Clogtown: Trio Plant-Based - Good For Your Body and Soul Food

I was hanging out with friends in Venice a couple of years ago when they had friends in visiting from Minneapolis. I met Louis Hunter, who was going through a hard time back in Minnesota. His cousin was Philando Castile, who was murdered by police in front of his partner and child and it was all streamed live on Facebook Live. Hunter was involved in the protests that shut down a local freeway, falsely accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail at the cops (who were acquitted, of course), and was now facing his own charge with a potential of twenty years in prison. Heavy stuff. He had never seen the ocean, so we took him down to shoot pool at The Townhouse, and then out to the sand. It happened to be a rare night of the incredible phosphorescence that turns the waves neon blue in the dark. Incredible! I told Hunter that this was a fantastic omen for him - who gets to see phosphorescence the first time they see the ocean?! Well ... that turned out to be true, as Hunter is now the sole proprietor of the first black-owned 100% plant-based soul food restaurant in Minneapolis (and maybe the country), Trio Plant Based.

While I'm in Minneapolis helping out my Mom, it was high on my list to visit Hunter at Trio and hear his story. We met up last week on a rainy evening to catch up, and to try out his plant-based menu. I'll be honest ... I was less excited about the food than the chat, as I'm not afraid to eat real meat. My brother, Paul, was with me, and he leans pretty veg already, so Trio had already been on his list also. Being the only black-owned, plant-based soul food spot in town causes a great deal of interest, so Hunter was being interviewed by someone else on camera when we got there, so we took our time to peruse the menu and figure out what we wanted to try. Basically, all of it (there's another side to the menu too!).

Located on the busy intersection of Lake Street and Lyndale Avenue, Trio provides great people watching from its light, airy location, and the dining room decked out entirely by Hunter and his brother is a great place to just kick it. We were wise to come early before the dinner rush began, as it was nice to sit down and have the time to chat with Hunter. After our greetings and re-living of the charmed phosphorescence night, Hunter told us how hard it had been when facing those serious charges. He had lost his home, his landscaping job, his truck ... pretty much everything but his spirit. His community put together a house party and a documentary to raise funds for his legal fees, and his story touched a couple named Sarah and Dan Woodcock. They rallied on Hunter's behalf, reached out to different organizations like Black Lives Matter to get support. Hunter went to church one Sunday,  and his Pastor told him that God told him his charges would be dropped that week. And they were. Then it was time to figure out what he was going to do next.

Raised around soul food all of his life, Hunter had the idea for a soul-food food truck, and the Woodcocks wanted in on that if it was a vegan food truck. Hmmm. Hunter was intrigued, but insisted that it would have to have "Seasoning and flavor!" as that was what he felt was missing in any vegan food he had tried. He set out to figure out how to adapt his family's soul food recipes but with plant-based ingredients ("I just did my home thing here"), and soon they were doing pop-ups at (now closed) Breaking Bread Café. The soul food night's pre-sale sold out, there was a line around the block, and they had exactly zero food left at the end of the night. They did a Kickstarter that raised $65,000 in one month. They knew they were on to something.

The food truck dream was skipped over for a brick and mortar restaurant when an investor suggested that she would give them money for a real spot, because it was that good. We know, because Hunter ordered for us, and WOW. I had the cheeseburger and my brother had the soul food platter, and we were both like, WHOA. It was SO good, and immediately made me un-crinkle my nose to the whole idea of plant-based burgers. You miss nothing, and with all the health issues like diabetes and obesity, and all the climate issues like methane gas from beef cows (never mind burning down the Amazon for it), it really is just a better, smarter way to go (though I will always return to Matt's for my Jucy Lucy, sorry).

Paul's soul food platter of all the greatest hits like ribs (jackfruit), mac and cheese, greens, yams, corn bread (with amazing maple butter) and Paul cleaned that plate. Hunter told us that he's had guests in from the deep South, telling us, "SOUTHERN people have come in and said it was smackin'!" And they were right. The ribs were a little weird texturally to me if I'm honest, but the flavor was there, and the yams were DELICIOUS. You can also get it all as a "Bowl for your Soul". And you should. "It's comfort food ... but healthy," as Hunter puts it.

