I can count on one hand and name four places I frequent that are strictly vegan:  Native Foods, Veggie Grill, Free Soul Cafe and The Loving Hut.  Now I can add another.

Yesterday we found Healthy Junk, an eatery located at the Anaheim Promenade, a centrally located street that is closed down for pedestrians on weekends.

I was able to meet the owner, congratulate and thank her.  Her name is Lydna Santos and after personal cheffing over in Europe, she recently opened up her first dining spot in a bustling, busy, young and up and coming area.  Her parents were in the culinary international restaurant business and she credits them for influencing her aesthetics, dedication and standards of excellence.  She’s been vegan since 2004.

It’s great to find a place that caters to vegans but it’s even better to find a place so fabulously delicious too.

I began with a huge appetite, not having my usual breakfast and ordered a Caesar Salad, flatbread pizza with fresh tomatoes and basil and carrot cake.  Of course, I took most of it home, but also, I finished it all off by today.

I picked the Caeser out of 7 (seven) choices because it is rarely available to a vegan in a regular establishment.  It was dressed perfectly with a generous half avocado, sliced and fanned on top.  The croutons were crispy and the ‘cheez’ was a combo of nuts and nutritional yeast.

The flatbread pizza was so good, that it made me call over the owner and thank her.  The only other vegan pizza that was better, was the one at Gather in Berkeley (put it in Search Box and read about it).  But this place is closer to home and I cannot wait to eat my way through the menu.  All the pizzas are topped with house made Marinara and Mozzarella ‘Cheez”.

The Bunny Love moist cake was frosted and layered with a sweet vanilla filling and generously sprinkled with chopped nuts.  It was delightful and I just had a few bites, put it back into its carton for travel, and I tried to save it, but I ended up eating it all up, five minutes after we arrived home.