Vegan in Malibu, er, Agoura Hills

As I sit here writing this post (on my phone at the moment), I am parked facing the Pacific Ocean, just a little north of Point Magu, in Malibu. It’s 5:59 am, and I’m here with Alan as he prepares to announce the 7th Annual Malibu Half Marathon.

Amazingly, I have an internet connection, something that wasn’t available during the last couple of days during the race expo. I’m not sure why, it was held close to town, but it was at the Malibu Boys and Girls Club, which is right next to Malibu High School, so that may have something to do with it. We didn’t have internet, but we had an amazing sunset, and that is much better (most of the time, anyway).

Many people do not realize that the Malibu coastline is almost 30 miles long, so even though we’re technically in Malibu we’re miles north of town.

As I mentioned in Friday’s post, we’re here for three days, longer than usual, because Alan is helping the new race owners with last minute details for the race. Yes, he’s been working, but I have been having a little vacation time. Well deserved, if I do say so myself.

Vegan in Malibu

One of my favorite things to do while traveling is to explore new vegan and vegan friendly restaurants, plus I love to revisit some old favorites that I rarely get to enjoy. If you follow me on Instagram you may have noticed that my pictures were heavy on the vegan food porn this weekend.

Vegan in Malibu is a little misleading. To my knowledge there are no vegan restaurants in Malibu, which always seems a little odd to me, considering the high percentage of Hollywood types who live here. But according to Happy Cow it’s true.

On the other hand, head inland about 15 miles, to the other side of the Santa Monica mountains, and you arrive in an area that is abundant with vegan options, including Agoura Hills, where our hotel is, Westlake Village, and Thousand Oaks.

On Friday night we headed to our old standby, Hugo’s Restaurant. While they serve meat, they have a huge selection of plant based options and almost anything on their menu can be made vegan or vegetarian.

We were hungry, so we started with an appetizer. We ordered Los Nachos, which actually defaults vegan, believe it or not. It’s served with a spicy nacho sauce, tomato chipotle black beans, pico de gallo, and avocado.  The chips are hot and crisp, and it was very good.

For my entree I had the tamales, which were good, though I wish they were spicier. I was jealous of Alan’s meal, the Shepherd’s Pie. It was made with tofu, lots of veggies, and topped with cheesy mashed potatoes. So good! It wasn’t as photogenic though, so use your imagination.

Believe it or not after all that, we managed to save room for dessert. We ordered the Sticky Buns on our server’s recommendation. Covered with caramelized pecan sauce, they were really good, but so sweet and rich that I could only eat half of my half.

On Saturday, Alan had to work all day, so I drove him to Malibu so that I could have the car. I had plans.

First, I had a new restaurant to try. JOi Cafe is in Westlake Village, only a few miles from our hotel. All of their food is organic, vegan, and gluten-free. Finding a place that serves vegan breakfast is always exciting to me because it’s so rare. If I want pancakes, waffles, or a tofu scramble, I usually have to make my own.

As I entered the restaurant and was greeted, I said I’d be a moment because it was my first time there. A woman introduced herself as Joi, the owner of the restaurant. We spent a few minutes discussing vegan breakfast and how rare it was to find a restaurant that served it.

I noted that they had Sausage and Hash on the menu, and she said she’d created that after seeing a famous chef discussing his sausage recipe. She knew she could create a cruelty free version, and she did, using black beans as the base for the sausage patties.

Joi suggested I order a half order of the Sausage and Hash, then substitute a pancake for the toast. That way I could get my savory and my sweet. Great idea and I took her up on it.

The sausage was excellent. It did not taste like the real thing, which was fine with me, but it had a nutty, smoky flavor that was really good. And the pancake? Well, let’s just say I could have eaten a full order (and in fact I did when I went back for breakfast the next day)!

Actually I ended up eating at JOi Cafe three times over the weekend. I was back on Saturday for lunch, where I ordered one the the specials, Jackfruit Fish Tacos. I usually don’t go for fishy flavored vegan food, but I’m so glad I gave these a try. They weren’t fishy at all, but still reminiscent of fish tacos. Now I need to figure out how to re-create them at home. (I did once make a Jackfruit “Tuna” salad, so that may be my starting point for my re-creation.)

And I almost forgot this! My Snickerdoodle cookie! Yes, I somehow managed to have just one.

I am now writing in my car, on the way home. Still on my phone. I tell you this because some of the rest of this story happened after I started this post early this morning. Which would sound weird if you didn’t know.

On Sunday, after I finished my delicious, full order of pancakes, I ordered a burger called the Southside to bring to Alan, who was still out at the race. By the time I got it to him, and he finished up working, the burger was cold, but still really, really good. This patty is made from black beans, lentils, kale, mushrooms, onions, and walnuts, and served with an applewood smoked slaw, onion jam, BBQ sauce, and served on a rosemary ciabatta bun.

One interesting bit of information I learned while browsing the JOi Cafe website, is that vegan ultra endurance athlete Rich Roll and his wife Julie, are partners in the restaurant. Rich has authored several books on plant based living including The Plantpower Way, which has whole-food, plant-based recipes and tips for the entire family. He is a great example of how it is possible to fuel a very active lifestyle on a vegan diet.

Finally, Saturday dinner was also at an old favorite, the Veggie Grill. This vegan fast food chain recently opened a new location in Thousand Oaks, which is a short drive from Agoura Hills. I had the grilled chicken sandwich while Alan went for the chicken tacos. Both were very good. The Veggie Grill always lives up to expectations, which is tasty, quick, and 100% vegan, of course.

For a working weekend we really had a good time. Well, my time may have been better, since Alan was working and I was eating. And I had time to get a 90 minute deep tissue/hot stone massage at Muscle Heights in Westlake Village. (Thanks Deborah, great suggestion.) One of the best massages I’ve ever had, and I’ve had quite a few over the years. If you go, ask for Tim. He has the touch.

It was raining as we were leaving Malibu, and a good portion of the drive home too. Fortunately for most of the runners, the rain held off until they were done with the race. And the above, taken when we were leaving and Alan had to get something out of the back of the car, is the only beach picture I managed to take this weekend! I did get a lot of good food pictures though.

How was your weekend? Any races, delicious food, or travel? I’d love to hear about it!

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