Jenn "Veganomicon" S.'s Profile

Anyone that knows me personally can attest to the fact that I'm gayer than a rainbow unicorn.  This, of course, means two things:

A) I have run scantily clad down Santa Monica Blvd during Pride Weekend
B) I know how to party.  Hard.

While I've been to just about every girl's night available in this fair city, this one is by far the best.  The venue (Skinny's Lounge) is the perfect balance of dance club and lounge space.  If you want to shake what your mama gave ya, you can.  If you want to relax with a group of your friends in one of the spacious booths, do it.  If you want to have a quickie in the bathroom with the hottie you just met at the bar, fair game.  The bathroom stalls are quite clean and spacious enough for this, too, just in case you were wondering.

Oh, and did I mention 2 for 1 drinks until 11pm?  Yes, please.

My deep belief that I'm actually a little old Jewish lady manifests itself not only mentally, but physically.  The words "Oy!  My aching back!" have actually escaped my lips.  Unlike most little old ladies, though, when I fall, I actually can get up...albeit very slowly with ample amounts of wincing.  
Alright.  I'm a bit of a klutz.  Around Christmas time, I hardcore ate shit and knocked my back way out of alignment.  I'd fallen once prior a few years back, and never really took care of the problem.  Low and behold, by the time Dr. Karr got ahold of my spine, it was a bit "mangled", so to speak.  
The man is amazing at what he does.  No bullshit, no time wasting.  After one initial diagnostic appointment, he began treatment.  Every time I leave the office, I feel like I'm on some kind of amazing high.  True, it could be a minor acid flashback due to chemicals trapped from my rowdy teenage years, but I'd like to think it's my spine being correctly aligned for the first time ever.  
Don't hesitate.  Don't go elsewhere.  All the staff are really nice and helpful.  I just wish I'd taken care of my problem sooner.

As you can tell by my chiseled physique, protein is very important to me.  Alright...so I'm no Jackie Warner.  In fact, she could probably use me as a topping for her breakfast cereal.  But whatever...I could kick her ass in a veggie burger eating contest any day of the week.  
I love 8oz because, unlike many of the other haute cuisine burger establishments, they offer options to vegans.  Far be it from me to stop my omni friends from enjoying themselves, and I really like a restaurant that allows us to both eat something satisfying and delicious.  
Allow me to reiterate unless the other reviews didn't make it clear: The Heirloom Tomato Ketchup is amazing.  As is the Purple Mustard.  I had both on my Veggie Burger along with Garlic Roasted Tomatoes and Roasted Mushrooms, and let me tell you how happy my little tummy was.  It paired nicely with some white ale they had on draft.  I was able to sample some onion rings and summer truffled potato skins, and I was so impressed.  Great spot to get together with your friends.
I also really liked that one TV had a sports game playing, and on the other, The Food Network.  Great, great.

So, I kind of just stopped posting reviews for a while.  I worked for some restaurants for a while, and after seeing how personally the owners consider the reviews, I just decided to take a break.  
But I'm back!  And I give Doomies full credit for my Yelp resurrection.
Doomies is AWESOME.  Once they have all their ducks in a line in terms of hiring a staff member or two, this place is going to own.  NWA style.  
I am so impressed with all the new Vegan places opening in town, each one offering something different to our growing community.  
The expanse of outdoor seating here is a big plus.  After I bake all morning, I love that there's a place I can go grab some beers in the sunshine and take a breather.  They even have free wi-fi so I can geek out and blog from their patio!
The food is A++.  Great Mac N Cheese, Philly Cheese-steak, salads, onion rings, etc.  Thoroughly impressed.  
Roberto, the owner, is such a sweet guy.  I can tell he genuinely cares about what he's doing.

[In Raspy Jewish Little Old Lady Voice]
Gather round, Kindelach!  Bubbe is going to tell you a story...
On the Jewish holiday of Passover, we ask the question "Why is this night different than every other night?". But tonight, I pose you this question:
"Why is this Ralphs different than every other Ralphs?"

One reason.
Bulk candy bins.

L'Chaim!

Well goodness gracious...my undies are all up in a bunch right now.  I cannot believe how low the ratings are for this place.
All I have to say is deliciousfantasticamazingness.
While I don't use a lot of fake meats in my cooking, I have to truly appreciate those that do, and do it well.  The texture and flavor of their "roast beef" is truly a remarkable achievement.  Tofurkey?  Hecks nah!  The menu's variety and quality of the sandwiches is a testament to the hard work that went into all the pre-planning.    Starting a restaurant is never easy work, and it takes some time to get all your faux ducks in a row.  That's understandable.   But I shun the non-believers.  Coming from someone who eats only vegan food, this place is pretty top notch.
And whoever makes those vegan Twinkies must be sent from the heavens :)

