Vegan Fare Next Door To Eagle Rock

Recipe for a summer’s eve soiree:

• Start with one talented caterer with a passion for sustainability.
• Mix with a baker’s dozen of delicious entrees.
• Add a table of decadent desserts.
• Serve on an evening lit by stars and fairy lights (to taste).
• Garnish with a giant dragon.

The result? Va Va Va Vegan—a one-of-a-kind vegan tasting celebration that served as a launch party for Plant-Based Parties, a vegan catering company recently started by Jennie Cook, the owner of the Glassell Park-based catering company, Jennie Cooks Catering.

Cook was the hostess with the mostest at the July 23 launch party, where the invited guest—mostly avid devotees of Cook’s gourmet stylings—oohed and aahed over every vegan morsel.

Vegan Love at First Bite

Most guests at the Tasting Celebration, which sold out in a few days, knew that Cook’s vegan offerings would be healthy and delicious. Still, any doubters were converted by palate-pleasing fare designed to win over even committed carnivores.  One meat-loving, beet-hating guest raved about the bite-sized “burgers”—only to discover they were Beet Burger Sliders with Sprouts and Special Sauce.

Delish dishes and delectable desserts also included: 

• An addictive Onion Bhaji (spiced, Indian-style crispy onions) with Peach Chutney and Tomato Chutney.
• Old School Ratatouille that made Cook’s patio’ed, Eagle Rock-adjacent Shoppe (located on Fletcher Drive) feel like a Mediterranean courtyard.
• Compulsively snackable Polenta Bites.
• To-die-for desserts, including creamy Chocolate Mousse Push Pops, moist  German Chocolate Cake with Pecan Frosting, and a fresh-as-summer Fruit Cobbler.

Guests’ dishes were piled so high with food that Cook hurried from guest to guest, with larger plates to make sure every bite got eaten.

Sparky Does Pizza

A visual and epicurean highlight of the evening was Ray Cirino and Camille Cimino’s “Sparky” the Dragon Oven. The clean-burning oven looks like a Viking ship masthead and turned out glistening, roasted summer vegetables and pesto-brushed veggie pizzas with perfectly blistered crusts. Pizza dough and bread were contributed by the Secret Goldfish Baking Company and artisanal baker Mark Stambler respectively.

A Sustainable Life

Plant Based Parties aren’t just a sideline but part of Cook’s greater food advocacy. Cook admits she’ll probably “never give up chevre”—and that because she’s a chef she “has to taste everything,” even if it’s not vegan.

However, Cook, who converted her vintage diesel Mercedes wagon to run on veggie oil, also switched her family to a predominantly vegan diet when her son stopped getting sick after going off high-quality, organic, locally sourced milk, just like Cook’s catering products.

Additional “green” options from Jennie Cooks Catering include:

• An entire seasonal, organic, locally sourced menu.

• Sustainable Beverage Service (i.e. punches instead of pop) with reusable cups.

• Complete, reusable china service as well as compostable ware.

• Composting all food and paper scraps as part of the City of Los Angeles’ pilot compost program, which means a zero-waste event for clients with prior notification.

Food Advocate for These Troubled Times

When Cook, who was named “Best Caterer for These Troubled Times“ in the L.A. Weekly’s 2009 “Best of Los Angeles” awards, closed her popular Double Dutch Dinette in Culver City, she was able to broaden her efforts to promote sustainability and healthy eating. Cook’s food advocacy with kids includes:

• Working at 24^th Street Elementary School and helping students prepare a snack with bounty from the school’s two acre garden.
• Running the three-day Mystery Lunch Box Challenge in which high-schoolers learn to prepare meals using the recommended daily 5-7 servings of fruits and vegetables. A final judged challenge to present a “balanced plate” promotes “critical thinking, teamwork and culinary aptitude,” according to Cook.
• Advocating for healthier LAUSD meals, including more fruit, vegetables, and accessible water for students.

“Bottom line,” says the engaging and fervently engaged Cook, “my passion is getting us all to eat better.”