Madeleine Bistro

i was shocked when this restaurant closed, but even more shocked to discover today, that in 2014 one of the owners, Molly, had passed away. my wife and i spoke with her on only a few occasions, but it was great conversation when we did. i remember one valentines day when a server decided not to show up for work, and subsequently their whole night of reservations fell behind, she was a whirlwind trying to make it work. we had been waiting, standing in the doorway, for nearly an hour past our reservation, and finally decided that we were going to leave. she saw us as we stepped outside, and ran after us with menus in hand, and stopped us. her passion was there, convincing us to come back inside. then she somehow made our dinner happen. she cared about us having a nice dinner, and about her business, that it was in no way beneath her to chase us down. i admire that. she could have just let us go and saved herself the trouble, but she didn’t. she cared. ill always remember that moment of caring. both before and after this night, madeline bistro was the restaurant that i would always refer people to whenever they asked about what my favorite vegan restaurant was. it was a beautiful place with a charming atmosphere and in large part because of Molly. may she rest in peace.

Unbelievably yummy food! Pricy but worth it :)

This will be succinct.
The food deserves 5 stars and the assorted accolades within, but the astounding lack of business acumen and indifferent customer service tangibly depresses the overall rating.

Don’t run a restaurant if you’re not going to:
A — ever be open.
B — not tell people you are not open on your voicemail on holidays when most places are.
I won’t be supporting this place. A shame as the food sounded good.

I just called after placing an order online and the phoe number listed 818−758−6971 says is disconnected.
Don’t like that there isn’t a working business telephone line.

Ah, Madeline Bistro — how I’ve missed you so. My history with this restaurant dates back to the year of 2005 when I attended PETA’s 25^th Anniversary Gala in Los Angeles. This swanky gala featured vegan cuisine from the top vegan restaurants in the country. This is where I first discovered Madeline Bistro. At the gala, Madeline Bistro served this amazing cheese plate that consisted of their nut-​based cheeses — this was before nut cheese was commercially available. It blew me away and I dined at their bistro that same week.
Fast forward to 2012 and Madeline Bistro isn’t doing that well. At the time that I wrote this, they were only open on the weekends and had even come close to closing at one point. How could this be? From what I could remember Madeline Bistro’s cuisine was on par with Millennium and Candle 79. But, then again, I didn’t eat upscale very often back in 2005 so I thought it would be interesting to see what I thought of their cuisine now.
First of all, Madeline Bistro is north of Los Angeles and I hear that their location is one of the reasons that they aren’t doing so well. I’m not familiar enough with LA to describe it, but the city in which they are located is actually called «Tarzana» and it feels way out of the way. It took me 2 hours to get there from Anaheim because of the traffic and once I arrived, I drove past it a couple times as I don’t think there is a visible sign from the street. I’m glad I had reservations because it was pretty busy when I finally arrived. I was seated towards the windows in their small dining room.
I ordered the 4-​course tasting menu for $ 40. $ 40? The price made me worry that this was not the Madeline I remember. It seemed way too low for a 4-​course meal at a fine restaurant. Well, I guess the truth is that it really isn’t a fine restaurant any more. The feel in there was totally different than the first time I went. In 2005, the restaurant was dark and romantic and the service was superb. Now, the lighting is uncomfortably bright and the patrons wear shorts and jeans. That’s not to mention that there was only one server for all 10 tables. Hmmm… what happened here? And they don’t even have a liquor license. I had to bring my own bottle of wine. The good thing is that there is no corkage fee, but the bad thing is that my server didn’t even pour my wine for me. She opened the bottle and placed it on the table. Very disappointing.
Anyway, let’s get to the meal — I started with a red beet tartare. The freshly grated cold beets were molded atop a warm breaded tofu cheese croûton making for a superb combination and a beautiful presentation. The tartare was paired with raw cucumber slices and served with a balsamic glacé. I ate this up as if it were my last meal.
The next course was a hearty savory French onion soup with housemade cashew cheese shreds and croutons. This is about as close to a real French onion soup as it gets. The cheese was as amazing as I’d remembered.
The wait for my entrée was very long, but, in the end, it was worth the wait. The freshly made gnocchi was served in a rich shallot cream sauce with sauteed black kale, sundried tomatoes, and kalamata olives. The sauce was delightfully rich and creamy which paired well with the soft, fresh gnocchi while the vegetables and olives brought great flavor to the dish. This chef has mastered the art of making substitutions as good as, if not better, than the real thing.
Then, finally, I experienced chocolate ecstasy. For dessert, I was served a chocolate soufflé that was perfectly baked on the outside with a warm, liquid chocolate center. It was served with an almond-​based ice cream. It was absolutely perfect.
When I left, I felt confused — elated about the cuisine yet disappointed about the service. It was the same cuisine that I remembered without the ambiance and service that make a fine restaurant. If this cuisine was served in a fine restaurant in DC or SF, I would have paid $ 80 for the meal. But, given that the service wasn’t great, they don’t serve alcohol, and the ambiance left much to be desired, I can see why the price is pretty cheap. It is really a shame because I could rate this cuisine as some of the best vegan cuisine in the country, but when it comes to overall restaurant ratings, it probably wouldn’t make my top 10. Oh, Madeline, I only hope you survive and improve on these dimensions. I really hope to visit you again soon.

