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(Dynamic instrumental music)
♪
MENA MASSOUD: Los Angeles!
Like a lot of people in showbiz,
this city has a special place in my heart.
In 2017, I took a massive risk
and left everything behind in Toronto to move here.
With barely any money, I rented a closet inside a house
in West Hollywood and continued the hustle
I started in theatre school.
I embraced the city and fell in love with it.
That same year I landed one of the biggest roles of my career,
and I've been fortunate enough
to work with some of the best in the biz ever since.
♪
LA is one of the most fascinating places on earth,
but not everyone gets what really makes it different.
Sure, there's the movies and the beautiful people
and the muscle beaches...
...but really, it's a city primed
for dreaming big and taking risks.
And there's money-- lots of money--
which opens the door for restaurateurs
and businesses to innovate and explode.
Cali sets the trends.
And the plant-based food scene is no exception.
And it's got roots here.
The first vegan society in the US was founded here in 1948.
So get ready to go LA restaurant hopping
in a way you never imagined.
♪
I'm Mena Massoud.
I'm travelling across North America
and eating my way through some of the coolest cities
to show you how beautiful meals,
talented chefs and restaurateurs
are making plant-based living delicious and attainable.
So join me as I show you how the world is evolving vegan.
♪
Lilly Singh.
Superwoman!
A YouTube and IG megastar turned talk show host and actor--
also a good friend.
A fellow Toronto kid
making her way in LA and absolutely killing it.
Lilly and I are East Coast/ West Coast transplants,
which is fitting cause we're starting this tour
by smashing an East Coast fave in West Coast style.
In LA, that means Maciel's-- a vegan deli, naturally.
Oh, my god.
Chivalry is not dead. Thank you.
It is not, it is not.
Hello. Welcome!
How you doing? Joe?
Joe, yes.
Mena-- nice to meet you. Maciel, nice to meet you.
Hi, I'm Lilly. JOE: Hey, Lilly.
Nice to meet you.
Did you match the--
JOE: Oh nice.
No, I did not. Um... I did not.
You're matching the restaurants? Oh, my god!
It just happened to be like this.
I think it's meant to be.
Maciel, you have a really interesting story
because you have, like,
a PhD and a doctorate in medical sciences.
Yes.
Why a vegan butcher shop?
(Laughing)
Because I didn't want to do science anymore,
but, you know, this shop is a combination
of all the things that I love, which is also healthy cooking.
JOE: We wanted to basically
kind of marry two things:
a New York deli-- plant-based...
MENA: Yeah.
...with Maciel's delicious Mexican cooking.
Nice.
So classic New York style deli,
plant-based with a Mexican twist.
I mean, we should have--
They're all of my favourite words.
Let's go eat! Let's go eat!
You really are matching the look of this.
I know. It's like the exact colour.
Literally.
It's crazy.
Maciel and Joe started the first plant-based butcher and deli
in LA, creating healthy vegan foods for all
and a dream of pastrami sandwiches.
JOE: I always loved a Reuben, a good Reuben.
You can't have a Reuben without Thousand Island.
Of course.
You can't have a Reuben without rye bread.
Which I already know is your favourite thing.
You love bread.
I do, I love bread, but also, I was going to say,
I could bathe in that.
Like, I also love Thousand Island,
so I'm here for this.
MENA: The pastrami is made in-house
with minimal ingredients--
an alternative
to the over-processed veggie meats out there.
So how many ingredients are in this right here, would you say?
It's cannellini beans,
it's wheat protein, and it's spices.
MENA: Simple but delicious.
Okay, time to work.
Lilly, butter the bread with me.
You want me to butter it with you?
You can butter a slice.
Okay, I'll butter a slice.
MENA: Too much butter?
There's never too much butter.
MENA: You love bread.
I do-- who doesn't love bread?
Alright, so throw them back here.
He said throw them.
With the assist--- here we go!
Okay, yes!
Boom! Alright! There we go!
So, then the next thing is to make some hot pastrami.
Take the whole thing and throw it down.
Really? Yeah.
MENA: There we go. JOE: There ya go.
I can't get over how much it looks like pastrami.
I mean, the colour is spot on.
LILLY: It's another thing you're matching.
It does look like my shirt.
Yeah.
It does. And do both sides with the sauce?
Yeah, oh, yeah. MENA: Ohh!
You know a lot of stuff.
I know a lot of stuff about vegan food.
Very impressed. I'm very impressed.
Thank you.
Whoosh!
JOE: I'm gonna throw yours there.
That's very good. That's actually a nice technique.
Oh, we're supposed to be all--
Nice technique. Yeah, I should have told you.
You will be over here and you'll say:
Ready for a Reuben!
And then, you'll go: Reuben.
LILLY: Ready for a Reuben!
Ah, one Reuben up!
Hot jambalaya!
LILLY: Yes! MENA: All right!
