I first heard about Grilled Fraiche because of the general uproar over the fact that they were closing their Long Beach location. Comments ran along the lines of, “Their Believe Stew was so good, you wouldn’t know it was vegan.” Wait, what? I thought I knew about all the vegan food in Long Beach, but you’re telling me that I missed one and now it’s too late because they’re closing?!
Fortunately for everyone, the support was so strong that they re-opened their Long Beach location. So I got to visit! The host was extremely welcoming and set me up with a sample of the Believe Stew almost as soon as I’d walked in the door. It was tender black beans in coconut milk broth and everything the internet had promised, but it was just past my spice tolerance level, so I opted for the vegan crab cakes (first picture). The crab cakes were miraculous, like I’d be surprised if non-vegan crab cakes taste better.
Here is their store in the North Los Altos Shopping Center. (Next to Trader Joe’s!)