Beet tartar is great!
For a vegan restaurant this place was pretty cool. Great menu selection.

I’ve been here 3 times total. The first two visits were when they were open full-​time and those experiences were some of the best dining moments of my life.
On my last visit for the weekend brunch, the food was still tasty, but everything was served lukewarm (including the coffee) and the service was painfully slow. I’m wondering why the tepid temperature of the food… is it all premade and then quickly re-​heated or sitting in a low-​temp oven? It was strange. I didn’t want to send anything back for fear of waiting even longer. Even the «fresh-​squeezed» OJ didn’t taste fresh squeezed.
Anyway, the Filet of Fish Sandwich was still tasty, as was the Beet Tartare and Tofu Benedict. However, the French Toast was saddled with wayyyy too much apple sauce and the Mac N’ Cheese was bland.
Maybe it’s a tough transition to just doing brunch… but I certainly hope that they work out these bugs, get the temperature of the food right and hire better servers.
Very creative cuisine!

This place is insane. Seriously, some of the best vegan meals of my life were at Madeleine.
We get the Red Beet Tartare every time. The warm tofu «goat cheese» croûton on the bottom is the best thing. I’m trying to figure out how to duplicate it at home so it can be in my life all the time. Oh, and Bonus: They said they could make me a Beet Tartare Birthday Cake, if I wanted (which I kinda do).
Every other dish we’ve ordered has been outstanding. There’s been so many, and can’t quite remember them all. There was this crazy-​awesome Thanksgiving dish last November that almost made me cry, it was so good. The desserts are pretty great too. We’ve never had anything we didn’t like. My husband wasn’t totally crazy about the tofu benedict, but he didn’t not like it.
They’re only open on the weekends for brunch and dinner, but they have these Bistro Boxes where you can get a week’s worth of gourmet vegan meals, and they feature cupcakes by Cara’s Cakes (a 14 year old girl who runs her own INCREDIBLE vegan bakery. I mean, geezus. She’s 14!). I haven’t tried the Box, because nobody has started growing money on trees yet. But someday…

We had reservations but were late being seated. Upon first glance the place was cute and quaint, but as time past, I realized what a disaster the place was. The staff was disorganized, the bar/​waiting was messy. If this is how they upkeep their front house, I really just want to know what is going on in the kitchen.
I was initially impressed by the menu offerings, as a vegan food lover I was excited about the new possibilities.
I ordered the portobello filet and put in my order for the chocolate soufflé early as I know these things take time to make. That way we would be able to have our desert course just in time.
My friends also ordered the mushroom bisque, macaroni and cheese, sliders and the fried chicken steak.
First bum out was that everyone’s order came out at different times, so instead of us eating together, we all ate at separate times. Awkwardly trying not to be rude, but no of us wanted to wait as we were starving since we had waited so long to be seated.
Second bum out was the service, again disorganized and they could barely get our orders right at the table.
Third bum out was the serving size for the price. I could have paid a fraction of the price at another vegan restaurant and gotten more bang for my buck at a place like shojin, their portobello steak is only 15.95 and there is way more involved than at Madeleines.
The biggest bum out was that they haven’t put in our orders for our chocolate souffles earlier and forgot. So then had to make them which took forever. So now we had to wait additional time for them — then they come out and they all fell flat. We announce this to our server and obviously she says she would have them whip up another five for us. So they whipped up another batch and bring them out, when we dig into them we realize that they are all UNCOOKED. UNCOOKED!
On top of that they ended up having the nerve to charge us for the 5 disgusting, inedible uncooked souffles and some additional items that we didn’t order on our check. I’m not asking for any discount, but there is no way i’ve ever been charged for inedible food before.
Not to mention half way through our dinner our waitress pulls up a chair and just engages us in a conversation that really was unnecessary and rudely interrupts our clearly engaging dinner conversation, not only is the conversation awkward and weird, but then she continues to talk and gab on about how we would be good investors for the new ice cream parlor they are opening. Not just a nice mention of it, but really 30 – 40 minutes gabbing on and on… hmmm ok?
Seriously worst experience ever. If one word sums up this dining experience it would be a big fat FAIL!