Grab the sauer, grab a handful of sauerkraut
and squeeze it.
But not too much.
You want a little juice but not a ton of juice.
I squeeze what?
Get in there.
LILLY: Oh, wow. I can do that, okay.
Here, squeeze.
Dramatic height to squeeze from.
MENA: That's a lot of sauerkraut.
That's not even half of
what you should put on there. Oh, my--
There's gonna be so much gas.
Awkward.
Oh, there ya go. There you go.
MENA: It's satisfying.
LILLY: Very therapeutic.
I must say, it's very therapeutic.
Is that too much? I did too much?
No, it's perfect. You sure?
Yeah, perfect. All right?
You're gonna have
lots of gas!
Awkward.
LILLY: Bada-bing, bada-boom!
Cheers. Look at that.
(Crunching)
♪
Mmm!
I gotta say, it all came together beautifully.
LILLY: Yes!
MENA: The crunchy bread, the cheese,
the Thousand Island sauce. You guys nailed it.
Everything together.
The texture's really good.
You're not fully plant-based.
So, if you came in and tasted this, blind test,
would you be able to tell?
Stand by.
Well, that's a good sign.
LILLY: If you gave me this,
I think I would think it's meat
because the texture, because of the colour.
This is seriously incredible.
It doesn't sacrifice taste. It's really good.
JOE: Yeah. MENA: This was a home run.
What else is one of your best-sellers here?
The Flores.
I want it! I gotta have it!
I would also want it to eat it.
Could I get two Flores?
Two Flores? Ohh!
Two Flores! Yes!
MENA: The Flores,
a wonder of Mexican-style ribs made from
jackfruit, pickled onion, and arugula
on ciabatta.
Cheers!
All right, one, two, three.
♪
MENA: Mmm...
♪
(Mouth full, indiscernible)
That's really good!
Yeah, you can't really tell jackfruit. Mmm.
Yeah. Ooh, the texture's really nice.
Yeah, and it's got
a nice spiciness with the adobo flavour in there.
Do you feel like you're missing anything?
No. Honestly, no.
MENA: Yeah.
We're both from Toronto,
Scarborough, specifically-- Bada!
And now we're here in LA. I know.
One of the main reasons I love LA is this:
I don't think fear shuts down ideas here.
I think people's imaginations here are so free,
which is really, really cool.
And I think it creates this energy of
just doing and creating and living and risk-taking
that I really love.
How has your food philosophy changed over the years?
I think, previously, I only used to view food as joy.
I'm gonna eat whatever!
It doesn't matter,
because food is happiness and my escape and joy.
I think that's a little too extreme.
I think now, I view food
as joy but also fuel.
You know, also something
that keeps me healthy and going and my mind sharp.
Where does plant-based fall into that?
Is it something that you try to do
I'm actually super-open to plant-based.
I think it tastes great.
For me, I wish
I had these two living in my house.
That's where the thing is.
Where I'm, like,
oh, I wish I had this level of preparation.
Yeah, and that's the number-one thing
that people tell me.
They tell me that all the time
when I take out friends to plant-based restaurants,
they're, like, if I could eat like this all the time,
I would be vegan.
MENA: Okay, let's try the mousse.
This is something
I actually make at home sometimes.
LILLY: Really?
MENA: And you throw in
some silken tofu.
I have not ate as much plant-based dessert.
Cheers. Bada!
I definitely taste the cinnamon.
I definitely taste-- I taste the cinnamon.
Which I really like.
And the base is tofu.
I forgot about that!
It does not, no, it does not taste like tofu.
Right? Right? I cannot taste tofu.
You think the base is what, some sort of--?
This base is tofu? What! --cream or something. Yeah!
It's kind of like you, you know?
Substance with the tofu, and sweet and spicy
all at the same time.
Twinning. Look at us.
We are the same.
MENA: No twinning, Lilly.
You're one of a kind.
♪
Beverly Hills. The height of
luxury and decadence.
And for me, luxury means one thing:
French pastry.
Laila Abddaim is the mastermind behind
the ultra-successful Chaumont Vegan,
a fully vegan classic
French pastry shop.
She's pulled off the seemingly impossible,
cracking the code
to delicate, flakey pastries
without any dairy butter.
Wow, look at this!
This is incredible. This is all vegan?
All vegan, yes.
MENA: These pastries are surreal.
Charcoal croissants with maccha dusting.
Hazelnut rose confections.
Apricot twists!
Egg and cheese croissants with a dukkah-nod
to Laila's French-Moroccan roots.
Insane!
You being French, you're obviously doing
French pastry style,
and you had Chaumont next door since 2013.
What inspired you to open up a Chaumont Vegan
that was all plant-based?
I felt connected to that philosophy.
And every time I hear people talking about
plant-based food,
it doesn't have the best, like...
Reputation? Reputation, thank you.
