On Mother’s Day we tried OOAK, the new Asian Vegetarian restaurant in Culver City. We had pumpkin soup and shaking beef (actually mushrooms). The Cantonese food and the service were excellent. I asked for the meaning of the word OOAK. It’s an Internet acronym for “One Of A Kind.”
OOAK, Culver City
This made me reflect on the advantages of a vegetarian diet, that has been popular in the West since the counterculture 60s. That means eliminating any meat (beef, lamb, pork, veal, chicken) or fish from your food intake, eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and nuts. When fish and seafood are allowed, that is a pescetarian diet; when eggs and dairy products are included, that is called ovo-lacto vegetarian. No animals are killed when eggs and milk are produced, however, fish are killed for us to eat them, and, as a friend of mine says: “I don’t eat anything that had eyes.” The Macrobiotic diet, inspired by Zen Buddhism, allows fish.
OOAK, Culver City
A vegetarian diet is sometimes chosen for ethical reasons, “do not kill living beings,” even though arguably plants are living as well; but it is also beneficial to your health, reducing animal fat, proven to cause cancer, high-blood pressure, and other diseases.
During the past few years a vegan diet has been promoted as even healthier; that means no animal products at all, no eggs, no cheese, no milk, no yogurt. But often, in order to simulate the taste of meat and cheese, soy products and other substitutes are used.
Even more extreme is a diet of raw food. In addition to no meat or animal products, there’s no cooking, as the heat removes some enzymes from vegetables.
MAKE OUT, Culver City
For me eating meals of fresh fruit, salads and steamed vegetables, cooked lentils and beans, feels healthy, but it’s not a religion. I believe in what novelist Barbara Kingsolver says in her 2007 non-fiction book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, that eating grass-fed beef and organic chicken is okay, and environmentally responsible. Reading that book was eye-opening, and it set me on a path of healthier eating. I love making blended vegan soups with a variety of cooked vegetables and spices. For more on this subject, you may read my article Souping for Health in Cultural Weekly.
MAKE OUT, Culver City
See below some Westside restaurants that offer vegan, vegetarian or raw food.
SAGE, Culver City
Among the fast food chains, I like VEGGIE GRILL, inexpensive and tasty. Recently I tried DAILY HARVEST, a vegan food delivery service of fruits smoothies, cooked vegetable soups and legumes. I really liked it.
SAGE, Culver City
Of course, you are able to make vegetarian food choices at most restaurants; just eat salads, vegetable dishes and legumes. Indian, Thai, Chinese cuisines have delicious vegetarian specialties. My favorites are Szechuan eggplant and Baingan bharta (mashed eggplant).
SAGE, Culver City
OOAK. Asian Vegetarian Cuisine
9540 Washington Blvd, Culver City
SAGE. Plant Based Bistro
4130 Sepulveda Blvd, Culver City
MAKE OUT. Raw food
9426 Washington Blvd, Culver City
VEGAN JOINT. Since 2006
10438 National Blvd, LA 90034
ANNAPURNA. South Indian vegetarian
10200 Venice Blvd, Culver City
INDIA SWEETS AND SPICES. Indian vegetarian, since 1986
9409 Venice Blvd, Culver City
REAL FOOD DAILY. Organic plant-based
414 N La Cienega Blvd. LA 90048
GRACIAS MADRE. Mexican Vegan
8905 Melrose Ave. West Hollywood
P.S. As of October 2018, OOAK is gone. In its place (same decor, same phone number) is Fifty One Chinese Kitchen, with a more varied menu, not strictly vegetarian.
MAKE OUT closed in 2023
Text and photos by Elisa Leonelli