One night a few years ago, a group of friends and I ordered a pizza to share. When I asked one friend if she wanted a second slice, she said something I am not used to hearing. She said, “no thanks, I’m watching my weight.”

I thought, “How honest! How quaint!” To the best of my knowledge, that phrase had been entirely supplanted with a slew of euphemistic slogans, the maxims of modern eating. It seems at least half of the people I know identify as some variation of vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy free, pescatarian, paleo, VB6 (vegan before 6PM), “on a cleanse,” (which can mean a wide array of things), or some such other yet-to-be-popularized catchall. And I do mean “identify,” because these dietary restrictions have really become statements of worldview, almost political terms. What they all boil down to, I think, if I’m being compassionate and objective, is this: I want to feel healthy and trim. I don’t know quite yet what the most natural way to eat is, but I think I can ascribe to this movement for now, because it seems ethical and healthful.

I’m lucky enough to live now in a city that is pretty much at the forefront of the health food movement, so I’m never far away from a place where I know I can grab something I’ll feel good about eating. I’m excited to delve into one of them, a newcomer that I find I’m already craving regularly called Kye’s Super Tasty Super Foods.

I know, I know: superfood. Does the mere mention of the term induce a shudder? Let’s all agree that it’s a marketing term that has not been defined or regulated by any particular institution of health, and that I’m happy to eat a food and call it “super” if it’s nutrient-dense and delicious, but I don’t expect it to cure my medical ailments or make me immortal.

Ok, I’m done with the disclaimers! Let’s get to it. Let’s talk about Kye’s on Montana. When Kye’s opened a few months ago, I was eager to try it out. It looked so inviting, with the bright sunburst wall, the modern, clean fast-food-joint-looking interior, and the enigmatic photo that graced its door for the months leading up to its debut: what were those weird tube things? They looked like long sushi rolls. Were they juices? Were they salads in a highball glass? What was I looking at?

What I was looking at were KyeRitos, the signature creation of Kye’s founder Jeanne Cheng. They’re basically nori or lettuce wraps with all sorts of tasty fillings, most Asian-inspired, most including rice or quinoa, plus veggies, eggs, salmon, even BBQ pork or pastrami. They can all be made paleo by adding avocado instead of rice, and many can be made vegan. My favorite, the Nahn Jim ($10), is a nori wrap with red, black, and white rice, pressed vegetables, macadamia nuts, fish sauce and hemp seeds. It’s a little sweet and a little spicy, crunchy from the pressed vegetables, nutty, with the crispy, salty nori in every bite. It’s a perfect portable lunch.

I will admit, my first few times visiting Kye’s, I was a little confused. The food was so tasty—my first KyeRito was the Macro ($14), which is basically a Nahn Jim with salmon, and I was very pleasantly surprised. It was filling, perfectly seasoned and flavorful, and seriously made me feel good when I ate it. But I didn’t really “get” the concept. Why was a place with the word “Superfoods” in the name serving pastrami and something called “pork fuzz?” That didn’t really smack of “superfood” to me.

But then I sat down with Jeanne, the owner. I asked her about her concept, and what she said made perfect sense: she wanted to offer food that was healthful, but appealed to every kind of eater. She has a husband who eats paleo, and a young son (Kye) who wants to eat what tastes good. Meanwhile, she’s of Chinese descent and credits her fast metabolism to the large amount of rice that is integral to her diet—paleo just doesn’t work for her. She doesn’t want to tell people how to eat, she wants to use her background in both traditional and Eastern medicine to offer up wholesome cuisine accessible for all palates and diets.

“If Twinkies were healthy, we would all choose to eat Twinkies,” she said. Her food “satisfies both the Yin (nourishment) and the Yang (enjoyment) of why we eat.”

And I get that. That really resonates with me. I like that she doesn’t presume to tell me how to eat. I like that I can count on whatever I get there being at best incredibly nutrient-dense and clean, at worst a healthier take on something that seems naughty, and invariably truly yummy. A vegan mint chip “shake” ($8) is sweetened with agave and gets its green color from spinach and its mint flavor from actual fresh mint. It is a really good mint chip shake by any standard. The chocolate shake ($8) is so chocolatey. So chocolatey! It feels decadent, but it’s vegan and also contains spinach and Chinese Yam. The avo and fuzz breakfast KyeRito is playful and delicious, with green eggs and that mysterious pork fuzz. (Also known by the appetizing term “meat floss,” pork fuzz is made by stewing cuts of pork in a soy sauce mixture until the muscle fibers can be pulled apart, creating a sort of coarse cotton texture.) Apparently this fuzz is something all Chinese kids grow up eating.