So, I wanted to change that mindset
and I felt if I can make vegan pastries
taste, look better,
I think I'll count
a mission there.
What you've been able to do here
is very, very rare.
It wasn't easy for me to replicate
the same taste as regular pastries.
But I tried.
I used different butters.
And it was not quite right.
So, I started making my own butter.
Because butter
is the key of all of this.
Of French pastries, yeah.
So, I wanna try some, some of this goodness here.
Laila: Of course. What do you want to try?
(Laughter)
Earl Grey.
MENA: All right! What is it?
Tell me what I'm gonna try.
LAILA: It's an Earl Grey pastry-cream croissant.
MENA: I can already tell it's flakey; it's beautiful.
And you put a little gold leaf on top as well?
LAILA: Yeah, edible gold.
MENA: Wow, look at that.
I can tell that it's buttery.
There's a filling inside, as well.
Mm-hmm, the pastry cream, yes.
(Crunching)
♪
Come on!
Mmm. You can hear the crunch
when I bite into it. LAILA: Yeah.
Which is how you know it's cooked to perfection.
This is amazing.
LAILA: Most of the people,
actually, that have come here are not vegan.
One bite and they usually come back.
MENA: No surprise there.
Now, I have to know how she's making these pastries
and I'm lucky enough to get an invite
to try my hand at a French classic: the éclair.
The first step is making the choux pastry
from Laila's top-secret plant-based butter.
And let me tell ya,
mixing is harder than it looks.
And then... You don't trust me to stir, I see.
I just don't want you like,
Oh, you're looking out for me.
You don't want me to get it on my beautiful jacket.
Okay.
Put a little more strength.
Hoo.
It's hard.
It is hard.
What the heck?
Let me show you.
Yeah, please show me.
So, you do it...
It's good.
You did you good for the first time.
Thank you. I mean I hope so.
You're showing me up a little bit.
My arm hurts.
Oh, my gosh!
Perfect.
This is hard work here.
Man!
So, of course, a lot of egg but in this care, vegan egg.
Laila's plant based eggs have a base of yellow mung
beans, oat milk, olive oil and turmeric.
So, today we're going to use a template for you.
I'm usually not using this.
But I think...
But I'm an amateur.
What?
Yeah... yeah, it's okay.
Okay, beautiful!
So...
Beautiful.
Here we go.
(Clears throat)
(Exhales sharply)
♪
LAILA: Eh!
Pretty good, pretty good.
Alright.
I'm surprised!
What?
You know, no, seriously, it takes a long time
for people to...
To know how to do this.
Well, thank you very much.
I am the host of a food show.
All right.
But you should told me you never did this.
Never an éclair.
That was my best one.
That's better than mine!
That was my best one I think.
MENA: After some EXPERT piping, we let it
bake for an hour.
Okay, there we go.
LAILA: I truly think vegan food, like, plant-based food
is the future.
If I can like make something that tastes better than the
regular pastries, sorry, like, uh, it's a easy choice.
MENA: Oh, wow.
Almost lost it.
Once the shells are ready, we poke three holes and
start filling with pastry cream, a blend of oat milk, cane
sugar, vanilla beans, more turmeric, and the piece de
resistance, Moroccan argan oils.
Okay...
I'll do the chocolate one and...
And I'll do the Matcha?
Sure.
Matcha, that's a very Los Angeles flavour
I feel like.
Okay.
Just a little--
(Gasps)
Oh, no!
It's okay, we're good.
We're good.
♪
It's delicious.
The eclairs are glazed with Matcha and chocolate
and decorated with edible flowers and gold leaf.
Very delicate.
Oh, I already messed up.
No, you want to grab just a little piece.
No.
♪
Voila!
It's looking really great.
This is art.
I am an artiste.
Thank you very much.
You definitely did most of it but it's okay.
I think I'm going out the chocolate first.
♪
Mm.
That is stupendously delicious.
No way anyone would be able to tell
that's plant based.
No way.
Alright, I'm going to try the Matcha.
♪
Mm.
Come on.
Wow!
Are they filled properly?
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
(Laila laughs)
Super light.
Obviously a nice shell.
The glaze...
Not overly sweet, right?
Yeah.
You've nailed it.
You've absolutely nailed everything here.
It's fantastic.
Who also wants a bite?
Come on, Johnny, I don't think I've fed you yet.
Mm. Wow.
Yeah?
10 out of 10.
That's amazing.
Thank you.
All right, Danny, come here.
Always looking out for me.
♪
That's amazing.
Thank you.
(Parisian flavoured music)
Voila!
Merci, Laila.
The crazy length you've gone to make extraordinary pastries
taking century old French recipes and elevating them
for the future.
Is just so smart to pivot when you see the world evolving.
And that's what I love about LA.
In a land of make-believe, people like Laila prove
that dreams do come true.
♪
After a couple stops on our LA food crawl, I gotta get
a sweat-on.
This is LA after all.