Wow what a wonderful, romantic, delicious evening!
We went on Saturday night at 6:30 and the place was packed!
I thought $ 40 for a 4-​course meal was a really good deal. They even have a no corkage fee for bringing in your wine (which we will for sure do next time)
Cauliflower soup was so creamy and satisfying. The portobello mushrooms on top tasted like delicious meaty bacon.
Beet Tartare was fantastic. I wouldn’t say it was much different from other beet salads I have had but the fact that they mimic the hot, crispy, creamy texture and flavor of goat cheese was superb.
Ceaser Salad was so good! You would never guess it was vegan and it is Huge!
BF got the sliders trio as his entrée. He loved the fish filet but I loved it even more and ate most of it! (he was only slightly mad) The mac burger was good, made with tempeh and the chicken sandwich was good too but the fish filet really stood out. I could eat 10 of those.
I got the Fried Chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy. Gravy was delicious and the rest of the meal tasted just like the meat version would. It was very good
Desserts were chocolate souflee and crème brûlée.
WOW! How the heck did they make the Crème Brulee taste like the real thing??? It was phenomenal!!!
Chocolate souflee was good but we were in a rush to catch a flight and asked that they rush out the desserts so the souflee wasnt completely set. It was our fault, not theirs at all and I really, really appreciate that they accommodated our time constraints because the restaurant was super busy that night and I could tell they were making us a priority.
I cannot wait to go back here. Our server was sooooo nice!

I’ve been debating whether or not to write a review of this place. It’s kind of my secret, hidden gem if you will, where i bring my friends and family, just to impress them!
It’s hard to sell the idea of really good «gourmet Vegan food». Seriously. To my meat eating friends, It is hard. So, I just bring people here and have the server explain Madeleine Bistro’s menu and it usually takes my guest several minutes to understand that the goat cheese is non-​dairy, the chicken and waffles dish does not really have chicken, the to-​die-​for whipped cream that I always order an extra side of is not made from real whipped cream. It’s mind boggling to some of them, but they are always pleasantly surprised at how amazing the food is.
The one dish I always order to share with my friends, and is an introductory taste of what Madeleine’s Bistro is all about, is the Red Beet Tartare. If any of you have had this treat, you know what I’m talking about!
Kudos to Chef Dave Anderson for being able to change people’s minds who have no faith in vegan food. I don’t really have any other restaurant that I take pride in introducing to my friends to. So, eat here. You will enjoy it! I promise!

Thought this place was closing! Glad to see that that’s not the case. It’s great that there’s a somewhat «nicer» vegan option in the area.
Perfect for special occasions, I took my wife here for her birthday last year, and we might have to do it again this year. The six-​course «Taste of Madeleine» tasting menu is well worth the price.

