate this one!) You can choose from seven salads, traditional house, "Farm Chop" and "Yin Yang" to name three. Daily main course offerings include fettuccini alfredo with roasted red peppers, broccoli and toasted pine nuts, gluten-free pizza, a stir-fry, a "TV Dinner", tempeh "meat" loaf with mashed potatoes, golden gravy and veggies. This is half of the main courses. There is an equal number of sandwiches and wraps. The one that sounds the most interesting to me is the "living wrap": red pepper, sunflower spread, cucumbers, guacamole, lettuce, tomato, and salad greens in a citrus herb dressing.


Desserts are made with organically grown ingredients and whipped up by Real Food Daily's in-house pastry chef. The dessert offerings change every two weeks. How cool!


The menu asks that you inform the wait staff if you have any food allergies because not all ingredients are listed on the menu. (I find this disclaimer a good thing, but also very interesting considering no one ever mentions any allergies to meat. HA! Lactose intolerance is a widely known phenomenon, but I find it really interesting that no one ever talks about allergies to beef, chicken, fish etc. Let me know if you ever heard this question asked. It's like no one even considers the possibility. What is that all about?)


Real Food Daily has its own cookbook, which is for sale at the register.


Prices are gourmet too. The small Caesar was a reasonable $4.25. Fresh juices are $5.95 for a 16 ounce serving. Fettuccini Alfredo is $12.95...come to think of it, that is darn reasonable for West Hollywood! :)

There are platters available for parties and they also sell some of their sides and add-ons. Platters range in price from $22.95 to $62. 95.

There are two Real Food Daily locations, one in West Hollywood and one in Santa Monica. You can see their wonderful website at http://www.realfooddaily.com. Check it out!

Peace and Happy Four-Day Week,
Bev