Day 1 brings a visit to my favorite BBQ place in LA with Becker, Keats and Lan, where I needed help from our awesome server to make sure I was ordering vegan (at my FAVORITE BBQ place in LA!!!). Then I made a totally simple meal for dinner. I’ll learn a real recipe tomorrow.





meat is murder! i love cows, they are sooooo delicious!
Recipe help: Potato Soup
Yes, in my video it’s made with milk, but you can just use water and it still tastes really good! And leave the potato peels on for extra potato flavor and nutrition. Seriously, it’s good and it’s filling.
Hang in there Vu!
Hey Vu,
Thanks for turning me on to such a great “Vegan” friendly (ha!) restaurant right in my own neighborhood
John and I just cracked up over this. If you need any company at a *real* vegan restaurant, give me a call!
I ate half a chicken!!!
I don’t think its possible that those beans were vegan…beans at a BBQ place that don’t have pork or bacon? Or even drippings? Might want to check into that. Good start to day #1…..I got $50 that says on day 23 you try to kill a chicken with your bare hands…or Lan…which ever is closer.
Tony
Aloha Friday & Congrats, Vu!! This was a great first vid and I loved how you showed both lunch and dinner.
I’m siding with Tony on this and will bet cold hard cash that there was animal fat, drippings, whatever in the sauces ’cause a place like that prob doesn’t think about all the butter, cream, and animal products they use. BUT… Kudos to you for even going near the place.
Now, the real test will be to see if you can go back at the end of the first week…two weeks….first month. When the cravings are stronger the the will is weaker.
My money is on YOU!
Your brother is SO mean! Look at my half chicken! LOL
Vu,
I love your commitment, snd such a good sport about going to a BBQ place on Day One, lol. I’m afraid the meal probably wasn’t really vegan, but hey you really really tried, I look forward to reading more about your efforts. I tried twice to do vegetarian (not even vegan) and couldn’t make it, maybe with this site I can enjoy some more vegetarian possibilities.
Hi everyone, thanks for the comments!
To address Tony, Shane and Danielle’s doubts… you MAY be right, but the server was a vegetarian and said she understood what was necessary to be considered vegan, and although she was sure about the tomatoes and okra (which were supposed to be cooked separately from the meat and with vegetable oil) she had to talk to the cooks to verify the baked beans were ok… and she assured me they were after she checked. I will say that they didn’t taste like what I’m used to with baked beans! Not fatty enough!
Not that she couldn’t be wrong, but especially in the beginning I’m going to have to trust people until I really know better!
I’ll try to be a little more conscious of this possible trickery (or just plain being wrong) from people in the future.
@Annie YES! Let’s go! There’s a great one down here if you want to come check it out… it’s not TOO bad of a drive considering how much I drive up THERE!
@Cheryl I will DEFINITELY be trying your potato soup recipe. Probably next week!
Poor little Vegan…
I loved the response you got from the waitress… hilarious!
Don’t cry Vu… stay strong… we are all in this together with you - well, in spirit that is. We need to get you that burger! Welcome to Vegan Burger… can I take your order, please?
Vu, I need to introduce you to the wonder that is the modern MRE. I’m glad to see that VgV is underway, this’ll be fun to watch.
Vu…cool project. I look forward to watching your progress. I’m a friend of Becker’s and had planned on contacting you about some potential projects…but after seeing this maybe we should grab lunch. Have you ever been to Rutabegorz in Orange? I don’t know how much of their menu is Vegan but my Vegetarian friends really like it.
Vu - Good luck. I married a vegan. 95% of what I eat is vegan, because she knows how to cook. You will survive if you eat well (don’t avoid oil and sugar just because you’re avoiding meat and dairy!). I still eat meat once every 2-3 weeks or so, but I don’t really crave it - it’s just more convenient if I’m going out with friends.
Anyway, this is a huge, comprehensive list of vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants in LA:
http://www.randomgirl.com/veganla.html
My top junk-food vegan picks: Pure Luck in East Hollywood, Native Foods in Westwood and Orean in Pasadena. All 100% vegan. You won’t know that you’re not consuming piles of meat and dairy.
There are also lots of extremely tasty recipes on the above site:
http://www.randomgirl.com/recipes.html
Great project Vu! Watch out for that Jello!
I have been vegan for less than a year. I work at trader joes in silverlake and have made it my personal mission to find everything vegan in that store. let me know if you want the vegan guide to trader joes. the american meat and dairy industry is, like, gross.
Good luck dude.
kimmi,
I would love to have that guide. Can you put it online?
lmfao, don’t give in! It’s simply the McDonald’s MSG (Mass Subjugation Gene) leaving your system.
When are you going to post the rest of these! they’re great!!!