I woke up Saturday feeling slightly nauseous. It was rather unpleasant. I actually felt a little sick when I went to bed Friday night, but I figured I’d just sleep it off…not the case. Upon waking, I was instantly queasy. [Note: I’m not pregnant]
I had no appetite whatsoever (and nothing sounded good to me at ALL) and I even felt a little full from the previous day. But at the same time, my stomach felt empty and hollow, like it needed something to cushion it from eating itself. Apparently it’s possible to be both full and empty at the same time (??). Such a dilemma. How do you find something to eat, and force it down, when nothing sounds good? Even the thought of tea made me ill. And the BRAT diet? I had zero interest in bananas, rice, or toast…and we didn’t have applesauce on hand.
So, I had water. And waited.
I won’t get too graphic here, but eventually I started to feel better. I don’t know what I ate that made me feel so crummy, but I was just glad it was resolved. Oh, the woes of IBS.
Since my still tender GI tract required some TLC, I had the most benign brunch I could come up with (that still sounded appetizing).
A vegan take on mac ‘n cheese…
With quinoa and Follow Your Heart’s vegan gourmet cheddar cheese alternative. The first time I tried this brand, it tasted great, but the lack of melting was an issue. Then someone suggested I try grating it instead.
So grate I did.
And melt it did! Cheesy success. Both my taste buds and tummy were okay with this meal. And after giving myself a few hours to tolerate it (and get used to the idea of food in general), I had another bowl.
And that’s pretty much all I ate until dinner. 🙁
Oh, and some of these. [cheaper than Whole Foods’ version, no crystallized sugar on the outside, same nutritional stats]
By dinner time I was feeling 90% and so Kyle and I decided to go out. He had a restaurant he wanted to take me to after discovering it the week prior.
The Misfit is just off the 3rd Street Promenade (on Santa Monica Blvd). The outside is understated, but when you walk in it’s so cool! The ceilings are sky-high with murals covering the walls. It almost feels like a library with the wooden beams and bookshelves, but then the mirrors and full bar remind you it’s a restaurant. If it weren’t so spacious it would have a very New York feel.
Hard to tell from my photos, but it’s definitely grandiose. We started with a bottle of Pinot Noir.
For the food we chose, this was such a great wine. It was really light and even though we didn’t intend to order such spicy dishes, they were definitely booming with fiery flavors. I’m definitely a fan of pairing Pinots with spicy seasonings. [For more wine pairing info see this post]
The menu is made up of small dishes that you can order and share. I could hardly narrow down my choices! Anything starred could be made vegan or vegetarian, and there were several gluten free options, too. And there weren’t just a few starred items – I literally wanted to taste half the menu. Any restaurant that has both fried chicken and vegan ice cream is a winner in my book!
To start, Kyle and I shared an order of “garden state” spicy chickpea wraps with organic lettuce and almonds.
My word. These were pretty spicy, but just enough to let me sip some wine to cleanse my palate, and then I wanted more. The combination of flavors was complex and exceptional. I want the recipe.
Next Kyle got the crudo of hamachi, blood orange, avocado, and serrano peppers. He got it last time and couldn’t stop raving about it. It’s practically the single reason he insisted I return with him.
While he had that, I had my way with the misfit dip plate of hummus, turkish muhammara, and santa monica farmers market raw vegetables. OH. MY. GOODNESS.
I can’t even put into words. I grilled the waitress for the recipe of the turkish muhammara, but all I found out was that it was a traditional dip made of walnuts and roasted red bell peppers. I googled it immediately upon returning home and am dead set on making it…if only I can find pomegranate molasses.
I am serious you guys, this sh!t is bananas. I was moaning like a fool with each and every bite. So spicy, so flavorful, sooooo good. The hummus was made with parsnips, so technically it wasn’t a hummus, but damn if I wasn’t digging in like a starvin’ marvin’.
I got an extra plate of veggies plus bread to dip away until they were both gone. To any future Misfit diners, you MUST order this.
Next I got the quinoa and cucumber salad. Flavor-wise there was a bit too much going on in this dish, but the pickled cucumbers definitely stood out the most. It wasn’t as good as the other things we ordered, but still yummy, and it was a nice change up for my taste buds after all the spicy dishes.
Kyle couldn’t resist ordering the baked mac & cheese with green chile and gluten-free brown rice pasta. He only ate half of it before boxing the rest up. It was ooey and gooey to the max. Almost too much. The ratio of noodles to cheese was a bit off, too.
Accordingly to him, while it was delicious, it was VERY rich and more like cheese soup with noodles. And that’s saying a lot because Kyle loves cheese.
Once the wine was done, we walked home and enjoyed our latest Netflix movie (Almost Famous) and chai tea.