And fortunately, I know one of the best trainers
in the city,
Coach Kollins, a fellow vegan, was born in Russia,
raised in Thailand, trained Muay Thai since he was 12.
He moved to LA
around the same time I did,
and we become fast friends.
Today, Kollins is putting me and restaurateur, Mod,
through one of his hellacious sparring and workout
sessions.
Since moving to LA, fitness has become a huge part of
my life.
When I went plant-based, I became way more aware
of my health, physical and mental.
But when it comes to the gym, with plants fueling
your body. what people really want to know is, is it
possible to get shredded?
(Shots landing)
♪
Ha!
Ding-ding-ding.
Obviously you are doing well in a vegan diet I see.
Yeah?
Trying.
Not too bad.
Part of my plans.
Before I moved to LA the biggest thing people always told
me what I told them I was plant-based was "Well, where do
you get your protein?"
Like, "You're never going to be able to gain at the gym." And
then I met you, I was like, "Oh, damn, if Kollins can be that
ripped on a plant-based diet then..."
My whole goal was to prove people wrong that you're able
to like still compete and
be a competitive athlete on plant-based diet, you're able to
build muscle just like other animals do, right?
Like, the strongest animals in the world
like let's say gorillas, elephants, right?
They eat only plants, you know what I mean?
And they're huge/
So you're able to grow if you get enough and amino acids.
I've been vegan for like say 7 to 8 years now.
Again I've done blood work and I'm not deficient in anything.
I feel great.
I feel like that works for me but obviously not
everybody's different, too.
So everybody's going to see how it works for them.
When you weren't vegan, what was that like?
Uh, back 2015, I used to be a competitive physique athlete
which means I would do like natural competitions
where you're not very big of a person
but kind of like in my size right now
and I would wake up in the
morning have a bunch of egg whites and have a bunch of
chicken breasts for lunch and a bunch of like beef for dinner.
And I felt so tired and heavy all the time.
I felt like I look good but I was like functioning well,
you know?
After I switched to being vegan, I continued to go the
same lifestyle but I was
trying to get all my nutrients from plants.
And definitely felt much better and also I realized that
I don't need to like
eat like other living creatures in order to
look a certain way.
MENA: Kollins is a passionate dude who was way more
in-your-face about his beliefs in the past.
When you first like discover plant-based diet and being
vegan, you're so passionate about it and you try to
change the world.
Yeah.
And then you realize you have to be the change that you want to
see in the world, right?
So all you can do is be the best version of yourself and
hopefully that's going to motivate other people join you.
But I feel like a lot of times when you push somebody to do
something they start resisting it and it's even like harder
to make the change.
Well, I don't know about you guys but I'm starving and you
have two of the best Thai restaurants in LA.
Okay, let's go eat.
MENA: I'm not kidding.
Maud is the owner and head chef
at two hugely successful Thai restaurants,
L.O.V.E. Organic and H.O.P.E. Vegan.
If you come to LA, and you want Thai,
this is where you go, because, come on,
look at these popcorn shrimp.
This is new. I've never had this.
MAUD: Yes, this is new.
What is this?
It's the panko shrimp.
It's made from potatoes and soy.
MENA: And a beautiful sauce to go here with it.
MAUD: It's, uh-- yeah. It's a plum dipping sauce.
I make it here.
You make it from plums, fresh?
MAUD: Yes. Yes.
MENA: Of course you do. Why wouldn't you?
Alright, well, let's did in. I want to try these shrimp here.
This sauce is my favourite thing.
♪
MAUD: You like it?
Mmm. It's so good. That tastes like shrimp.
The texture is the same,
and I even see a little bit of pink on the inside, right?
And the sauce is amazing.
Yeah, okay. I'm glad you guys like it.
Yeah. So, you grew up eating plant-based?
MAUD: Yes.
Do you think Thai food innately lends itself to vegan food?
I think, for me, it's easy to make it vegan.
Should we dig into the wings?
MAUD: Yes, please. One of my favourite things on Earth.
Maud's famous, hard-punching Muay Thai chicken wings,
made with crispy tofu skin, mushrooms and soy fibre,
cooked in a lemongrass sauce with crispy basil.
One of the things I craved, and could never really find,
were chicken wings.
It was kind of about the texture for me,
and just having it off a bone. And you can see on this--
Fake bone.
--there's a little fake bone, which is amazing.
And then you bite into these.
I love these things. I can eat them all day.
Are you going to eat it?
It's so good. I should wait.
(Both laughing)
Mmm. Mmm.
I miss them.
Yeah, I believe a lot of times
when I bring my friends here they cannot tell the difference
between this being fake and real.
Yeah, I don't think you can really
tell that it's not chicken.
I mean, it's-- it's pretty spot on with the skin.
I love these things. They're incredible.
Maud's shrimp and wings are a classic example
of why LA is ahead of the curve.
It's not abnormal; it's the new normal.