September 30th is the one year anniversary of Trio Plant-Based, and Hunter is now the sole owner after parting ways with the Woodcocks as his partners. His daughter was our waitress, and you could feel the pride Hunter has in the fact that his restaurant gave his daughter her first paycheck. He stressed that Trio is plant-based, not vegan as there are people that that matters to, and not all is strictly vegan ... but it is all delicious.

There is now a Go Fund Me for Trio, as they want to continue to thrive, but also expand (LA NEEDS THIS!!!) and do things like add a little farm to the roof so they can grow their own produce. "There has been a tree of people who have helped me," explained Hunter as both fact and as the look of the place with all of its leaves theme. Local artists' work lines the walls, and the entire operation really is a fine example of community. "I want this to be a lovely community spot that you can come and have a plant-based meal, and leave feeling good about it." We talked about how diabetes affects the Black community (and everyone these days in America) and the changes that need to happen for that, and also how really good plant based food is - "as long as it's seasoned!"

What a powerful example of how faith and hard work can transform a life in such a short amount of time. Hunter went from really having almost nothing to owning a trend-setting, first of its kind restaurant that helps people live healthier in a matter of just a couple of years! Congratulations, my friend! It's exciting, and encouraging, and really speaks to the power of community and humanity. Please visit Trio Plant-Based for yourself and get what we're talking about - and tell Louis CJ sent you! Enjoy!


Trio Plant Based
610 West Lake Street
Minneapolis, MN 55408
#612-326-1326
Tuesday - Sunday 11-9/11-11 weekends
Facebook/Twitter/Instagram: TrioPlantBased

The Win-Dow - Excellent Cheap Eats In Venice!

There could not possibly be a more beautiful day than today in Venice, California. It's only Thursday (Little Friday!), but the holiday weekend seems to already be ON. The Boardwalk is packed. The Skatepark is packed. The bike path is packed. And the line at the new burger spot, The Win-Dow, on Rose Avenue was looong.

The Win-Dow is exactly that - a window to order, and a window to pick up, and you either take your food to go, or sit on little plastic chairs in the parking lot of the former Ranch Market and La Fiesta Brava space, which most everyone on this gorgeous day chose to do.

The new endeavor from Superba and Pitfire Pizza's Paul Hibler is open now, and the adjacent larger restaurant - American Beauty - is coming soon. I ran into Hibler in the parking lot as I was waiting for my lunch, and when I thanked him for providing a new place with actually affordable food in Venice (the burgers are $3.95!), he smiled and said, "I said I was going to do it, so I did." And we can all be glad.

The burgers are excellent. Basic cheeseburgers with super-soft buns, grilled with onions, so there's a slight White Castle vibe - in a good way. The fries are my favorite kind - thin, crisp, and hot. The lemonade is fresh, and the perfect way to wash down the food. There's a vegan burger and kale salad for the healthier options, and a fried chicken sandwich that is going to be my next conquest. I'm impressed.

The service was super friendly, as was the vibe in the parking lot, with friends and neighbors greeting each other as they enjoyed the sunshine. You wouldn't have been surprised if a dance party had broken out right there on the blacktop ... the day had that kind of feel. Stoked.

I carried on with my day, fully sated, and more than happy to report that The Win-Dow is awesome. I'll see you there again soon!

The Win-Dow
425 Rose Avenue
Venice
11 am - 7 pm Daily

A Full Moon Mandala

Yesterday was a complete delight here in Venice. I ran into all sorts of old friends all day long, and ran into beautiful surprises as well. It was all kind of magic, like when my old friend, Pete, called and said, "I'm at the basketball courts", and I just happened to be walking by the basketball courts at that very moment. I left them and headed down the Boardwalk toward Hinano's on a burger mission, but had a few moments to kill before my friend would arrive. I took the opportunity to stroll out on the Venice pier, and there on the sand below, two guys were creating a spectacular mandala on the beach.

