WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA
JOi Café, located in the beautiful, aptly named city of Westlake Village—a suburb of Los Angeles with fewer than 10,000 residents, makes eating and living healthy easy.
The fully plant-based restaurant offers a nutritious twist on all the breakfast favorites, like the Superfood Pancakes—a trio of chia, flax, hemp seed, and banana pancakes, infused with fresh fruit, and drizzled with pure organic maple syrup; and the JOi Breakfast Burrito—potatoes, sausage, turmeric tofu scramble, grilled onions and peppers, spinach, shaved carrots, cilantro, and avocado pesto in a chia and flax tortilla wrap, served with fresh melon con chile y limón & salsa.
Coffee drinkers rejoice! JOi Cafe boasts a full java bar, serving only fair trade, 100% organic, locally roasted coffee. Bold espresso, pour over, drip, cold brew, creamy nitro, fancy latte or cappuccino—take your pick. And soon they’ll be adding affogato to the menu. 😋
For lunch I ordered the Fun Tuna Sandwich as a wrap rather than served on toasted white bread. I loved it! Made with garbanzo “tuna”, avocado, and shredded beats, it was the perfect combination of flavor and whole foods I had been craving.
The other burgers and sandwiches sound incredible too, like The Southsider—choice of house-made organic black bean patty or Hungry Planet patty topped with country slaw, caramelized onion jam, and spicy house BBQ sauce. Additional entrée options include Roasted Tomato Penne, Rad Thai, The JOi Enchiladas and seven different pizzas.
I totally missed this when I was there! The Hula Kale, one of five salad choices, is a tropical blend of kale, beet, shaved coconut, grilled pineapple, strawberries, macadamia nut, and hemp seed with a coconut miso dressing. Yum!
Side: Sautéed Veggies
Speaking of joy, a story that made VegNews headlines this week, describing New Jersey Senator Cory Booker’s support of animal advocacy group Encompass, made me particularly happy. Maybe I missed a memo previously because I was delightfully surprised to find that three of my female colleagues from Mercy For Animals are on Encompass’s advisory team!
Senator Booker, a longtime vegan and social-justice advocate, recorded a special message to Encompass, wishing them well in their mission to increase effectiveness in the animal protection movement by fostering greater racial diversity, equity, and inclusion while empowering advocates of color.
We know all great movements for social justice, for social change, have been successful because of their diversity. Whether it’s women’s rights or the civil rights movement, when they reflect the beauty and the diversity of America, they are so much stronger.
Hats off to Senator Booker, everyone at Encompass, and JOi Café for their dedication to making the world a kinder place for all. 💜
For more deliciously kind vegan food in Westlake Village, check out Veggie Grill!