And Maud's thrilled with the change she's seen
in LA since opening her restaurants over a decade ago.
People seem to be vegan, like, last five years.
Like-- like, crazy busy last five years.
Not just us; every single vegan restaurant in Studio City.
So, there was a boom in the last five years,
essentially, that you noticed--
MAUD: Yes, yes.
--consistently. Why do you think that is?
Obviously, we're in LA, which is a vegan mecca,
but why do you think that is?
I think people are concerned about their health.
They try it, they say, "Oh", and they just love it.
MENA: Well, good thing we got our workout in,
'cause I'm gonna keep on indulging.
♪
California; it's been setting culinary trends for decades.
I mean, the Golden Arches started here.
And now, the seeds are planted for the next generation
of eating at Plant Power, the first fully plant-based
fast food chain, owned and operated by my good friend.
ZACH: Look who it is.
Zach Vouga.
How are you, my friend? Welcome back.
What's going on? ZACH: Come on in.
So, it's been-- it's been a little bit of time
since I last saw you.
ZACH: It has been.
You're up to, what, 11 locations now?
Hollywood marks number 11, which is crazy,
because when I think back to when you and I first met,
that was, what, two or three?
So, the dream has officially got legs and it's mobilized.
I'm glad to see it.
This is one of my favourite spots.
Tell me a little bit about plant-based fast food.
ZACH: We believe that Plant Power is where fast food
is either going, or where it should be.
And what we mean by that is 100% plant-based
burgers, fries, and shakes.
Better for you, better for the planet
and, most importantly, better for the animals.
Are you hungry?
I am. I am. What are we making, man?
I don't know if you've tried our Big Zac.
Dude, of course I've tried the Big Zac.
You are Zach. Zach Vouga, AKA, the Big Zac.
The Big Zac is my namesake.
I think we would be remiss not to try it.
BOTH: Let's do it.
MENA: The US alone consumes
more than 50 billion burgers a year.
That's a lot of cows; way too many cows.
Plant-based burgers use much less water,
and up to 90% less land and greenhouse gasses.
So, if you got a hankering to smash cheeseburgers
and want to spare the planet, the Big Zac's the way to go.
This is where it happens. We got our fry station here.
Some warming bins.
Alright.
You ready to make a burger? MENA: I'm ready.
Alright, so for the Big Zac we're going to start
with a sesame seed bun. Go ahead and grab your buns.
Alright, I will grab my buns. No worries there.
Alright, nice and warm.
ZACH: Grab the Big Zac sauce.
And you're just going to give it one squeeze on each patty.
MENA: On each bun?
ZACH: Yep. One squeeze.
Oh, my goodness! It's an explosion of flavour.
The classic shredded lettuce, right?
ZACH: And then three pickles.
Oh, we got an order! We got an order, people!
ZACH: Order up!
Order up here! Two breakfast burritos, all day.
Two breakfast burritos, all day.
Oh, my gosh. They just appeared out of nowhere.
Okay, now we're going to get our patties.
The main event. We've got the Big Zac patties here.
(Sizzling)
Oh, no, I broke it. I broke it already.
I'm sorry, Zach. I'm sorry.
Right at a minute, we're going to just flip those over.
I can do that. Flip! Alright.
(Sizzling)
Nailed that, I must say.
MAN: True.
See how quick that was? It was ninja-like.
We're gonna get this guy some paperwork here.
Okay, yeah, alright. Okay, we're done here.
ZACH: Get the one with the cheese on it.
And then lift that whole bad boy up and pop it there.
MENA: Oh, my goodness.
Alright, now carefully we're going to airlift it to the box.
Airlift. Okay.
(Makes light wind noises)
You got to-- you got to do dramatic effects.
ZACH: Indeed. I agree.
You pop that on there.
MENA: Alright.
You've done it. You've made your first Big Zac.
Get this lettuce out of here.
And, in a moment, we'll go taste it and see how you did.
MENA: That's the best part.
The classic booths.
They look like classic booths,
but they have their own little Plant Power twist.
Really? Tell me about 'em.
You'd think they were made from wood by looking at them,
but they're actually made from bamboo.
MENA: Wow. Very nice.
ZACH: We try to help these other components tie into
what we're doing, aside from just the food.
You guys have thought about everything, clearly.
I mean, I've got the classic shakes.
These take me back to, you know, when I was a kid;
that nostalgia.
I think that nostalgia is a part of the fuel
of what we're doing here. MENA: Right.
Because, you know, I've been vegan, vegetarian
since I was a young kid, 14 or 15.
And, almost selfishly, I-- throughout those years
I missed having that fast food experience.
MENA: 100%.
So, this is that manifested yearning of mine.
Alright, I'm going to dig into my Big Zac,
'cause it's speaking to me.
What do you think?
♪
You've got the secret sauce here
that brings you back to when you were a kid.