I’ve bought pomegranate molasses at WF before! In the aisle near regular molasses!!
you’re my westside restaurant tour guide
Oh my goodness Elise, I just read your post and when I was scanning through the first paragraph or so I saw “pregnant” and gasped out load, totally shocked, lol! How funny is that? 🙂 Then I saw the NOT and was like, calm again 😛 Your restaurants in CA look absolutely incredible – to get that variety and ease of ordering as both a vegan AND a meat eater is amazing! We don’t really have that same variety here in England, although Brighton is an amazing city for vegan and veggie food, very hippie and non-mainstream. It is always lovely to see your restaurant posts, and drool over Californian food! Hope your tummy is completely cleared up now 🙂 xyx
PS: I bought Amy’s vegan (Daiya) macaroni and cheese from Wholefoods in London this weekend…with all this mac and cheese on your post I cant WAIT to get that out the freezer now! So excited to eat my first ever vegan cheesy pasta…woo hoo! 😛 xyx
hey you can get pomegranate molasses at a persian market i bet. or any ethnic market- i know we used it a lot at the place i used to work at- and we got it at the persian market!
that is a GOOD dip!
Ack, but nice rebound from feeling poorly!
That restaurant sounds AMAZING! I simply adore a place that welcomes both the omni and the vegan (I’m married to an omni) I’ll have to check it out this summer when I’m in L.A.!
What a beautiful and elegant meal! There’s a recipe in Ellie Krieger’s cookbook for a roasted red pepper dip that requires pomegranate molasses too…must be some good stuff!
Wow! That place sounds incredible Elise! Oh how I wish I could try even ONE of the restaurants that you’ve reviewed on here! I seriously need to make a trip out to Santa Monica one day…ahh, one day!
And you know, the same thing was happening to me nearly all last week. My appetite was low and I just wasn’t craving anything. Luckily I had green monster smoothies for breakfast, but anything food wise just seemed unappealing. My appetite is back somewhat, but still not the same…so weird!
mmm my favorite kind of candied ginger! sorry your stomach felt bad, but it looks like your dinner was pretty awesome. muhammara sounds amazing! i love middle eastern dips.
I feel like every time I have a tummy ache (I also think I have IBS, but not sure), I have to put in a disclaimer that I’m not pregnant!
i LOVE mouhamara. i always order it at my favorite Armenian restaurant (slightly different than the turkish version, has walnuts and pomegranate i think). so delicious!
hope you feel better tomorrow!
Hope you feel better soon! (Wise to put the non-pregnancy comment in there)
I TOTALLY KNEW YOU WERE GONNA ORDER THE GARDEN STATE!!!!!
Looks totally delicious. I have extra fun with these posts as I try to picture where everything is now in Santa Monica. It’s crazy how much has changed, but I’ve been gone a lonnng time.
Ew, it sucks to randomly feel crappy 🙁 Same thing happened to me about a month ago and I lived off of white toast & ritz-style crackers (even though I usually eat neither) for about a week while my tummy recovered. 🙁
Beautiful dinner at the Misfit & awesome quinoa recipe. I love the idea of quinoa instead of macaroni for the “mac” & “cheese”. I’ve never tried FYH. Only Daiya so far (in the states & a few lovely UK brands) but I actually did not like Daiya. It tasted too processed/ chemically for me. Do you know if FYH is similar/ better?
Sorry to hear that your IBS was bad. Glad it got better as the day went on. Hope it’s completely better now. If it’s any consolation, mine was rubbish yesterday. No surprise really as I start my final rotation as a nursing student today! I’m hoping my IBS will be calmer today too.
Your evening meal out sounds amazing! And I can’t wait for that dip recipe! xxx
Almost famous is such a cool movie! I really like it, and with a bottle of wine it is even better:)
And those meals look divine!!
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Glad you’re feeling better!
This dining experience look SO amazing! 🙂
E, my cousin said she’s been trying to find pomegranate molasses for a while. We tried looking for it last Thanksgiving at this Armernian grocery store close to Echo Park, but didn’t find it. I believe she said the last time she purchased it was when she was living in SF still about a year ago. Will get more deets for you and then, you know I want to try some of that shizzz. Mmm…
Hearing about pomegranate molasses EVERYWHERE lately and not being able to find it killed me!… so I made some! Really all you do is reduce pomegranate juice, lemon juice, and some sugar down until its thick like molasses! It was super easy and yummy 🙂 google it for a buuuunch of recipes !
thank you!
its such a treat to find restaurants that do. i have come to appreciate the crossover even MORE now after being in paris. when are you in LA?
come visit!!! i hate weird appetite days. i hate when i have no appetite and i hate when i have an appetite that cant be sated. deviating from the norm makes me annoyed and uneasy.
ditto!
clearly you need to come visit 🙂
its def plastic-y. its not chemically, but its processed texturally, unless you melt it all the way.
hmmm…ok keep me in the know 🙂
well arent you clever! im going to definitely do this. i have POM on hand right now!!
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Should be there in August — brother’s wedding. Hope to stick around L.A. for a few days before going up to Portland for Vida Vegan Con!
im so tempted to go to vida vegancon…but i dont think i can swing it.
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