Tag Archives: dog-friendly

Pressed Juicery: Juiced to ImPRESS

4 Aug

It’s not news that I love juicing. Blue Print Cleanse has always been my cleanse of choice on the east coast. But in LA, it was hard to swallow (pun intended) the hefty delivery fees, or the limited pick-up days at Exhale. So, my search began for a local LA juice company to test out. And boy, did I find it.

Pressed Juicery is a tiny, hole in the wall, in Brentwood. Literally, it’s a closet with a cute barn door. There’s just enough room for a cash register, a person, two stand up coolers filled with juice, and a wall of supplements/elixirs. It’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. Ok, the guy on the phone kind of ruins the rusticness of it, but you get the idea. Good things do come in small packages. And I love any place where I can bring my dog, and eat.

Pressed Juicery, Brentwood

True to their promise “designed for your everyday life”, their menu offers flexibility unlike any juice program I’ve tried. Want your juice delivered? They can do that. Prefer to pick-it up in Brentwood? You can do that too. Not ready for a full-on cleanse? No problem. You can buy juices individually so you can test out as many as you like.

Pressed boasts 17 signature juices like Almond Milk (my fave), Blueberry Coconut Pear, Greens, and Roots. They usually have specials like Watermelon Mint which is TO DIE FOR. Sampling is ideal, particularly if you’re new to juicing. It’s an easy way to test out the juices without committing to a full-on cleanse. All juices are $6.50 for sixteen ounces, except almond milk ($8.00), aloe vera ($3.00) and carrot ($5.00).

If you’re looking to cleanse, you can choose which level you want (Cleanse 1 for less experienced, Cleanse 2 is most popular, Cleanse 3 for experienced/hardcore). And within each level, you have options: Greens 1 (no apple & lemon) or Greens 2 (with apple & lemon), Roots 1 (with beet) or Roots 2 (no beet), and Detox 1 (lemon, cayenne, filtered water) or Detox 2 (pineapple, pear, ginger, mint). Each cleanse ends with Almond Milk, those familiar with Blue Print and other cleanses know how the nut milks are known for being the dessert they look forward to all day.

PJ’s (we’re friends now, I can call them that) juices are pressed daily at an offsite facility in Beverly Hills. They use premium, organic ingredients, which is evident in each juice.  I was taken aback by the creaminess of their Almond Milk and the Carrot Coconut. I swear I was drinking a dairy product. And look at the color of this juice! It’s startling how bright and orange it is.

Carrot Coconut Juice

The Watermelon Mint is divine. It tastes like you’re sucking juice out of a perfectly ripe watermelon. The mint balances out the sweetness so it’s refreshing and light. I threw this back in about 10 seconds.

Watermelon Mint Juice

Their Almond Milk is one of the best nut milks I’ve ever tasted. It’s creamy, sweet, rich, dotted with vanilla bean specks, and literally tastes like melted ice cream.

Almond Milk: almonds, dates, vanilla bean, sea salt, filtered water

If I had children, Pressed Juicery would be my go-to place for juice. If you’re going to have juice, you might as well have the purest ingredients, and reap the maximum nutritional benefits, right? So many packaged juices are full of chemicals, additives, artificial x-y- and z, added sugar, it’s horrifying. Plus, these taste amazing and won’t fool those young palates into thinking cherries are supposed to be fire engine red, dye your tongue, and taste like sugar.

PressedJuicery.com is loaded with information about what to do before, during, and after the cleanse, and general F&Qs about cleansing. Like this one:

What is the difference between a “hydraulic press” and a regular juicer? At Pressed, all of our juices are produced on the highest quality juice press that exists. As opposed to a normal “centrifugal” juicer which takes a whole fruit or vegetable and squeezes out the juice, a hydraulic press actually grinds the entire thing into a fine pulp, after which it applies thousands of pounds of pressure to this pulp, extracting every ounce of juice that the fruit or vegetable can possibly yield. The results are smooth-tasting juices that contain the maximum amount of nutrition contained in each item. The gentle pressing action allows for little to no air to be introduced into the juice, and because of this each bottle can be kept in sealed, refrigerated containers for up to 3 days with little loss of taste, nutrients, or color.

Wish I could buy a hydraulic press but for now, my Breville Elite will have to do.

After sampling practically every juice they make, I’ve embarked on a 3-day cleanse. More on that when I finish it.

Don’t miss this amazing hidden gem. You can order online (they now deliver nationwide), pick-up in Brentwood, or swing by their mobile truck in Malibu. I’m dying to check out their truck because I heard they do remixes like combining Detox 2 + coconut + almond. Um, YUM. I’m imPRESSED.

Pressed Juicery

310-477-7171

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Eating, Hiking, Celebrity Sighting

7 Jun

I’d barely been in LA for 24 hours and already had a Native Foods Cafe Scorpion Burger on Sunday, and Veggie Grill Bali Bliss over Kale yesterday. Oh and I had to swing by Earth Bar at Equinox Westwood for a green detox smoothie yesterday morning! I’m 3 for 3.