It's just a classic burger,
but now you can have it plant-based,
which is-- which is pretty incredible.
Everything is just-- it's perfect.
What makes California the perfect place
for a concept like this?
California just seems to be a couple years
ahead of most trends. MENA: Right.
I sensed that it was just a market that was primed and ready
for something like this seven years ago.
Now I think a concept like this could flourish in many states.
People are ready to start making the right choices.
I've also got these amazing plant-based chicken tenders
that I want you to try, as well.
MENA: Of course.
You've already got the dipping sauces opened up,
so you know the drill.
Actually, let me try it on its own.
I think that's important.
Mmm. Mmm.
Crispy, juicy.
Mm!
It's got that seasoning, you know.
It's tender.
It looks exactly like, you know, a chicken finger.
♪
Mm.
Those are my son's favourite.
Me and your son would get along, my friend.
This, when I first went vegan,
I would have never imagined
a fast food chain that was all vegan.
I would never have imagined that, and now it's here.
It's changing in every way, shape and form,
and it's such a wonderful thing.
When we started this thing, people thought we were crazy.
But nowadays, right, with the advent of Impossible Burger,
Beyond Burger, it's more commonplace.
and I think there's just been this stigma
that's been shed recently.
You can be vegan without having to sacrifice any type of food.
You can have burgers, fries, shakes, pizza.
I think what you're doing here is spot on.
I think the world is ready for this.
I think the world wants this.
It's just a matter of time
before the whole world starts eating
more plant-based
and evolves towards a more vegan lifestyle.
So, I think fast food restaurants
are a part of that.
I thank you for opening this up
because it's something that I never dreamed
would be possible when I first went plant based.
And now we're here.
And this is just the starting point,
where burgers and fries are gonna change the world.
♪
La La Land.
What is it about this city and California
that consistently innovates and leads the charge forward?
Well, why not tap someone who is 100% OG LA to find out:
Laura Marano, actor, singer,
and my lovely co-star in our romantic comedy film,
The Royal Treatment.
As my non-vegan friend, we can get real.
I wanted to see what a homegrown LA movie star
would think of elevated plant-based fine dining.
So, I'm bringing her to Plant Food + Wine
in Venice, an all-organic eatery
created by renowned vegan restaurateur Matthew Kenney,
where guests dine under these beautiful fruit trees.
How often do you go here?
Pretty often.
Really?
Yeah, pretty often.
I didn't know that.
Okay, so fun fact actually.
When I moved to Los Angeles,
um, I didn't have a lot of money.
Hmm.
And I was starting to stress out about the money
I had saved from Toronto,
and, Plant Food + Wine, I came in,
and handed in my resume
to try to get a bussing job here.
Stop!
MENA: Yeah.
And it didn't happen?
No, so I applied and then, two weeks later,
I'm booked Jack Ryan, and then the--
And then the rest is history.
MENA: And then the rest is history.
♪
Up first, tikka curry leaf yogurt with potato flatbread.
LAURA: Oh, I am very excited right now.
Boom. This is a yogurt?
Yeah, yeah.
Ooh!
There you go.
LAURA: Yes.
Yes, a nice appetizer to get us started.
I-- It was so pretty,
and I just made it look so ugly in two seconds.
No, no, no.
No, that's it. That's the nature of food.
I feel-- I am so excited.
(Chuckling)
Mm.
Yeah, and you haven't been here before.
I haven't been here before.
Oh, my god.
It's good, huh?
Oh, my god!
♪
(Laughing)
So you grew up in LA?
I grew up in LA.
And you were born in LA?
I was born in LA.
So you're what we call an Angelina.
I am an Angelina!
An Angelina.
So what do you think of the food scene here?
Controversial maybe:
I think LA is one of the best, if not the best
food city in the world.
But I want I want-- I wanna explain my position.
I certainly think there are other cities
that have incredible types of food.
I think, LA, you have the best type of food
with the most variety of food.
You have such great Mexican food.
You have-- Thai food I think is really great here.
This is the most delicious thing I've ever had, ever.
This is also--
Getting out of hand, literally.
(Laughing)
That was very, very good.
(Indistinct chatter)
Yeah, I moved to LA in 2017.
Yeah.
I had gone plant based before that,
but, like, coming to LA and being plant based here,
I was, like, blown away by the amount of options
there were.
I'm gonna take another extra piece of bread to really just--
Yeah, please, go for it. Just make it into a sandwich now.
Yes, I really am.
It's what you've gotta do.
I can see it's, like, really-- You're battling with it.
I am.
You're trying to figure out how to eat this.
But, but it's a really beautiful battle.
What I was saying was, was it always like--
Has it always been like this?
Because I feel like people in LA have been vegan for 100 years.
I don't think that's wrong to say.
I think there's a lot of truth to it.
I do think there was a shift in, like,
the early 2000s, mid 2000s,
of that it became a bit more popular here.
