Flore Vegan Cuisine: Silver Lake

Andrew and Lauren took us to Flore Vegan Cuisine 

located at 3818 W. Sunset Blvd in Silver Lake (Los Angeles), CA 90026 (323-953-0611). 

We had to wait nearly an hour to get in, but had a nice cultural experience people watching. I felt as though we'd been transported back to Berkeley in the mid-60's or to a foreign country. So many people were dressed colorfully and uniquely that the wait became a pleasure. There was limited seating outside, and not much more inside. But we discovered why people are willing to wait: the food was fantastic. I am new at the vegan thing and how people can prepare vegetables, grains and fruits to taste great is an eye opener and boundary expander. I had no idea. First, we got some juices. 

I got one called "The Tonic" which was a mixture of grapefruit, kale, apple and lemon. It was the best juicer juice I've had. The grapefruit dominated and it was refreshing and sourly sweet. A perfect drink on a warm day. Judy got the same thing, but substituted lime for the lemon. Hers was a little more tart. Andrew got "Fresh Ginger Ale" which was a mixture of ginger, raw agave, lemon, lime and sparkling water. It was a little weak, but still good. Judy got the best dish, the Tempeh Reuben, something that both Andrew and Lauren had ordered before.  

Tempeh is a soy product originally from Indonesia made by a culturing and fermentation process that binds the soybeans into a cake form. The tempeh served as the pastrami substitute along with cashew cheese, tofu cheese, sauerkraut and 1000 island dressing on rye bread. It was amazingly good, something I would pick over a real reuben sandwich. Anyone who wants to knock vegan food needs to try that sandwich. It was a mind blower. She also got a side of potato salad which was okay, but not real flavorful.  Andrew got a Club Sandwich 

which consisted of battered baked tofu, the turkey substitute, tempeh bacon, tomato, avocado, lettuce, daikon sprout and eggless mayonaise on sourdough bread. 

He also got a side of potato salad. It was not as good as the reuben, but was smoky and tasty. The tempeh bacon is not as good as regular bacon, but is a good substitute. Lauren got the best looking dish, the Burrito Flore, 

which consisted of brown basmati rice, black bean, tempeh bacon, cilantro cream, cashew cheese, avocado, lettuce and tomato wrapped and grilled in a whole wheat tortilla. 

It was served with pico de gallo and a green salad. It was not as good as it looked, it was a little bland, but it was juicy and had a nice mild flavor. I got The Wrap, 

brown basmati rice, roasted vegetables, kale, baked tofu, and creamy dill dressing wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla. The baked tofu was a very firm consistency and worked well with the rice. 

I got a side salad, consisting of carrots, bean sprouts and various types of leafy greens, including arugula, and also a side of black beans, rice and pico de gallo, which I mixed together into a bean, rice and lettuce salad with vinegar. I was trying to avoid as much oil as I could, so I ignored the dressing, other than a little taste. For dessert we shared a piece of cheese cake with strawberries on top. I'm not sure what the cheese substitute was, but it 

was very nice and moist. 

We also got what I think was a chocolate vanilla cupcake. I'm not sure what the frosting was on top, but it was very sweet 

and about overpowered my no sweet, vegan familiarized taste buds. I really enjoyed the couple of bites I had. This was a wonderful adventure into well-prepared vegan food and a restaurant I would love to go back to many times.