Vegan Life is a BREEZE at Hyatt Century Plaza
Tuesday, May 3, 2011 at 8:33PM 
When I received an invite to attend a special tasting of the new vegan items at the Century Plaza Hyatt's restaurant Breeze, I thought I would be in a room with a bunch of vegan bloggers from the SoCal area and the dishes would be at a buffet table or the like. I couldn't have been further off in my expectations. I was warmly welcomed to the Hyatt with free valet parking and ushered to a private dining room with only a handful of legitimate food writers, and I was the only long-term vegan (as well as the only male) in the room. There was a place setting with my name on it and the menu made my mouth water.
We learned that the concept of having completely veganized menu items came after the Humane Society hosted their annual gala at the hotel, in which they requested a fully vegan banquet menu. The Hyatt's executive chef Manfred Lassahn worked with Tal Ronnen to learn how to prepare vegan foods using the right ingredients, how to make nut cheeses, and how to prepare Gardein like real chicken.
The first appetizer dish brought to us by the room's personal waiter was the Beet Carpaccio. Finely sliced beet rounds were filled with edamame hummus and a layer of mango emulsion, topped with herb infused olive oil and micro greens. This dish was light, fresh, and bursting with flavor. The mango emulsion was a beautiful contrast in both flavor and texture to the edamame hummus and the beets were sliced nice and thin as to not be too crunchy. Perfect appetizer.
The second dish that was brought out was the Wild Field Greens salad which featured fresh market stand greens, dried cherries and blueberries, sunflower seeds and house made tofu-ricotta cheese, all drizzled with a warm blueberry vinaigrette.
Chef Manfred took the time to explain how he makes the tofu ricotta with really simple ingredients that give it awesome flavor and some super health benefits, since it's cultured with probiotics. He also said that the tofu cheese only has a shelf life of three days and so they really have to control their production of it.
The cheese exhibited a nice balance of herbs and cheese flavor, and it was light enough to go well on a variety of dishes. The greens and berries were as fresh as could be, coming from the local farmer's market where Chef Lassahn shops for as many of his ingredients for Breeze as possible. And the blueberry dressing? To die for.
The other salad we had the pleasure of tasting was the very unique Macadamia Caprese. Far from your average caprese, this one featured house made macadamia "goat cheese", semi-dried tomatoes, baby mizuna and green olive oil. Chef Lassahn once again explained how the cheese is made, also having a shelf life of only three days.
This cheese was about as real looking and tasting of any gourmet vegan cheeses I've ever seen or tried. Come to think of it, no gourmet cheeses I've had in my nine years of veganism have ever come close to this. You can taste the fermentation (in a good way), and the herbs rolled on the outside perimeter give it a delicate bouquet of flavors. The semi-dried tomatoes were an interesting touch that actually worked with the dish quite well.
The first main course that was brought to the table was the Red Beet Quinoa and Zucchini Noodle stack. I'm a giant fan of quinoa, but this dish was on a whole other level of quinoa taste explosion. In the quinoa stack were herbs, toasted almonds and golden raisins, and the zucchini noodles on top were coated with avocado basil pesto and aged balsamic. The yellow beet chips on the side were a nice crunchy contrast to the softer ingredients in the stack, and the dish was a total palate pleaser on all levels.
On to my favorite part, the Gardein dishes. You know that having worked with Tal Ronnen, Gardein's executive chef, Chef Lassahn was going to bring out the big guns on these dishes. The first faux chicken dish I tried was the Gardein "Chicken" Scaloppini, which showcased spiced flour dusted Gardein "chicken", garlic pea shoots, asparagus meyer lemon risotto and lemon caper "cream".
The chicken was perfectly cooked, mildly flavored and nicely floured, not too thick or too thin. The lemon caper cream was made from cashews, and Chef Lassahn proclaimed it easier to work with than dairy cream. The meyer lemon asaparagus risotto was amazing, creamy, fresh and filling all at the same time. A simply wonderful dish.
My favorite dish of the entire tasting, which I'm sure won't surprise you, was the Gardein "Chicken" platter. A hearty portion of Gardein "chicken breast" was paired with heirloom fingerling potatoes, green beans, baby arugula and cashew cream sauce.
This one was right up my alley, with a heavy dose of protein and some quality carbs, greens and veggies. I love purple potatoes, and the use of them in this dish shows that potatoes aren't being used as just a filler or random side dish, but rather a healthy part of the meal on their own. The slight spiciness of the arugula nicely contrasted the thick cashew cream, and once again the Gardein chicken was cooked to perfection.
As if all of the previous dishes weren't enough to have me driving home to Orange County delightfully satiated, the meal was capped off with the most decadent of desserts: VEGAN TIRAMISU. You might have read about vegan tiramisu in my review of Happy Family in Costa Mesa, but that was nothing compared to this freshly made piece of extravagance.
House made, egg-free lady fingers were combined with tofu marscapone, Kahlua and coffee to make a dessert that was nothing short of orgasmic. Chef Lassahn gave us the inside scoop on how all of the ingredients are made, showing that he is quite knowledgable about the kinds of ingredients that will turn a vegan away.
This thing was pure bliss in a cup, heaven on earth. The fact that they offered us soy lattes to accompany it was a very nice touch as well, I was on cloud nine. Maybe cloud ten. It should be noted that this is the only item that isn't on the menu, but it could be special ordered for banquets, and if the restaurant gets enough demand for the vegan food Chef Lassahn said he would add a vegan dessert to the regular menu.
Overall, I give the vegan items at Breeze my absolute highest recommendation, and I was happy to tell the staff that if I lived in L.A. this would be my go-to date night spot. Be aware that the food isn't cheap, but really good food in a great setting rarely is. Next time I need to stay in L.A., I will surely be making the Hyatt Century Plaza my home away from home.
My most sincere thanks to Erika at the Hyatt, Chef Lassahn, and Kat and Christina from Blaze PR for the invite and warm hospitality. I am truly grateful to have had the honor of being picked to be involved in this special event.
Click here to visit the Hyatt Century Plaza's website for Breeze.
Reader Comments (2)
I am absolutely blown away! That menu is so creative and my mouth watered the whole time. If there is a place in Melbourne that has anything similar, I haven't found it yet!
I am so impressed by the menu and the Hyatt's attention to detail with these amazing dishes. I hope that more restaurants follow suit. I know it takes time to create such spectacular dishes but I know Tal works hard to make sure the process is sustainable for restaurants to take on.
I will certainly search out Hyatt's to support in the future.