My husband surprised me the Saturday before Valentine’s with dinner reservations to Madeleine. I was so excited to finally get back here. He told me in the morning that we had reservations that evening. At that time I said, «I am getting the beet salad and the Bigger Mac.» He knew what he was going to get too. We talked about it all day. We live in West Hollywood so we don’t drive to Tarzana much for dinner since we have plenty of places right near us but for the bigger mac, it’s worth sitting in traffic.
When we arrived, we were surprised to find out they were offering a «special pre-​fixed» menu b/​c of Valentine’s even though it was Feb 12. We purposely do not go on VD b/​c of the «special menus.» Personally I think restaurants should call these ‘holiday’ menus «let’s charge you twice as much for our food b/​c it’s a hallmark holiday.» Obviously you can hear my frustrating building up as I write this review.
So back to the «special menu» It was approx $ 40 per person for 3 courses. Don’t get me wrong last time we went to Madeleine we spent a lot of money but we were able to order what we wanted to eat. And we don’t mind paying for good food but there was no bigger mac offered and the dish my husband wanted wasn’t offered either. We were so disappointed. But I figured I would ask since they do have the bigger mac on their Sunday brunch menu which was the next morning.
When the waitress arrived, I asked if it was possible to order a bigger mac and she kindly said «no, we are serving the special holiday menu» I even explained how we came to Madeleine just for the bigger mac, but she again apologized and said it wasn’t offered. Didn’t bother to ask the chef, just flat out said no. Further, she went on to inform us they only had Orange Juice on hand so no other juice drinks were being offered. Ok, so you have a special VD menu but didn’t stock up on juice for this oh-​so-​special holiday weekend!!!
In the meantime, we asked for water while we looked over the menu. At this point we were contemplating if we should just go next door to D“Amores for a slice and save our special date night for when they had the food we wanted or if we should dish out the money for a meal here.
When the water came it was warm and tasted horrible. I would bet it wasn’t filtered and came straight from the tap. I couldn’t even swallow it. By now I was completely irritated and wanted to leave. Yes they offered bottled water for $ 6 but I was already pissed that we drove all the way here, in traffic when we were in Malibu earlier and could have spent our $ 100 on dinner at Baldi’s, my all time favorite restaurant in LA!!! I was also baffled at how an expensive restaurant that is so health conscious doesn’t offered filtered water.
My husband insisted we at least try dinner since we were here. So we each ordered a 3 course pre-​fixed dinner. I was able to get my beet salad (which was still very good) and my husband’s Nicoise salad was tasty. And the meals were good, but not amazing especially considering we spent over $ 100 without any drinks except for one orange juice creamsicle thing.
I prob wont go back b/​c it’s not worth driving all the way there and it’s expensive for what you get. If I have a craving for a bigger mac type experience, I can drive 15 minutes to Culver City and get something at Native Foods Café for $ 15 a person. It may not be as fancy but it sure does taste good.
I am sorry to go from a 5* review to a 2* but this time Madeleine didn’t live up to my expectation. If only the waitress, had asked the kitchen to fix me a Bigger Mac.
Oh and side note, the table next to us also asked about the bigger mac. maybe it should have made the VD menu?

Finally, a vegan place that is also delicious! We started with the Beet Tartar, which actually somehow made beets (which are usually no good) taste like tuna tartar. Impressive!
Then I got their Big Mac, which tasted better than a McDonald’s Big Mac. How can you go wrong?
Well, they lost their liquor license (or forgot to renew or something) so they couldn’t serve wine. But you can bring bottles in from outside, and you’ll be covered.

This is one heavy hitter in the realm of all-​vegan grub. My apologies, I shouldn’t even call upscale cuisine such as this ‘grub’.
The food is exceptional. The menu can sound of comfort food all the way up to artisan. The Beet Tartare, I kid you not, is one of the most delicious vegan dishes I’ve tried to date. Anywhere. Believe me, I’ve had top level vegan dining from Chicago to San Francisco and most recently LA. The fresh juices, the desserts, everything served here has thought behind it and is often something I’ve never seen before. For instance I had a vegan version of German Schnitzel, never before have I seen it. Millennium in San Francisco does a mean roulade which is similar in profile but a true Schnitzel, this was a first.
A few dishes come off less impressive, but only because I’m comparing them to the rest of the menu. Their vegan mac and cheese for instance is very good, it’s just something many places have done before. Would I order it from Madeleine? Definitely, it’s good, but again if you’ve had very good vegan mac and cheese before you won’t be as impressed.
If you’re a fan of LA’s vegan scene but have grown tired of seeing the same thing over and over, give Madeleine Bistro a try. This is a whole different area of vegan dining and I have to say, I can’t wait to see what they cook up next.

