Plant-Based With Love: Ȃu Lạc
Revisiting The Oldest Vegan Restaurant In Orange County, California
A Preface by :
The last grocery store I worked at was a local chain of organic health food stores based in Orange County, California. Founded in 1978 by a group of friends who met in a yoga class, the store was designed around a plant-based diet, natural products, and healthy living. It had been catering to the most health conscious and progressive eaters in the county for over 30 years by the time I showed up. And while the store itself was great, I hated cashiering.
But the best part of working at a grocery store—and, I assume most retail jobs—is your regulars. You can count on seeing their smiles every week, the humanity of your situational friendship a welcome reprieve from the scripted niceness and emotional labor governing most of the work day’s otherwise forgettable transactions. Some of my regulars had a profound impact on my life, and I continue to be grateful for many of them.
Chef Ito is one of those unforgettable regulars.
The head chef of Âu Lạc, the most successful and well-known local vegan restaurant in our area, Chef Ito showed up at the store multiple times a week to purchase fresh organic ingredients. You never missed him because he is one of those special humans that radiates joy and peace wherever he goes. Chef Ito treated everyone he encountered at the store with kindness, week after week, year after year. What made this even more remarkable is he doesn’t speak—he had taken a vow of silence several years before and did all his communicating through handwritten notes. As laborious and annoying as this may sound, it was always a privilege to see Ito’s smiling face holding up a quickly scrawled note. Besides, he rarely needed help finding anything.
What I appreciate and remember most about Chef Ito is his ability to turn the most mundane of work days into a healing experience. When he’d see me or anyone else having a particularly rough day, our usual smiles turned sour by an interaction with a grumpy customer, Ito always stopped to see if you’d be willing to hold out your wrists. If you did, he’d take the small bottle of essential oil he wore around his neck and place a few drops on your wrist. He’d then ask—or, rather, motion with his arms—for you to breathe in the healing aromas. He would pat you on the shoulder, look into your eyes for evidence of a shift and, recognizing you were now in a different state, he’d smile, and leave you feeling restored, cared for in the most human and selfless way. It was a small gesture but, for me, Ito embodied the principle of leaving everything (and everyone) better than you found it.
When your heart is heavy, there is profound gratitude for anyone caring and capable enough to restore some lightness.
It was my gratitude for these experiences that led me to try Chef Ito’s restaurant despite my resistance to and ignorance of vegan cuisine. I’ll leave the description of the food to Leah—the expert here—but suffice to say Chef Ito’s food changed how I viewed plant-based cuisine, and disabused me of my reductive beliefs about veganism. While I have continued to eat meat, I’ve also continued to recognize how flavorful, joyful, and healing vegan food can be and how markedly different I feel when I abstain from meat in favor of plant-based meals. The dishes I’ve had at Âu Lạc are what I aspire to prepare and cook for my family, the type of food I most I associate with a life well lived.
Chef Ito’s food is an ethos, a way of being. To consume it is to briefly inhabit an alternative and more intentional way of being the world. Chef Ito and Âu Lạc accomplish what truly special food prepared with love does: It leaves you transformed and forever grateful for the experience.
-Jacob
Many years ago, my husband (and co-writer) brought me to Âu Lạc for the first time to treat me to “some really good vegan food.” Now I’m from Southern California, so as you might guess, this wasn’t my first visit to a vegan restaurant. However historically, I had found the cuisine to range from beautiful, but flavorless hipster fuel to junk food replacements with dubious health benefits. Thus I was passive, but not excited, as one tends to be when their better half enthusiastically takes them somewhere they’re not interested in.
How good could this place even be? Turns out: Very.
Âu Lạc opened in Fountain Valley, California in 1997 and is now the oldest Vegan restaurant in Orange County with a second location in Los Angeles. After a serious health scare in the ‘90s, Chef and Owner Mai Nguyen opened Âu Lạc, her Vietnamese vegan restaurant, in an unassuming strip mall. She then partnered with Chef Ito in 2001 who brought his creativity and passion for raw and living foods which speaks louder than his voice (literally—he took a vow of silence decades ago). Together, Nguyen and Ito created what they’ve coined as “fine humanese cuisine,” or food that is meant to benefit all human beings. This is why half of Âu Lạc’s four-page menu is devoted to living food: Items prepared in a cool to warm environment that keeps the nutrients intact across every ingredient in a dish.
Âu Lạc does what many vegan restaurants fail to do: It comprises nothing. Not its beliefs nor its flavors. Every ingredient utilized is meticulously added for a unique taste, texture, and health benefit. There is no alcohol on the menu, although plenty of locally made Kombuchas and curated teas are available. Even the store hours being from 11:33-3:33 pm and 5:33-9:33 pm is inspired by the Buddhist, Confucian, and Taoist belief in the luckiness of the number 3. Too woo-woo for you? That's alright. You don't have to adopt the philosophy, but you will likely be a believer in the food.