MENA: Yeah.
LAURA: I do feel like a lot of people
become vegan and plant based,
not just for social justice reasons,
but also for health reasons.
MENA: 100%.
LAURA: And that, I think, culture
is, like, huge in LA.
And that culture, I think, has always been here
but, like, very much increased in the 2000s.
MENA: Next: an heirloom tomato and zucchini lasagna
with pesto and plant based ricotta.
This is our take on Italian food.
You had me at "This is our take on Italian food."
I'm like-- I'm ready to go.
Yeah, Laura's Italian. Laura's Italian.
Yeah, I'm so excited.
It's so good, and it looks really good.
Do you feel like there's other places
that are as health conscious as LA,
in a less obnoxious way or more obnoxious way or--
No, no.
Really?
No, health, no. Health conscious wise, no.
I feel like people just are really conscious
about their health here,
the way they look,
but that doesn't say that it has--
it has or doesn't have the best vegan scene.
Hmm.
It's just, when you're talking about health-wise,
yeah, I feel like people here really take care
of what they eat,
what they put into their bodies, the fitness, yoga.
Like, don't they do the yoga here with the with the goats?
I know exactly what you're talking about.
I've never done it.
You do them with goats.
So you're doing downward dog,
and there's goats that jump on your back and stuff,
and apparently it's better for you.
I want to do yoga with goats.
And you know why you can? Because you live in LA.
I live in LA!
♪
I don't know if we talked about this,
but I started doing a campaign
when I was a teenager called Meatless Monday.
Okay.
And essentially it's just not eating meat for one day a week.
Yeah, on Mondays.
Yes, but it could be any day of the week.
It doesn't necessarily have to be Monday.
So that's still something that you try to do?
Yeah, oh, yeah.
I've done it every year since, god, what, I've been 16.
I started more for social justice reasons
and more particularly with climate change.
There are just so many positive aspects,
and it was just not eating meat for one day a week.
MENA: It's good to hear this.
One of the things LA is proving
is that there's a way to evolve our diets
without sacrificing taste or quality or... anything.
Oh, wow.
Mm, mm!
Look at that!
Oh my god.
Now, that looks like a piece of art.
What is it?
It actually does, actually.
Deconstructed coconut pie,
banana ice cream and coconut ice cream.
Please enjoy.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
♪
Mm! It was so good.
So how did you find this food?
Because you typically are picky.
So how was this food for you?
I mean, I enjoyed this thoroughly,
and I feel like it's because
it all is quite simple ingredients.
Would you come back here?
I would 100% come back.
I really would. It's really good.
Okay, good.
I mean, it's so far away from where I live, so.
Oh, my gosh! Everybody says that in LA!
(Laughs)
♪
Cheers.
Cheers!
Thank you for taking me here.
Of course. You're welcome.
This is so lovely.
You're welcome. I'll remember--
Did I, uh-- Was I cool?
No, you were cool. You were cool.
Royally cool, Laura.
You're the perfect example of a person
with an open mind to an evolving diet.
I hope you make it back.
Meatless Monday's always calling.
♪
The last spot on our food crawl.
You simply can't talk about the food scene in LA
without talking about the deep influence
that traditional Mexican cooking bears on the city.
Sandwiched between a nail salon and a pharmacy
are LA's best tacos, El Cocinero.
♪
On a regular day, there's a line up down the block
of Valley locals and celebs like Zendaya and Tobey Maguire.
It's run by Chef Alex Vargas who's building an empire
out of authentic vegan Mexican food.
♪
Alex! What's going on, my man?
ALEX: Hey, Mena. What's up, man?
Welcome to El Cocinero.
Thank you, man. How you doing?
I'm doing good. I'm doing good.
I see you got the usuals, right.
We got the pastor, the carne asada,
the Chicharrón, and another carne asada.
This is fairly new.
ALEX: Carne asada. Yeah, this is brand-new.
Yeah, I got everything. See, I come in often.
You know everything, bro. Mena: I know how to do this.
Do you know what my favourite taco is here?
Uh, pastor or Chicharrón.
Pastor! Yeah, man.
ALEX: Pastor, all right.
So when I first went plant-based, I loved--
you know, I loved pastor.
Typically, for people who don't know,
pastor is a double marinated pork,
you usually cut it up on a skewer, kind of like shawarma,
but it's like the Mexican shawarma, I say.
That's right. Yeah, with the raw pineapple.
Yeah. Raw pineapple, red onions.
Delicious.
So I had a really hard time finding that.
ALEX: Okay.
MENA: And this was kind of the first place I found it, and I--
it was love at first sight.
Yeah, that's my family recipe from my mom, my grandma.
So, it's a special recipe that we used to use
with a regular meat.
So when I became vegan, I started using the same adobo,
but I did some modification and people love it.
And the Chicharrón, you deep fry that soy?
Because typically Chicharrón is deep fried pork skin.
