Take a wild vegan adventure

Native Foods restaurant just debuted at the Camp in Costa Mesa, the

retail complex for outdoor enthusiasts.

Three other wildly successful locations are in Palm Springs, Palm

Desert and Westwood. It’s the first local vegan restaurant, serving

the purists of the vegetarian world who refuse to eat any

animal-derivative foods, even honey. Native Foods creates fun,

gourmet vegetarian cuisine.

“We have a lot of wild stuff,” co-owner and chef Tanya Petrovna

said.

Yet Petrovna eschews entrapment as a restaurant strictly for

vegetarians.

“Native Foods embraces carnivores,” Petrovna said. “We don’t want

to strictly cater to vegetarians. The trick is making food that’s

enticing for nonvegetarians. It’s an art, not to be thought of, oh

no, it’s them again.”

Petrovna knows there’s a big fear factor for nonvegetarians.

“We’re stepping out from familiar 1960s-style vegetarian foods.

It’s an uphill battle -- a lot of people still feel that vegetarian

foods aren’t satisfying. They think they won’t ever feel full.”

That’s why her delicious menu features a wide range of meat

substitutes that can even appeal to meat-lovers. Petrovna hasn’t

invented new foods -- tempeh and seitan have ancient origins -- yet

her skill lies in creating meatless, dairy-free dishes that also have

wonderful flavors and textures.

Tempeh is an Indonesian food staple made from soybean, grain and

rice; seitan is a wheat protein or gluten, produced in China and Near

East for more than 2000 years. Another incredible meat substitute is

soy protein made from defatted soy flour. Native Foods makes them

from scratch -- truly an artisan’s craft.

Its gourmet dishes are both nourishing and enjoyable.

“We all must eat three times a day, so we strive to make customers

excited to have a second bite,” Petrovna said.

Petrovna isn’t a dictator -- despite her beliefs she doesn’t

annoyingly proselytize, and she wasn’t always a vegetarian. She grew

up as a “foodie,” -- a passion inherited from her European immigrant

parents, whose lives centered around cooking and eating. Her cooking

skills came from her mother, who was nicknamed “Julia Child” and her

eclectic culinary tastes come from years of traveling throughout

Europe, as well as living in Asia. In college she was introduced to

nutrition, and became a vegan due to her concern for the environment,

health and her love of animals.

The menu features a long list of salads, handholds (sandwiches or

burgers), pizza, soups, “hot bowls,” “snacks ‘n apps” and sweet

treats. The extensive salad menu features 11 selections, including an

ensalada Azteca with freshly chopped tomato, cucumber, avocado,

resting atop quinoa and Romaine with a mango-lime vinaigrette,

garnished with pumpkin seeds and raisins ($8.50). Another wonderful

selection is a Jamaican jerk salad with jerked seitan on Jasmine rice

and Romaine with flamed banana salsa ($8.25).

The handhold selections come with Thai cole slaw or your choice of

black beans, brown or jasmine rice. Of the handhold selections, the

Philly pepper-steak sandwich gets rave reviews from nonvegetarians.

The seitan is sliced, seared, then peppered, with sauteed mushrooms,

caramelized onions, bell peppers and “Native Cheese” (a blend of Rain

Forest cashews and sunflower seeds) served on a French roll ($8.50).

A Portobello and sausage burger features grilled Portobello and

seitan sausage, pommodoro, caramelized onions, pesto and sweet

roasted garlic clove garnish. There’s also the best-selling Palms

Springs wrap ($7.50) and Malibu veggie burger ($7.50).

Hot bowls make hearty meals -- there are 12 selections ($9.75)

with cuisines from around the world represented, including a Kyoto

Bowl with brown rice noodles, steamed greens, tofu and sesame sauce.

Garnished with crispy burdock root, gomasio (sesame salts) and green

onion, a rockin’ Moroccan bowl features speared soy marinated in a

spicy ginger Moroccan marinade on grilled vegetables and quinoa

garnished with currants and toasted almonds. There’s also a Gandhi

with jasmine and brown rice, steamed vegetables, blackened tempeh

topped with cranberries and its wild curry sauce.

Desserts lack rich dairy products and refined sugars, but Native

Foods can create rich alternatives: organic apple cobbler sweetened

with maple syrup ($4.25); carrot cake with “dream cheese frosting”

($4); everyone’s favorite elephant chocolate cake ($4) and Sam’s

native cheesecake ($4.25). Organic coffees and teas come from L.A.’s

trendy Urth Cafe on Melrose. The Manhattan Mudd is famous -- a

wonderful dark roast served in a press pot ($3.25).

Native Foods has the world’s best kids menu, Petrovna said. It’s

certainly healthy -- organic peanut butter and jelly sandwiches ($3);

native nuggets, a version of chicken nuggets, are battered and

flash-fried tempeh, served with ranch, sweet and sour or barbecue

sauce ($3.50); noodles for poodles is organic whole-wheat penne pasta

garnished with broccoli spears and marinara ($3), and wheat balls

(seitan) can be added for $1.

Native Foods’ architecture is striking (the Camp is an

award-winning-designed center). The circular restaurant was designed

to look like a yurt -- an ancient shelter used by Central Asian

nomads. This Mongolian tee-pee is going through a revival --

high-tech versions are now trendy for second homes and even

restaurants. The center was originally a fire pit; Native Foods uses

it for counter seating and ordering space. An enormous 16-foot fan

slowly spins above the center of the yurt -- courtesy of

https://www.bigassfan.com. Outdoor tables are near the fire pit.

Petrovna’s culinary creations can also be found in her recently

released “The Native Foods Restaurant Cookbook” that’s available at

the restaurant. Soon to come are fun cooking classes taught by

Petrovna.

* BEST BITES runs every Friday. Greer Wylder can be reached at

[email protected]; at 330 W. Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627; or by

fax at (949) 646-4170.