We made our triumphant return to Âu Lạc on a May trip to Orange County. I was inspired by , who writes wonderful pieces about mindfulness here on Substack and has reminded me just how special vegan cuisine can be. It had been years since Jake and I last visited, but we walked through the door and it was as if time had stood still. The energy was still warm, decor identical, and all of our favorite dishes were still on the menu:
For appetizers, I highly recommend starting with the egg rolls and spring rolls. Âu Lạc’s egg rolls have a mythic status in our house, as Jake had hyped them up long before I ever ate one. They taste exactly like a traditional egg roll, but feature an extra crispy eggless wrapper and filling of steaming hot shredded taro, carrots, and little pops of peas. You wrap these bites in lettuce and mint leaves and then plunge a makeshift taco into a tasty dipping sauce. The addition of the cool outer wrap gives freshness and vibrancy to the crispy hot starter.
Fans of spring rolls (Gỏi Cuốn) will delight in six pieces of vermicelli noodles, lettuce, mint, green onion and a vegan shrimp substitute surrounded by a brown rice wrapper. You can dip these bites into a homemade peanut sauce that somehow tastes more like the title ingredient than usual. As a lover of both spring rolls and shrimp, I can attest that I didn’t miss real shrimp at all as the substitute seemed to be there for the texture. In fact, the standout flavor in this dish is the refreshing mint
If this cuisine feels too new or intimidating, chow fun (Áp Chảo Ướt) is a great choice for dinner. This is a straightforward noodle stir fry that originates from Hong Kong. Âu Lạc’s is made with medium sized flat rice noodles, tofu, and a medley of vegetables, including squash, onions, and carrots, all tossed in a velvety smooth brown shiitake sauce. What’s not to love about a hot plate of noodles reminiscent of any great Chinese takeout?
My favorite dish on the menu is the curried rice, a living food entreé. The central ingredient here is soaked, wild rice that never hits the heat, but through time and care becomes al dente and a perfect vessel for soaking up bold flavors. The curried rice is served as a cold layered cylinder with a base of creamy avocado and cucumber, then topped with a vibrant mix of wild rice and a melange of vegetables, doused in a bright yellow, curried macadamia sauce that is equal parts spicy, creamy and fresh. Not done yet, our next layer consists of marinated mushrooms for meatiness, crispy onions for texture, fresh juliennes of crunchy carrots, and whole bunches of cilantro on top. It is a refreshing, flavorful, textural delight. I devoured this dish like someone was trying to steal it away from me, which was unnecessary as the portion was very generous.
Then it was time for some living desserts! The Rainbow in the Sky is a chilled layered pie with colorful stripes of raspberry, blueberry, spirulina, and coconut filling sitting atop a no-bake crust. Those bright colors come directly from the raw ingredients. It was fruity, light, and sweet. A yummy vegan alternative to a classic end of meal treat.
And last, but not least was a plate of chocolate candies with little dots of raspberry and mango sauce that are served like jewels. Chef Nguyen brought the dish to our table herself and shared with us that the truffles are created with cacao imported from France and the sweetness derives from coconut nectar. I love these homemade chocolate candies. As someone who has made my fair share of mediocre “healthy” desserts (*cough cough* cacao chia seed pudding), I’m always amazed by the chocolatey richness and smooth texture of these bites.
The Âu Lạc experience is as layered as the food. The dining room manages to proudly tout deep red walls, black booths, and sparkly tables, a combination that would be gaudy in most environments, but feels charming and down to earth here. Perhaps it is because the aesthetic is paired with gracious service and a mural that greets you upon entry with the words Welcome Friends. And how many chef-owners still touch every table on a Friday night after 27 years of service? The team behind Âu Lạc embody the “humanese” experience and their regulars embrace it. It’s why you can consistently overhear guests describing the menu and giving recommendations passionately throughout the dining room.
Âu Lạc brings out the best in plant-based cuisine. All of the food feels like a real treat—vegan or not. In fact, I don’t think Âu Lạc even needs that qualifier. It is just delicious food made with love. You notice the intention and thoughtfulness of every bite, but taste the bold flavor of each ingredient. This is food created to heal you—your body, your spirit, or a little of each. And I always leave feeling physically stuffed, but not weighed down. I find inspiration, joy, and a little more groundedness. That is until the next day when I pop open a bottle of Prosecco and indulge in some cheese and rosemary crackers. The vegan lifestyle might not remain, but the experience certainly does. And I’d like to think that I walk away from each trip to Âu Lạc, a little kinder, a little happier, and a little better than before I arrived.
Bold and refreshing bites crafted with the utmost care.
Ergo Yum.
What humbling and truly beautiful vegan masterpieces. That dessert looks so pretty.
The shout out was unexpected!!! Thank you!
Great writing as usual—and I especially appreciate both you and Jacob for showcasing the kindness and genuineness of both the ambiance of the place, but more importantly the people who serve there. Even head chefs at plant-based establishments serve something deeper than “just food” to your table. Can you imagine a world full of Chef Itos and Chef Nguyens? Possible.
Oh…”Chef Ito’s food is an ethos, a way of being. To consume it is to briefly inhabit an alternative and more intentional way of being in the world. [It] leaves you transformed and forever grateful for the experience.” Do tell Jacob it doesn’t have to be “brief.” That’s a choice. Why not experience that same ethos with every fork-full of food?