Green Detox #1 Smoothie

Simon got to meet up with his girlfriend Lilly yesterday and nearly peed himself from excitement. Lilly’s Mom (a.k.a. RealityShowChick), Dad, and I got to catch up while the kids frolicked. If you love reality TV or just like to laugh, you have to check out her site – hysterical. Her stories as a Reality Show Casting Director will make you split (or s*it) your pants.   We went for a stroll through Larchmont and stopped at Peet’s coffee for a reboot. I was so surprised they had vegan cookies! Recharged from some seriously caffeinated espresso, we decided to go for a hike at Runyon. Of course, I wasn’t dressed for the occasion, sporting a sundress and flip-flops. (Thanks RSC for the loaner duds). I did manage to hike in flip-flops and not break my neck. As we started our leisurely hike, I spotted this guy with no shirt on and black shorts. I didn’t even notice his face because I was gawking at his chest – and not in a good way. One word, Ma-Tas. They were little and his chest was tan but they still stood out. Perhaps because he was running downhill? I digress…So, as he passes, my friends turn around all giddy and are like “OMG, Sebastian Bach!!!” Yes, of course it was. And I thought, oh yea that’s right, “I Remember You”.

Me & Simon, Sarah & Lilly at Runyon

And that’s the fun in day one! I basically hit all my fave places (and people) in the first 24 hours. Not bad. OH, and I forgot to mention my other stellar celeb sighting at the MTV Movie Awards. Ron Jeremy. I mean come on, really? I hope I didn’t catch anything airborne. Bleck.

Vegan in LA: Naturewell smoothies & Bar Hayama Sushi

17 Jan

Day 15 – I’m at the halfway mark!!

Today I’m celebrating a mini-milestone. I’m halfway through my 30-day vegan challenge and can honestly say, I am proud. Thank you friends for all the support! Who knows this could become semi-permanent. OK, onto the good stuff…

I want to share a couple experiences so far in LA. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m obsessed with the Kale Coconut Smoothie at Naturewell (see my 1/10 post here). So it was the first stop on my hit list. I’ve already been there twice in two days and it’s just as good as I remembered. My husband who is not a huge green smoothie fan, even loves it. A guy who works there previously recommended the Orange, Ginger, Carrot juice (which isn’t on the menu). It’s fab and when I make it at home I find I don’t need a coffee because the ginger really wakes me up.

The menu below shows their unique assortment of both juices and smoothies. These don’t come cheap… we are pigs and supersize our smoothies so they’re a whopping $7 a pop but sooooo worth it.

And here she is… introducing the lovely, bright green, sweet and fresh, Kale Coconut smoothie I’ve been bragging about. Blog readers, meet Kale Coconut. Kale Coconut, meet blog readers.

It actually is sweet and you get more coconut/banana flavor than anything else, but the kale adds an herby/woodsiness that makes it taste so refreshing. Even if you think you’ll hate it, I’d encourage you to try it, you’d be surprised how delicious it is. You can definitely make this at home with kale, coconut water, young coconut meat, cinnamon, banana and agave nectar. I haven’t gone to the trouble of digging out young coconut meat from the shell yet, but I may have to because I can’t wait until my next LA trip to have this smoothie again.

We also took Simon (our pup) on a two-hour hike up Griffith. I always feel healthier in LA. Fresh air and sunshine makes Chelsea a happy girl.

Simon was exhausted post-hike and napped all afternoon.

Next up…dinner.

I had a sad revelation this weekend. I can add sushi to the “things I miss list”.  We usually hit Matsuhisa every trip to LA but to spend that kind of money on veggie rolls seemed like a waste. Besides, I dream about their baked crab hand roll and I couldn’t torture myself by going and not getting it. The W Hotel concierge recommended Bar Hayama. They have a huge outdoor fire pit and tons of outdoor heating lamps (not that it’s really necessary when it’s 60 degrees out, wussies).

The food was fine, nothing outstanding, but it satisfied my sushi craving. We worked up quite an appetite from the hike. I had sake, edamame, vegetable dumplings (server confirmed they were vegan), cucumber roll, vegetable roll, and natto hand cut roll. This was my first dinner out in LA so it was a nice way to slowly dip the toes into dining out as a vegan.

I would have more pics but I was starvin-marvin and didn’t realize I hadn’t taken any until it was too late (sorry). This was the only pic I managed… the veggie roll and cucumber roll. Clearly, I need to upgrade to the iPhone 4 with a flash.

The server at Bar Hayama was very sweet and didn’t roll her eyes or snarf when I told her I was vegan which I really appreciated. That’s it for now, more LA updates to follow!

Naturewell

3824 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026
Neighborhood: Silver Lake

(323) 664-5894

 

Bar Hayama
1803 Sawtelle Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025
Neighborhood: West Los Angeles

(310) 235-2000

Matsuhisa
129 N La Cienega Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
Neighborhood: Beverly Hills

(310) 659-9639