cowLESS

(Gerry Furth-Sides) A new choice on the market for meatless eating is the CowLESS vegan burger option in South Pasadena, made with a grilled Beyond Meat patty, shredded lettuce, a fat tomato slice, vegan cheese, housemade chipotle and mayo for richness and a pillowy brioche bun. The burger is so popular there are now plans to add more locations in Pasadena and Los Angeles.

The burger is $11 for a single patty and $14 for a double burger. My vegan friends went wild over the burger.   It is absolutely delicious and textured and it tastes like beef for those who have never had beef.  And in a generation or two down the line there will probably be so many more of these diners!  A pile of long, thin, crispy fries ($4) pair perfectly with the burger. Both, along with more vegetarian sides, are currently available for outside dining, pick-up and delivery.

Owner Raina’s son, Karin is dedicated to his new culinary tastes, which influences his entire lifestyle.  As Karan reports, “ four, five years ago, my son played quarterback in high school.  They would finish up a game and head over to one of a number of junk food places and eat and eat to their heart’s content.  He was an avid eater all the time though, at the restaurant where he worked for ten years and at home, too.  Karen laughed, “ he never less than half a dozen pieces of bacon at breakfast – and that was just for starters.”

In Karin’s own words, “I became a vegetarian a little over five years ago.  I felt like eating animals was wrong.  And that it would be better for my body if I ate non-processed foods.   I also wanted to challenge myself to learn how to cook with healthier food options.  I came across the idea of cowLESS because I wanted to eat something that felt a little more hearty– than the less filling vegetable dishes.  CowLESS was also inspired partially due to my friends thinking traditional vegan food is either tasteless or boring!”

The CowLESS was developed by Karan’s son, Karin Raina, and Sri Sambangi.

Clorder/Virtual restaurant founder-partner Sridhar (Sri) Sambangi, has always had a passion for cooking Indian cuisine since he was a boy in rural southern India using fresh farm ingredients.  It continued throughout his almost quarter century career as a technology executive and entrepreneur with extensive experience in enterprise cloud applications. 

The idea for Clorder came to Sri when he was involved in an IPO journey from early stage startup phase to IPO at Cornerstone On Demand, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSOD).   The team he managed remembered him organizing wildly popular catered dinners for in-house every Friday, sourcing the highest quality items.  Everyone looked forward the sessions even though work ended at midnight.   

Sri carries this experience and expertise through both in Clorder, a company he created to build branding and marketing platforms for restaurants, and in co-creating menus and operational functions for VR concepts. 

  These days  Chef Javier Estrella from the culinary mecca of Mexico City is in the kitchen making the burgers. Chef Estrella gained local experience working for over two years at La Huasteca near Bell Gardens, voted one of the ten best eating places in the area.  In the works now is a house-made meatless burger.

For the CowLESS burger and all eaters there are other vegetarian and vegan options, like Vegan Pasta and Quesadillas ($11). A crunchy braised Brussels sprouts and a creamy, Grilled Cauliflower ($9). The Cauliflower boasts a common Asian “secret” ingredient that makes it surprisingly silky: coconut milk. A delicate pesto folded into the coconut milk makes for a refreshing addition to the slightly crunchy florets.

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