It’s certainly not unusual for a yoga studio to include a partner café, but the menus of such are largely comprised of a limited selection of smoothies, juices and unimaginative takes on the avocado—not exactly inspired dining. Suggesting that there may be an audience hungry for a side of dinner with their sun salutations, a few restaurants and events are pairing physical spirituality with equally thoughtful meals.
Isa: Though its fare is of the farm-to-table variety, self-dubbed “Brooklyn primitive, modern” restaurant Isa is not your typical locavore restaurant. (Indeed, there’s not a kale salad to be found.) Unadventurous eaters will likely be turned off by the oblique dish descriptions that are merely lists of strange ingredients (dust?) with no details as to the preparation. Those who dig its futuristic-hippie vibes, however, will likely appreciate that they can get centered before feasting on its Source Family-by-way-of-El Bulli cuisine. Every Tuesday and Thursday before dinner, Isa hosts Vinyasa yoga classes in its upstairs in-house studio. After working up an appetite, yogis retire to the dining room for dinner and appropriately “healthy” beet juice cocktails.
The success of TV shows like Top Chef and No Reservations and food blogs like Tastespotting and Grub Street has sparked a mass culture of culinary appreciation and self-proclaimed foodies. While nothing beats grandma’s tasty recipes, more diners are looking to the respected opinions of expert chefs to guide their gastronomic passions.
Chef’s Feed: Consumer reviews on sites like Yelp and UrbanSpoon are invaluable when searching for a restaurant, but the process of scanning through scores of opinions can be tedious. Smartphone app Chef’s Feed provides time-saving relief by offering suggestions from marquee chefs like Mario Batali, Thomas Keller and David Chang. Content includes not only their favorite restaurants but also their favorite specific dishes and insider tips, like the way Chris Cosentino orders pho at San Francisco’s Yummy Yummy Vietnamese. Best of all, the app understands that its users don’t always enjoy the same privileges as the chefs featured, so it includes plenty of options that don’t require special access.
Kogi BBQ, the LA food truck that sparked scores of other meals-on-wheels operations, may have done more than pioneer a tidal wave of mobile cuisine. Indeed, it appears to have ignited an even wider food trend: Asian-Mexican fusion. Kogi’s signature Korean BBQ taco, which now appears on menus across America, has induced a raft of variations that co-mingle Eastern flavors with those from south of the border.
Sushi Burritos: Most sushi purists would rather avoid the dish altogether than eat a California Roll, yet a new Westernized take has even the most stringent sticklers digging in to the latest food fad to sweep the Golden State: the sushi burrito. Though the concept sounds sacrilege, it’s actually a rather ingenious interpretation for mobile diners who need a meal that can be held easily in one hand. Naturally, it’s become a food truck star, with at least two LA vendors luring the lunchtime crowd with sushi fillings bundled in a wrap. Jogasaki offers a choice of flour tortillas or soy paper, while the Hawaiian-flavored Pokey Truck sticks with the latter.
Though the animal-friendly lifestyle has undoubtedly become a slow-growing but solid mainstay, veganism is making its grand entrance into popular culture decisively. Once viewed as extremist outsiders, vegans are pampering their taste buds with an array of grocery stores, bars and gourmet restaurants as well as fast food eateries, celebrity chefs and viral videos.
Plant Food For People: Residents of LA’s Highland Park are gearing up their appetites for this recently announced vegan fast food drive-thru. At its soft opening last month, PFFP wowed diners with its use of jackfruit to create a vegan adaptation of “carnitas” tacos. (Jackfruit closely resembles the texture of poultry when cooked.) Although PFFP is new to the drive-thru restaurant model, the company has been supplying vegan deli sausages to its neighbor, Figueroa Produce Market, for some time now. Far from LA but feeling famished? Fear not, as plenty of fast food joints are adding vegan dishes to their menus daily—and if drive-thru isn’t an option, there’s always delivery.
In keeping with current foodie tendencies toward simple eats, diners are discovering a newfound love of currywurst. This popular German street food consists of sliced pork sausage doused in curry ketchup, a humble preparation that has nonetheless risen to museum-level standing in Berlin. Now restaurants are popping up from coast to coast (and across the pond) to prepare the street staple in all of its unrefined glory.
Berlin Currywurst: This husband-and-wife-owned enterprise opened in LA in February to such a strong showing that a second location is rumored to be in the works—and a competitor has already emerged. The snack-stand-inspired space boasts a minimalist design and a simple mix-and-match menu: customers choose one of eight sausage varieties, and can opt to flavor their curry sauce with additional spices, including chipotle, garlic, and ginger-orange. Brave curry-lovers also have the option to amp up the heat, choosing levels of intensity that range from 1 (Berlin Calling) to 4 (Break the Wall). Levels 3 and 4 are deemed dangerously spicy, so eat at your own risk.
