Vegan dinner at Mohawk Bend in Echo Park, LA

Yesterday’s “Only in Cali” moment:
“Hey, what cuisine are you in the mood for tonight?”
“How about vegan?”

I can confidently say I’ve never had this conversation take place in all my years in New York (although, this suggestion did come from a former New Yorker so maybe it speaks more to his changing tastes). LA definitely has the upper hand when it comes to places with organic, fresh, or vegan fare. And you know what they say – when in Cali, do like The CaliFORnians.

Mohawk Bend ambiance-2 — Inside Mohawk Bend

And so we found ourselves at the very hipster Mohawk Bend in Echo Park, which stands right at the intersection of Sunset and Mohawk. I’m pretty sure hipster places probably don’t like to be called hipster, but the gallery of facial hair here would only further my point. Anyway.

A retrofitted 100-year old Vaudeville theater, the place kept a piece of their history and still looks theaterical with its warehouse skeleton, red curtains that opens up to a back area with a fireplace, stage lighting and even the illuminted marquee outside. The mix of booths, bar seating, tall tables and cushioney benches makes it nice for groups or more intimate get together. Or in this case, third-wheelin’ (my favorite).

The menu looked promising which they change seasonally: Chili cheese fries, vegan burgers, buffalo-style cauliflower, brussels sprouts with roasted baby beet and spiced apple, candied walnut with crispy onions, and a whole list of brick oven vegan pizzas.

mohawk bend-brussels sprouts — Brussels sprouts

The buffalo-style cauliflower was tangy and paired perfectly with the ranch dressing it was served on. The brussels sprouts (if you like brussels sprouts and I happen to Love them) were amazing though I did notice there were no candied walnuts in the dish they served us.

Mohawk Bend Curry Pizza — Keep Abreast & Curry On pizza

For the third dish we got the Keep Abreast & Curry On pizza, with curried cauliflower, cashew cheese, onion, fennel, spinach, pomegranate, yellow curry, basil, and cilantro. Just so happened that this pizza was created for The Keep a Breast Foundation in LA – for each pizza ordered, they donate $4 to the organization. The curried cauliflower and basil made the pizza. So good.

The only place we went sort of wrong was the BBQ Tofu pizza, decidedly not our favorite. We took a chance to try something different over more familiar combos. This one had red onion, bell pepper, jalapeno, cilantro, smoked tofu, roasted tomatoes, and watercress. We failed to notice there was no cheese at all, which might have helped if we asked for some.

But oh man, it was SPICY. Like mouth-burning spicy. And not sure if the sauce was really barbecue sauce, it tasted a little more like ketchup. Kind of ruined it for me, but forgivable since the rest of the meal was amazing and the ambiance sealed it for us.

PS Don’t miss the photo booth that’s set up in front! If this documentation of third-wheeling session with Yasir and Sarah below doesn’t scream #ForeverAlone, I don’t know what does.