Restaurant Review: Donut Farm

Donut Farm is a a fairly new restaurant to the Bay. It began as a bakery distributing whole sale vegan donuts to small and large companies. In the past 2 years they opened their doors to the public for weekend brunch. The restaurant resembles a small hole in the wall, hipster, mom and pop joint with 7 cafeteria style tables and an old school waitress counter. The menu offers classic American breakfast vegan style with a hipster twist.

During my Birthday week I decided to celebrate it by visiting all of my favorite vegan friendly restaurants each day, each restaurant with a different friend. I chose to spend Sunday Brunch with my long time friend Jay at Donut Farm in Temescal. Prior to this visit I had visited Donut Farm two other times before. The first time I was extremely impressed the food was amazing, the service great, the price was right, and the company was awesome too. However, the second time around I was sorely disappointed the only thing that remained consistent from the previous time was the awesome company. The food was mediocre, the price was outrageous, and service iffy. So, upon arriving for my Birthday Brunch I had zero expectations; to prevent any post-experience let down.

Jay and I are both health conscious, very particular, and in some ways food snobs. We love great ambiance, attentive and personable service, cleanliness, and most of all fresh and tasty food. Initially, Jay was overwhelmed with the wealth of options on the menu until he finally decided on the fruit and granola bowl and a breakfast burrito. I got the tofu scramble with toast and hash browns; along with a mug of Spicy Mexican Hot Chocolate (which was soooo delicious). I enjoyed my meal. It tasted very fresh, it was well portioned, and well seasoned. The service was ok, and the price was decent. Yet, on the other hand Jay wasn't so impressed with his burrito. He said it lacked flavor and creativity thus, his hungry tummy only ate half of the uninspiring burrito. We shared the granola bowl. It came with almond milk, granola, and bananas it was super simple and tasted good. 

 A major highlight of Donut Farm, are Pepples donuts. They have vegan cake donuts and vegan yeast donuts. The cake donuts come in over a dozen of flavors from Matcha Green Tea to Cinnamon Sugar. My favorites are the glazed yeast donuts. After our meal I got a couple cake donuts for my friends and a glazed for myself. They are amazing. They melt in your mouth and will make any woman forget they were watching their weight. I totally forgot to take pics so sorry, I only got a pic of the box which pays no justice to the how awesome the donuts are. Overall, it was a good experience. Jay was glad to try something new and I was glad to get my last free Birthday Meal haha!!! LOL

Sweet Tooth Soother Smoothie

My new go to sweet tooth soother is this bomb banana almond smoothie I created on a whim with some leftover ingredients in the pantry. It is super simple to make, with only 3 ingredients all of which are organic, vegan, and yummy. This smoothie satisfies the taste buds and is super filling.

It is great for raw vegans too because it is packed with nutrients, natural sugar, and it's calorically dense for boosting energy.

Ingredients:
3 Frozen bananas
2 cups Almond milk
6 Pitted Dates

Blend until liquified and creamy. Enjoy!

Traveling Vegan in L.A

My girl, Francessca and I decided to visit Los Angeles, CA for our 3 day weekend off school. As teachers, it's advised to live up every break to the fullest in order to come back refreshed. I really wanted to try to some new vegan food and word on the street is L.A has some of the best vegan spots in Cali, so I was down for the journey. My home-girl on the other hand really wanted to show stop at a few parties- so we combined our two agendas and headed to L.A.

I recently converted my friend to veganism (she dabbled with it in the past), so she was down for some vegan food variety. Our first meal was at her favorite vegan spot Native Foods in West Wood the menu was extensive, the staff was super friendly, and it was an amazing day. 87 degrees in January who could ask for anything better.

 In our dresses, we curvy vegans ordered an appetizer, drinks, and one entree each. We sat outside, in the sun, and for a moment we truly considered relocating to L.A . Taking into account the good food, the cool people, the nice weather, the shopping, and the nightlife.

I was super reluctant to order at Native Foods which has a large selection of vegan comfort food. I feared my body would reject rich vegan junk food, which would be no bueno on vacay. So, I stuck with their Yo Amigo Taco Salad and a lavender lemonade which was amazing.



For our appetizzer we shared polenta bites and vegan super nachos. Between are drinks, the appetizers, and the meal we couldn't finish anything. SOoooo.... we took it all to go.

After a night of tearing up the dance floor our stomachs were grumbling. The next morning we went to Real Food Daily in Santa Monica. We were greeted by the dessert case which was mouthwatering. We nearly lost our minds looking at all the amazing desserts.

 Although, we were eyeing the dessert case our tummys wanted breakfast. We made our way to our seats and we both ordered The Weekender Platter. Which included pancakes, hash browns, cashew cheese, tempeh bacon, and a tofu scramble. Francessca ordered the same except with french toast and a bagel. Breakfast was ok. The RFD in Pasadena (I visited last year) was a little tastier with better ambiance but the service at the Santa Monica location was stellar.

Fran vegan buttering up

The Weekender with French Toast

Ready to eat

The Weekender with Pancakes