We arrived Ventura around 1 pm. With a ton of time on our hands, Calum and I took off walking. I checked out Yelp and found a vegan friendly bakery a mile away, so we seized the day and went inside. It was a really cute little pink bakery with coffee and pastries. The owner/pastry chef was working and offered to start us some coffee when we walked in. It was super windy outside and I was cold, so I ordered a soy latte. Calum got a regular coffee, and I was SO excited to see they had agave nectar in a packet as a sweetener option. I'd never ever seen that before and wish desperately that those could be available at more places. They had vegan chocolate orange cupcakes, blueberry hand pies, tarts, and some non vegan stuff...we ordered a chocolate muffin to share. We sat at the single table by the window and had a nice little chat with the owner, Katheryn. She said they'd been open 6 months after earning a following from selling her pastries to coffee shops around town. I was glad to hear they're doing well, and a lot of their business comes from the sale of vegan and gluten free options. The muffin and latte was delicious, and I wish them the best of luck in business.
We continued walking another mile to the Ventura Pier, and found a place called Mary's Secret Garden, which was an all vegan, hippy, kind of raw, kind of spiritual little place. They had inspirational sayings painted all over the ceiling and earthy, canvassed photos on the walls. It was a very expensive place, but we were starving and decided to treat ourselves. Especially since we had walked so far and it had begun to rain. I ordered the Secret Burger "Mary's style" with a salad, while Calum had the curried vegetables. Mine was a bit too big to eat, but had a ton of yummy pickles and avocado on it, so I'm not complaining. Calum's had lots of squash and was delicious. I had a glass of organic Pinot Noir and Calum had an IPA from Oregon. We got a cupcake to save for after the show and it was gigantic. It was an $8 cupcake, so I'm glad it was so big. It was Black Forest with dark cherry filling. We devoured it after the show and it was amazing.
My phone died so I don't have a lot of photos, but I was excited to see my friends KD and Shay that night!!!!
I use that agave all the time. The cinnamon and vanilla flavors are awesome and the strawberry is really good too. You can buy them online straight from wholesome sweeteners in the packets.
ReplyDelete