A few months ago my parents went to this restaurant in Newport Beach. And when they told me about it, I was actually kinda jealous…until I found out a Santa Monica location was coming soon. Hooray!
Kyle and I went to celebrate him being done with finals. One year down! Since the weather was gorgeous, we walked to Santa Monica Place.
The menu has a variety of options, from vegan to meat courses. They even indicate which items are vegan, vegetarian, and gluten free to assist the diner. Also, the staff is super knowledgeable about why certain dishes aren’t vegan (the panang curry has shrimp paste that can’t be left out). And they are able to help you make certain non-vegan dishes animal-free…which is what I did.
Tuscan Kale Salad made vegan. But first we had shared some starters.
Kyle and I both brought our appetites, so we got two different appetizers.
This is the Herb Hummus with pita bread, tomato, onion & feta. It was savory and delicious. I navigated my way around the feta and olives, but hogged all the tomato and cucumber which were marinated to perfection.
The second app we chose was the Shiitake & Tofu Lettuce Cups with ginger, cashew, and toasted garlic.
If you’re familiar with P.F. Chang’s version of this dish, you know taste-wise what we’re dealing with. Now imagine all that flavor, but with fresh, local produce. It was stellar. All of it. Even the lettuce was amazing. I could easily order twenty-four plates of these as my entree.
Pretty cool that we could watch them in the kitchen the entire time.
Foodie that I am, I scoped out the menu before we arrived. But, true to myself, I changed my order six more times before finally choosing the Tuscan Kale Salad. Despite the fact that there were several vegan items on the menu, the kale caught my eye. I asked if they could leave the parmesan off and add tofu for some extra oomph. They were perfectly happy to oblige and voila!
Look at this beauty!!
The salad was topped with a yummy lemon based dressing and breadcrumbs. So good. Also, there was quite a bit of tofu, which was totally awesome.
Kyle got the Roasted Chicken with basmati rice, English peas, and Indian spices.
He moaned (literally moaned) out loud the entire time he was eating it and swore it was the best chicken he has ever had. And he repeated this to me multiple times. Aside from the perfect preparation of the chicken, he couldn’t get over how flavorful the rice was. He thinks the spices were chimichurri, which calls to mind one of the dishes I miss most from NYC.
Kyle’s beer was from Weed, a tiny town we passed on our I-5 drive up to P-town. I tried a sip and loved it. I’m picky with my beers, and this had delish flavors with no bitter aftertaste.
As you can see, the restaurant is quite spacious. I love the open feel with the views of the staff prepping the food and the chefs cooking. It also felt down to earth and casual without feeling cheap. It is definitely going to be a new favorite spot.
What’s especially cool is how much they support local farms and emphasize the produce in their cooking. On the wall in the back of the restaurant is a list of their favorites, along with the items they purchase from them.
Oh, hey there Alana…methinks I’m gonna have to seek out this roasting coffee soon. All in all, I loved True Food Kitchen. I’m planning on returning frequently.
It is always great when the restaurant stuff know their job and are able and willing to help you with your food choices and even veganize meals on menu! It is quite rare around here, but there are some good examples 🙂
ahhh I wish we had restaurants like that over here everything looks amazing!
oh YUM! I love restaurants that cater to everybody!!! I wish we had places like that here!
That meal looks awesome. Can you believe I still have yet to try the seitan chimichurri from Candle?!
i loved it too – we gotta have a blogger meetup there!
We LOVED True Food in Phoenix! I remade that kale salad on my site and also the chocolate pudding (which sadly you didn’t have), but I still will be jumping at the chance to visit True Food again wherever they crop up (and I hear they are getting more locations–YAY)! This is how restaurants should be run for sure.
i totally remember you remaking this salad now. i didnt realize thats where you guys went in Phoenix, but now I’m excited to know that the recipe for the kale AND the pudding are a click away. 🙂
definitely
NO! seriously, get thee there asap. or to whole foods…they make it now as well.
i never truly realized and appreciated how lucky i am to have vegan friendly places all around me until i travelled to paris. it really opened my eyes that there still are places that have no clue about animal free meals. now i have a bigger mission!
i know. a knowledgeable staff makes all the difference.
sounds like a great restaurant! i’ve never heard of bread crumbs on salad – it’s like fancier croutons! 🙂
i love the farmer shout outs! what a great way to highlight/advertise the great work local farms do!
I need to get out to Santa Monica to try this place. We live like an hour away, that kale looks unbelievable. I love getting kale out. I can never make it taste that good.
The kale salad and lettuce cups especially look delicious, wish I had tried this place when I was in Santa Monica! Hopefully when I return at the end of the summer. Umame burger’s portobello burger is also on my list – have you tried it?
Glad you finally got to this place; and that you enjoyed it. Local +organic + great taste = winner. Congrats to Kyle!
Just ate there tonight, inspired by your post! It was seriously amazing. That Kale salad is so bomb. The cocktails ain’t bad either!
ooo, which did you get? they all looked so good!
Wow! What an awesome place! I love that chalkboard and how they acknowledge where they get their stuff! 🙂
I got the ginger margarita, roommate got the cucumber-citrus margarita. Mmm… They were both perfect!
Yum – Did they put this in down on the corner where Broadway Deli used to be? So curious where it went in, then I remind myself I’ve been out of the area for over 10 years. (We ate at the one in Scottsdale and loved it.)
Speaking of time flying, I can’t believe Kyle’s first year is over. WOW.
Sounds like you’re having a great summer!
No. They redid that mall on the end just past that deli. Its now super fancy with designer shops and a whole dinig deck on the top. Broadway deli did close though…it still has the windows boarded up but I think I heard they’re making it a Desigual store (spanish clothing store similar to Levi). You should come visit!!!
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