Restaurant Review:

By John Reger

Oct. 15, 2009 12 AM PT

October is Vegetarian Awareness Month, and because I couldn’t be more clueless about the lifestyle I decided to educate myself a bit.

A good place to immerse yourself in this dietary and life preference is Native Foods at the Camp.

We all have an ally in chef Tanya Petrovna. The founder and famous vegan chef has transformed the space at the Camp to be a comfortable, non-threatening place for carnivores like myself to eat.

Petrovna, who has five locations and plans two more in the fall, has a couple of books on vegan and vegetarian cooking. There is also information available at each table.

One of the events that Petrovna holds to help enlighten people is a cooking demonstration. Petrovna will have a theme for the 90-minute class that shows people how to cook the vegan way. Past demos include cookies and French cooking.

Along with our menu was a laminated sheet that read like a company newsletter. It had a Native Foods primer, giving a short bio, profiling one of the employees and giving suggestions about living a non-meat lifestyle. It is not done in a preachy way.

When I entered the roomy café, which has seats both inside and out, I was not ostracized for being an animal eater. The staff didn’t refer to me as “one of those people,” and I didn’t tell them that I had veal the night before. It was a nice bit of détente, and the woman at the counter actually offered to help us navigate the menu.

It is an impressive menu. There are eight salads, burgers, sandwiches and tacos, which are called handhelds, and eight earth bowls. There is also pizza and snacks.

One of the snacks we had was the awesome threesome. It is a mix of grilled flatbread, hummus and pomodoro. I really enjoyed the pomodoro, a nice mix of tomatoes, diced onions and garlic. It was soupy, though it reminded me more of a pico de gallo and was perfect for the flatbread.

The hummus was a nice complement as well. My only complaint was there was not enough bread, and we were left with extra hummus and pomodoro.

My guest went for a salad. She chose the ensalada azteca. It is a great mix of ingredients with a mango-lime vinaigrette dressing that reminded me of a chipotle and was outstanding. There was tomato, cucumber, onion, jicama, avocado, quinoa, romaine, currants and pumpkin seeds.

I tried one of the earth bowls. I was tempted to try one of the tempeh or veggie pattie burgers, but opted for the Gandhi bowl instead.

It was a combination of jasmine and brown rice with blackened tempeh, cranberries and zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, kale and diced red peppers. The wild curry sauce was brilliant as well.

The slice of mango threw me. I sat there and looked at it and couldn’t help but think “why was this in there?” Then I cut a piece of it and took a scoop of rice and instantly knew why Petrovna had added it.

I learned that she does nothing by accident. Her combination of ingredients and sauces and spices are truly special.

She converted me, if only for a day, to the lifestyle.

If vegan food can be this delicious, I may have to claim part-time vegetarian status.

Native Foods

Address: 2937 Bristol St., Costa Mesa

Phone: (714) 751-251

Website: www.nativefoods.com

Cuisine: Vegetarian

Specialty dish: one of the earth bowls

Alcohol served: none

Entrée price range: $7.50 to $15.95

Family friendly: yes, four item children’s menu