dineL.A. Restaurant Week Goes Green

There’s no better time than the New Year to try something new, revamp the diet, or dazzle the palate with something delicious. Taking place Jan. 17-31, dineL.A. Restaurant Week makes it easy to enjoy veg-friendly restaurants across the city with prix fixe lunch and dinner menus.

Whether you’re a devoted vegan or just looking to get a healthy start to the new decade, here are our favorite plant-based picks for dineL.A. Restaurant Week.

The often-spoofed but always beloved offerings from Café Gratitude are named as affirmative descriptors, where dishes like “Evolved” (a bibimbap bowl) or “Expansive” (a farmers’ market salad) or “Sharing” (the perfect word for nachos) leave everyone feeling satisfied.

The Arts District, Larchmont, and Venice locations are dineL.A. regulars, giving everyone a chance to taste their always 100% vegan creations for $20 at lunch and $29 for dinner. Best of all, Café Gratitude is offering dineL.A. exclusives: "Delectable" (delicata squash) to start, and "Dynamic" (samosa chaat), a dinner-only entree. You’ll be grateful!

This Santa Monica gem (1332 2nd St., Santa Monica 90401) caters to just about every kind of specialty diet, with appealing options for those with plant-based leanings. Made with organic produce guided by the “dirty dozen” list, their salads, bowls, entrees and wraps are perfect healthy go-to’s by the beach. Lunch for two for $35 (including tea, lemonade, glass of wine or local beer) sounds like a steal.

Toronto’s plant-based wonder, Fresh has moved to LA (8768 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles 90069), living up to its name and livening up the Sunset Strip with vibrant juices, shareables, salads, shakes, entrees and botanicals, rife with seasonal produce and seasonings sure to please the pickiest of palates.

For dineL.A. Fresh On Sunset will be offering a $35 Lunch Menu and $39 Dinner Menu, details are TBA.

Gracias Madre (8905 Melrose Ave, West Hollywood 90069) offers upscale dining with textured layers of Latin flavors made-to-be savored. Make your next lunch date in WeHo more pleasurable with the $25 dineL.A. Lunch Menu, which includes a choice of three starters (plus Watermelon Tiradito for $3) and one of three entrees like Beer-Battered Portobello Tacos.

The $39 Dinner Menu includes three drink options (Purista Margarita FTW) and a choice of dessert. Entree selections include Jackfruit "Carnitas" Tacos (cashew crema, pickled caggage, crispy onion, black beans) and the colorful Jamaica Flautas, made with hibiscus, carrot, salsa verde, nacho cheese, guacamole, parmesan and jicama. Que rico!

Most guests don’t notice that this new hotspot is all plant-based. We just keep coming back to Nic's On Beverly (8265 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles 90048) for the outstanding wood-fired Detroit-style pizzas, authentic potato pierogies, truffle tahini sliders and a very exciting table-side "Flaming Alaska."

Give Nic's a twirl during dineL.A. - they're offering a $25 Lunch Menu and $49 Dinner Menu, and soon you’ll be coming back for seconds and thirds.

Luxuriate in world-renowned Chef Matthew Kenney’s imaginative creations at Plant Food + Wine (1009 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice 90291). Highlights of the $25 Lunch Menu include Spirulina Blue with pear butter, Spaghetti Squash (young papaya, Thai basil, spicy cashew dressing) and Butter Mochi.

The four-course Dinner Menu for $49 serves up vegan fine dining at its best. Ashed Chevre with beet jelly, chrysanthemum-laden Squash Dumpling Soup, mushroom-stuffed Gnocchi, and gluten-free Coconut Cream Pie are among the many options available.

Sage Plant Based Bistro is the sister restaurant of Café Gratitude—literally (the owners are siblings). The Culver City, Echo Park, and Old Town Pasadena locations all offer so much to sample from their extensive menus, including the signature cauliflower buffalo "wings," burritos, bowls, and other comfort foods as well as house-brewed beers, kombuchas and natural cola.

For dineL.A., all three Sage locations will be offering a $25 Lunch Menu and $29 Dinner Menu, details TBA.

The Arts District location of Zinc Cafe & Market (580 Mateo St, Los Angeles 90013) offers indoor and outdoor seating in a hopping part of Downtown LA. The best veg bets for the four-course Dinner Menu ($29) include Sprouted Hummus & Pita as an appetizer, and Black Bean Chili or Zinc Salad for course two - ask about the Soup of the Day, many times it’s vegan. Opt for Mushroom Nut Loaf as the entrée, and Flourless Chocolate Cake or Almond Tea Cake for dessert. Be sure to check out the cookies at the counter on your way to sip craft cocktails at the adjacent Bar Mateo.