The Virgo full moon would rise soon, and Andreas Hoenigschmid - known as "The Geobender" - and his assistant for the day, Vikram Vasan, were out there on the sand, just two dudes and their rakes, creating something of beauty, in a lovely reminder to appreciate the moment.

It was rather cosmic as I had just been talking to Gary Palmer about sacred geometry, and meditation, and numbers, and his chalk art that washes away, and here was a living example of that exact conversation, like an hour later. It felt special - especially as it was the day after I saw the green flash at sunset!

To make things even better, I went over to Hinano's after chatting with the guys a while (but not wanting to keep them from their work, as light was waning and the full moon was rising), sat down and ordered a freezing cold Red Stripe to enjoy while I reflected and waited for my friend. A few minutes later, Kelly Slater (only the all time greatest surfing champion in the world, for those who might not know) walks on by. The coolest.

I was telling everyone I could to get out there and look at this amazing art on the beach, and I think it made everyone's day. By the time we had our burgers and beers, and then some more friends and fun at Mercede's Grille, the mandala was already being washed away.

Hoenigschmid told me that he's out there every full and new moon, as nature creates a new low tide canvas twice a month. All are welcome to join, or simply behold the magic as it is being created in front of your eyes ... and then it all disappears. What a metaphor for living your life!

The moon was fully full on my way back, and there was a mystical, orangey corona crowning this Virgo in her glory. It was hard to look away. I hope you got to see it, and I hope you are able to find some magic of your own today. It's raining now, and one could feel low and bluesy, but I'm thinking about the surprises in life that make it awesome, and those thoughts sustain you until the sun shines again.

Happy Weekend, Friends. Make it a good one.

Hinano's - Celebrating Our Best, Last Dive Bar

Hinano Café is a Venice institution. A BELOVED institution, made even more so by the fact that it's just about the last good, old-fashioned dive bar that we have left here in town after the demise of the also much-loved Roosterfish (as long gone are The (old) Brig and The Red Garter). Since we all love it so much, it's time we know the whole story.

Back in the day, the Hinano's space was a place called Millie's Cafe. It was opened as Hinano Café (though everyone has always just called it Hinano's or as my friend Laura says, The Hinano) on December 23, 1961 by the original owner, Joe Larson (who recently passed away). He added a pool table in 1965, and locals and tourists alike have been shooting billiards in there ever since. Larson was an avid sailor, and once sailed a small boat all the way to Tahiti. Hinano is the big beer over there, and Larson brought both the name and the beer back to sell here. Larson owned this great, sawdust on the floor bar for 30 years until 1995, then moved to Oregon. A bartender who had worked there since 1965, Lee Glaser, took over for Larson, joining forces with two of the best customers, Andy Schelich and Mark Van Gessel (also a partner in Le Cellier up the street), to become the new co-owners.

Glaser passed away in 2011, but as current bartender Melissa Monroe told me, "She still lives here." Yes, there are some ghost stories, like when they had a memorial at Hinano's for her, the fan quit working and started smoking. A film company had a photo of a neon sign on the wall inside Hinano's that was never there. That kind of thing. Good for her. When you find a place you love, you stick around.

It was important to both Schelich and Van Gessel that the divey charm of the joint remain intact. "We wanted to make sure it wasn't yuppified," says Schelich. "I'm not here to make a killing, I just love the place and want to keep it the way it is." And we love them for it. We also love them for the burgers they serve. The Hinano Burger is famous all over the world. For Venice folks, there really is no other competition. I can't really explain what's so good about it, it just is. They wanted to serve just basic bar food, and that's exactly what you get. A burger and a bag of chips. A couple other sandwiches, but you really want that burger.

