The Experience Magazine recently got a chance to try out the new vegan restaurant called eLOVate in Santa Monica. Officially, known as eLOVate Vegan Kitchen & Juicery, Chef Roberto Martin has created a culinary vegan hot spot in the center of Santa Monica. Located on Ocean avenue at the super luxe Waverly Condominium building.
eLOVate has created a buzz for having some of the best gourmet vegetarian food on the Westside. In addition to a full neighborhood bar offering vegan cocktails, eLOVate creates flights of gourmet juices. We started our dining experience with the Silk Road Mule. The bar at eLOVate makes organic handcrafted cocktails. The juices are top notch vegan. Our Silk Road Mule was blended with 100 % organic ingredients and a copper cup, eLOVate nails the balance of this beverage. The ingredients are pure and simple; Meyer lemon vodka, lemongrass, mango and ginger beer. Chef Roberto suggested this beverage.
To start our meal, we tried the Ancho Marinated Maitake Mushroom Skewers with simple slaw and chimichuri. The organic flavors blend together with just a touch of sauce. In addition to these starters, we had a little of the Organic Carrot Ginger Soup. The coconut cream in the soup gives it a flavor that is light and tasty but full of flavor. Perhaps the signature dish at eLOVate is the Jackfruit Tacos. The buzz around Los Angeles is that eLOVate has the best Jackfruit Tacos in town. Its easy to see why. Made with Guajillo jackfruit, this dish also has shredded cabbage, guacamole and mixed baby greens. The Jackfruit Tacos are full of roasted garlic. The seasoned kennebec fries are a nice touch.
The delightful part about eLOVate’s Jackfruit tacos are the textures that mimic a chicken taco. It’s easy to see why there is such a buzz around town. The main dish that we sampled was the Crabless Cakes. This is a patty made with simple slaw, fingerling potato and roasted red peppers. We finished this quickly. These vegan crab cakes are better than regular crab cakes.
Chef Roberto is very outgoing. He’s friendly and willing to spend time with guests and talk about his vegan, organic creations. Stop by to check out the menu at eLOVate and sample the seasonal menu. 1705 Ocean Ave Unit 111 Santa Monica, CA 90401 United States http://www.elovatekitchen.com