ALEX: Yes.
I did that one because my dad, he's not vegan,
so I started experimenting with different soys
until I find the right way.
And I give him to try,
he was one of the first persons to try it, he love it.
And he's like,
"No, this is better than the real Chicharrón."
Wow!
So coming that, from my dad, it really means a lot.
You're getting me hungry, man.
(Laughs)
MENA: Let's dig into some of this.
ALEX: Let's do this.
(Laughter)
♪
Right now, I'm gonna teach you how to be a taquiero.
MENA: Okay. All right.
Taquiero, it's-- people who make tacos.
That's the word that we use.
MENA: The taquiero. Okay.
So, you're going to be Mena the Taquiero.
MENA: All right. I'm down.
ALEX: Let's do the pastor on the tortillas.
MENA: All right.
So the second one is going to be the asada,
and it's like the steak.
MENA: Look at that, too. Like, it's hard to...
ALEX: The texture.
MENA: Yeah, it's hard to believe that this isn't steak.
I don't think anyone that walks in here
would be able to tell that this was plant-based.
♪
Got the Chicharrón here.
On the Chicharrón, we use a pico de gallo.
That's the pico de gallo, which is tomato, onions and cilantro.
For the asada and pastor, we use cilantro and onions.
MENA: So what goes on next?
Chipotle mayo. All right.
To give a special flavour.
On the other two tacos, two different sauces.
I think for my carne asada, I'm going to do some crazy...
salsa verde and a little bit of salsa roja.
So, what I love about this place
is that you can use all the proteins here
to make all the different kinds of things you guys offer here:
quesadillas, burrito bowls, tortas, tacos, nachos,
all of it.
ALEX: Right.
We have seven different proteins.
So, would you say I was an okay taquiero?
Man, you did a great job.
And since you live 10 minutes away,
maybe when somebody take the day off...
you're ready to come help us, bro.
Yeah. Just call me, man.
Just call me.
♪
I'm gonna take a bite...
ALEX: Yeah, go ahead.
...because I've been missing these tacos.
I dream about these tacos, Alex.
(Alex chuckles)
The pastor, it's literally the soy
with the special marinade salsa that we do
with the little chunks of pineapple.
It's fire, man. Mmm .
You get that sweetness, a little bit of crunch
and kick from the onion.
It's delicious.
ALEX: Nice. (Chuckles)
Obviously Mexican cuisine, a lot like Egyptian,
meat heavy, right?
So you grew up, I'm sure, in a meat heavy household.
I love animals, and it was not worth it for me
to enjoy just, like, two minutes of eating meat
for what they, they-- all these animals they go through.
That's a interesting way to put it.
I haven't heard that yet.
But you're so right.
Eating is such a passive act for some people
that they don't think about it at all, naturally,
because we eat, like...
Right.
MENA: ...throughout the day, three times a day.
ALEX: Yes. But you're right.
It's like two minutes of eating for satisfaction
for this whole life that the animal has lived.
ALEX: Yes.
And you basically just consume that in two minutes.
In a way, El Cocinero grew out of Alex's early struggles
to eat and cook vegan.
But I didn't have any knowledge on what to cook.
So, I started playing with-- with the soy,
and it was like, wait a minute,
I can still enjoy, like, pastor, asada.
And I start calling my mom, "Hey, Mom, how you make this?
I put everything together.
That's when I discovered that, like, the passion
for the kitchen, for-- to cook.
MENA: I'm sure that when you started cooking,
it was also because it was your way
to connect back to your mom.
ALEX: Yes.
MENA: Right?
I see my community, especially in my community,
the way that they eat is not healthy.
So I-- that's why I wanted to bring this to my community.
Having a plant-based option is very important
to have here in the Valley.
Yeah, I call them vegan deadzones,
where there's not a lot of plant-based options,
and the valley is definitely one of those.
But people literally now come from West Hollywood,
Beverly Hills...
ALEX: From everywhere, yeah.
From everywhere to come try your tacos.
I'm super proud of you, as like, a person of colour as well.
So to see you and see what you've built over the years,
come here when you were 16,
started working right away,
and see you build this kind of concept.
You know, I'm proud of LA that it embraces people like us
and allows us to kind of build businesses like this
and have a real shot at making something of ourselves.
Taco cheers to you, to El Cocinero,
and to the next chapter
because I know you're only gonna get bigger and bigger.
Thank you. Thank you.
MENA: Cheers.
♪
Mmm.
♪
Alex, I know your first restaurant won't be your last.
You and the rest of the local trendsetters here
are going to change the way we eat and it's already happening.
You're leading the charge,
and LA's infamous out there thinking is creating
a revolution in food.
Bringing a new focus to health, wellness, and the planet.
So thank you, LA, for helping me chase my dreams
and showing us the way forward.
The future looks delicious.
♪
(Tape winding)
(Musical flourish)
(Silence)