About seven years ago, the owners realized that if they were open early anyway to accept deliveries, they should serve up some breakfast while they were at it. So, now you can get breakfast every day until noon, and their breakfast burrito has quickly grown as storied in stature as the burger. I had never really gotten there that early, until a chef friend told me that they had, in his high opinion, the very best breakfast burrito also. I finally had it, and can absolutely concur. You know why? They put hash browns INSIDE the burrito. Yep. I can wait while you get one and return...

Ok, hi again. It was awesome, right? Well, everyone - from suits, artists, film crews, construction crews, the Venice Police and Fire Deparments (who have always eaten for free and gave Hinano's an honorary fire helmet to display), the homeless, night nurses when they get off duty, surfers, tourists - agrees with you. I sat there one morning with Schelich as one by one, regulars filed in and greeted him like family. "We get all variety of people in here," he said. "It's very friendly, there's a great bunch of people here. They're always down to Earth, even when I was just a customer here, I always felt welcome - that, and I liked the ice cold beers."

The ice cold beers. I've never had a colder beer in my life, anywhere. You roll in straight from the beach just steps away, maybe even with seaweed still stuck in your hair (and this is the only place in town I really feel fine with doing that), and they hand you a bottle of beer (specifically, a Red Stripe), and it's so frosty cold you're almost nervous your tongue will stick to it (I'm from Minnesota. I'm familiar with this happening). Schelich said he once got a pitcher so cold it slid down the bar toward him, and he said, "I'm home". They also now have 16 beers on tap, with both local beers, and as Monroe told me, "We keep up with the Yuppies a little bit with their fancy beer." True, they do, but they wouldn't even really need to. Monroe and Mary Alice Crowe (the manager for over 20 years) are my favorites, and Monroe told me that Hinano's was the very first place she came when she arrived in California, thought it was the best place in town, got a job there, and hasn't left. Love at first sight. Totally understand.

Hinano's is really a family feel, and they'd like for customers to treat it like their living room. To feel comfortable, and to treat it like they would their own home. To that end, Hinano's hosts buffets for holidays, like a pot of chili on for Monday Night Football, or free black eyed peas for everyone on New Year's Day. There is always free popcorn. They hand out roses to Moms on Mother's Day. They host Halloween with spectacular costumes coming through. Every Fourth of July, Hinano's becomes a beach headquarters for the neighborhood, with regulars and visitors coming through all day on their way to and from the beach and fireworks in the Marina (Just know that it's so busy that day there are no substitutions on the burgers - it's just plain or the works.).

There is live music every weekend, usually featuring great local bands, but there was also that one St. Patrick's Day that Billy Idol came in and blew the tiny roof off the place (I wasn't there, but I heard.). It's just always a blast, and one of the few places that you feel fine going in by yourself, because you'll either always know someone, or you'll make new friends real easy over pool and that cold beer. Even just walking by, it feels fun inside, like you're probably missing out on something good. That's Hinano's.

While we sat there at the bar at about 11 a.m. talking, a longtime Venice friend of mine came in, Chris White. I asked him how he feels about Hinano's, and he said, "Well. I just got out of bed, and now I'm here." Yep. It's that kind of place. Then, as we were talking, a guy came in off the street absolutely beaming. He told Schelich that Hinano's had been his favorite spot like 30 years ago, and he was thrilled that the place was still open for business. He was practically bouncing as he said, "I'm so happy I want to play that Pharrell song, Happy!" I get it, dude.

When the happy patron left (with a spring in his step), Schelich told me that happens all of the time. "So many people come in that met their husband or wife here, they'll bring their grown kids and tell them this was their spot 40 years ago." I love that so much, and that is why we love Hinano's so much. In light of all the good old places getting priced out and chains moving in and all that, I voiced concern that we would just be crushed should we have to lose Hinano's. Schelich reassured me, saying, "We've been around so long, we have a great landlord, and we're not going anywhere!" I'm not sure if it was the waves or just massive sighs of relief that I heard then, but we're all good. And so is Hinano's.

See you there! Soon.

Hinano Café
15 West Washington Blvd.
Venice
310-822-3902
hinanocafevenice.com