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T H I R D E X P E R I E N C E & F I N A L R E V I E W
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Sunday, 10÷3÷2010 — I finally made it several days ago. My greeter and waitress was Norah, who was very attentive and whose recommendations were wonderful.
I chose to have a freshly made apple juice and the 4 course menu ($ 40):
— Fresh apple juice — Amazing! (not part of the fixed menu)
— Butternut squash soup — Forgettable; a little bland.
— Beet tartare — Famous, has a fabulous presentation, but I wasn’t in love with it. Then again, I’m not a beet fan. But I did like the crispy cheesy tofu patty with veggies texture. And indeed, if you ever have beets, this is the way to have them.
— Barley risotto — With chunks of butternut squash and barley instead of rice, and roasted portobello (bacon-​like) mushrooms on top, it was delicious.
— Chocolate soufflé with vanilla ice cream — The ice cream was a little too sweet, but the chocolate soufflé was warm and perfect.
This is definitely a great option for vegetarians and vegans, or for people like me who like alternating and eating healthy several times in a week; yet I *still* find the prices are exuberant considering the ambiance and décor. Two words: tile floors? And as much as Norah was a breath of fresh air compared to the other guy, I still think one shouldn’t jump through hoops to have a dining experience.

Red beet tartare lives up to the hype. It was delicious, and this is coming from someone who would not otherwise eat beets.
The classic ceasar salad is just that, classic. yum
The french onion soup was… interesting. As someone else noted, it did taste more like tomato soup. It was edible.

Wow, wow, wow!!!
No wonder Oprah Winfrey hired the chef from Madeleine Bistro as her personal chef during her vegan cleanse — and said the exact same thing!!! Chef David Anderson has created THE best upscale vegan & organic cuisine in the area, and should be very proud of it. Every dish was artistic, creative, beautiful, and best of all, absolutely delicious!!!
I brought my vegetarian & omnivore friends to taste test many of their dishes, and they all LOVED the food!!! Even omnivore friend who was very skeptical about vegan food (as she’s never tried it) confessed that she truly enjoyed the dishes.
You have to go ALL OUT for this one! You won’t regret it!!! Go for 3-​course (better yet, 6-​course!!!) taste menu with salad, entrée, and dessert, especially since the portion size for entrée is a little bit on the smaller side, yet very rich. We ordered 6 dishes + 2 salad/​soup + 3 desserts for five girls, and they were gone amazingly quickly.
This was true especially for desserts. YOU HAVE TO ORDER DESSERTS here. I don’t care if you’re full. JUST DO IT. All the girls declared they were full, but the three huge dessert dishes were literally gone in seconds. Chocolate Soufflé, Banana Foster Split, Strawberry Shortcake — they were OMG SO HEAVENLY, especially the chocolate soufflé. I need to get their recipes somehow! I could not believe they’re vegan… sooo rich without any of the nasty dairy stuff.
Back to entrees, we ordered the following:
— Mac & Cheese: Omnivore friends were amazed with its soy bacon’s texture & taste, and veggies felt almost guilty!
— Beet Tartare: BEAUTIFUL & DELICIOUS!!! A must-​get!!!
— Country Fried Chicken & Mashed Potatoes: Country style fried chicken was YUMMM!!!
— Grilled King Oyster Mushroom: On top of rice, this teriyaki-​flavored oyster mushroom won all of our hearts. OYSTER MUSHROOM FTW!!!
— Philet no phish: This veg fish burger was insanely tasty!
— Asian Tacos: Also delicious!
The bill was big but definitely worth it. This was my gift to my girls and I’m so happy everyone enjoyed them. We ordered a lot but we did overextend our bellies! (as the dishes are very rich…)
PERFECT for anniversaries or birthdays or special events.
NOTE — This place is a little bit easy to miss because the sign got very worn off. It’s right next to Optical place in bright yellow. Try to find street parking, and if they don’t have it use the valet next plaza. Also BE SURE TO MAKE A RESERVATION. This place is tiny and gets packed!!!

My boss raved about Madeleine’s so we stopped in one day when we were in the area. I have to say that I was very impressed by the food and ambiance at this fancypants mcgee vegan spot.
Like everyone says, the food is really solid all around. I have to say that the beet tartar was really as phenomenal as everyone says. It was one of my favorite veg dishes that I’ve ever had.
I had the Bigger Macque burger, which was pretty good, but not the best that I’ve ever had in a veggie burger. I’ve also had the Chicken Fried Seitan with mashed potatoes and veggies, which I think is fab and highly recommend if you ever go.
As a tip: If you want to get the soufflé, be sure to order it with your entrée because it takes about 15 minutes for them to make it!