The Vegan gods have opened up the sky and shown me the light.  It is Madeleine Bistro.  Scroll back up to the top.  That picture.  Right there.  The Beet Tartare.  It officially transformed my palate from Red Neck to Metrosexual.  
I've been dying to dine at Madeleine Bistro for about a year now.  My birthday was earlier this week.  My mother and sister are in town this weekend, so I saw it as the perfect opportunity for my mom to spoil me rotten.  If you can't tell from the devious glint in my eyes, I've made my fair share of bad decisions in life.  This definitely was not one of them.  Easily one of the best meals I've ever had in my life.
We had a tough time deciding on what we wanted because everything on the menu sounded so amazing (mind you I'm the only non meat-eater in the family), so we decided to share a few items for each course. As previously mentioned, I ordered the Red Beet Tartare as an appetizer, and it was phenomenal.  The beets were perfectly cooked, and the "cheese" crouton it's served upon blew my mind.  Best faux cheese I've ever eaten.  The plating was gorgeous to boot.  We also shared the Provencal pizza, which was aptly labeled an appetizer for it's light, thin crust and tasty veggies.
For the main course, we shared a Vegan Risotto with asparagus and porcini mushrooms, and the Porcini Crusted Tofu Scallops.  The Risotto is not typically on the menu, but I was amazed at how perfect the consistency was...especially because it was a brown rice Risotto.  The Tofu Scallops were the most amazing creation with fresh tofu I've ever had.  Fantastic.
For desert, we shared the Creme Brulee and the Chocolate Suflee.  The Suflee was accurately recommended by the server, and came with Vegan vanilla bean ice cream.  I was stoked for the Creme Brulee (I'm not really a chocolate girl...odd for a Jew), and it completely lived up to my expectations.  
My only sad-panda moment was when I couldn't meet the chef because he wasn't there, butt I still can't wait to return.

Okay, Days Inn.  This review could have possibly been one star higher, but I knocked it down from three stars to two stars based purely on the fact that I'm pissed at my parents for selling my house in Youngstown, and this is the "home" I reduced to when I return.

Minus One Star: Crappy towels that feel like sand-paper smoothing out my ass, and said towels are WAY too small.  I'm 5 ft. 0 in., and weigh about 100 pounds.  Hopefully a crew of heavyweight wrestling champs never makes their way to your hotel, because you'll run out of clean towels.

Minus One Star: Breakfast "buffet".  Thank god I'm not on the FAtkins Diet.  Was there a 10K in Youngstown this weekend? I don't need to carbo-load.  Please...add some fruit.  And some potency to your coffee-flavored water.  

Minus One Star: What the hell was that wailing noise we heard until one in the morning?!  Did Paris Hilton mix vodka tonics with children's Nyquil and pass out in the bathtub upstairs?  

Oh look..I lied. You really do deserve two stars.  Next time, I'll sleep in the park down the street.

Birthday Reviews: Part 3

Authors Note: I just might have smoked a birthday joint on my way to this place, so if you don't find it to be nearly as entertaining, I suggest you try the same prior to your next visit.

Bongs and beer.  Two of my favorite things in one.  How I adore you, Crazy Hook. I mean, you have to admit, once your drain the beer out of one of those giant dispensers, you could easily rotate the spout upwards, pack it up, light it and go to town.  But enough weed references for one review.

I'd been to Crazy Hook before.  It's campy, cheap and fun...just like my taste in clothing.  When we arrived, we said there would be about 15-20 of us, so they gave us a private room!  We didn't even try to make reservations, albeit it was a Monday night.  Maybe they were just scared we were loud, obnoxious teenagers.  I'm not the only one in my circle that looks like they're pushing puberty.

The service was quick and friendly.  The party was great.  We didn't order any food, but those crispy chips were delicious.  My only complaint is that I wish they had a bigger selection of beers to fill those gigantic cylinders of glory.

Birthday Reviews: Part 2

This is really the first birthday I've had that I'm not exactly thrilled to be a year older [Insert you're "What are you now...16?!" joke here, please].  I mean, I can't get any wiser, so what's the point?  Oh...how I kid.  The best way to handle this dilemma was, of course, to drink away the fear of aging.  And I might as well be in great company and eat amazing food while I'm doing it.

Finding a fine-dining establishment willing to cater to my needs can be a bit of a challenge.  There are a few strictly vegan fine-dining restaurants, but for some reason, they are all closed on Monday.  I stumbled upon Cafe Stella while scouring Yelp, and was pleasantly surprised to see they had several vegan menu options.

I made the reservation for 9 people, and it took almost an hour for everyone to show.  My best friend Sita Y. took this as an opportunity to spoil me silly with the most amazing bottle of Bordeaux I've ever had.  And we didn't have to share it ;)  The service was more than nice and understanding, and paced themselves really well as more guests arrived.  

The food was great to boot.  The Vegan Risotto was stellar.  The heirloom tomato salad blew me away.  I eat heirloom tomatoes plain like apples, though, so it doesn't take much for them to wow me.  I think the greatest thing about this place is the atmosphere, though.  Dark, romantic and not too pretentious.  All in all, a great place for a birthday dinner.