Kye’s is in good company on Montana in Santa Monica, which is rapidly becoming an enclave of juice bars and health food restaurants, most of which I think are pretty terrific. I’ve been popping into Beaming almost daily since it opened just a few weeks ago, taking full advantage of the samples they always have on offer, and for better or worse, have become completely hooked on their $12 acai bowl. It kind of hurts to pay that much for an acai bowl, but it’s packed with protein, and it’s big enough for a meal. I had it for lunch two days ago after a run, and felt sufficiently sated and self-satisfied to merit the $12. Hey, being able to pat yourself on the back for your virtuous food choice is kind of priceless.

A by no means comprehensive list of some of my favorite places across LA to get my health food fix includes: Café Gratitude (my love of which borders on obsession), its sister restaurant in WeHo, Gracias Madre, Kreation Kafe, Real Food Daily, SunLife Organics (the Dragon Bowl is a beautiful thing), Pressed Juicery (honestly pretty reasonably priced for a cold-pressed juice purveyor), and M.A.K.E. (fine-dining, very expensive but truly lovely raw food).

So go get your healthy on, LA! I know you were going to anyway.

I recently read this Vice article, my hands-down favorite thing I’ve read on the internet this year, in which the brilliantly witty author, Jamie Lee Curtis Taete, laments the loss of the truly “weird” to the realm of hipness. The article hits such a sweet, perfect note, pinpointing something that’s happening right now in popular culture, while maintaining a fresh and authentic voice. And it’s so true—as Taete puts it, “weirdness, once a pursuit for outsiders, is now cooked up by teams of market researchers, to be regurgitated by the Old Spice Guy or the Geico Gecko…it’s impossible to visit a ‘hidden gem’ without being surrounded by other curiosity seekers Instagramming pics of themselves in official merchandise purchased from the suddenly savvy owners.”

I was immediately reminded of a perfect example of this phenomenon that my husband and I had recently experienced. We were in Tokyo last November, and made a point of visiting an attraction that seemed like the epitome of that perverse and strange Tokyo nightlife one always hears about: a place called Robot Restaurant. Perhaps you’ve heard of it, as it was featured on an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s newest (and most wonderful) show, Parts Unknown. Robot Restaurant is not really a restaurant—though one does receive a “bento box,” its contents are certainly not what Michael Pollan would call “food”—but rather, a small underground black box theater, accessible only by a seemingly endless staircase whose walls are eye-boggling neon-backlit murals of flowers and lizards. In the theater is a boxing ring of sorts, flanked by two seating areas. The audience of around 100 people sits behind some ornamental chains and watches a show that I could only describe as…weird. There are strippers, tanks, guys in Iron Man-esque suits on rollerblades, motorcycles, so many flashing lights, dance routines, fight sequences, and finally, giant robots, honestly really impressive in stature and mobility. They’re the height of 2.5 humans stacked atop one another. They reach their robot arms across the chains and dangle their robotic fingers inches from your face. It’s almost terrifying. Then afterwards, you get to take pictures with them!

Where am I going with this, you may ask? I’m getting there, I promise. You see, when Tony Bourdain went to Robot Restaurant with his crew, I’ll bet it was truly weird and awesome. And it’s still awesome, it’s just that…it’s now nothing but a Disneyland attraction, with a Japanese twist. The audience is more than half tourists; and worst of all, in the 8 months since we posted our cleverly edited Instagram video of RR highlights for all of our friends to view with envy, not one, not two, but three friends from college have posted nearly identical Robot Restaurant videos on their Instagrams. We are not original. In fact, we are the thrill-seeking young urbanites that are making it un-cool for everyone. But how am I supposed to experience something truly weird, without being exposed to it through a medium that, like Parts Unknown, tons of other people seeking similarly weird experiences are also exposed to? Sigh.

Ok, here’s the part where I get to some affordable food in the LA area. There’s a place in Venice that I think is pretty, well, quirky. Ok, it’s not Robot Restaurant pre-Bourdain weird. But it is Venice weird. It’s a cereal bar called Another Kind of Sunrise. It is a shack, or a stand, or something, that closes at 2pm, and by then they’ve usually run out of everything. It’s the kind of place that makes their own nut milk, and a really f-ing good nut milk at that. It’s sort of around the corner from/hiding a chocolate store that is inside of a rabbit hole/giant hollowed out tree trunk. It has a neighborhood feel, it’s the domain of the post-yoga-glow chick, the pregnant mommy in a maxi dress, and the bearded swami.

Ok, (you’re going to hear that a lot in this post, I have a lot of caveats. Deal with it). So okay, you’re in a little alley on the hippest street in Venice. You’re just a block or so away from Gjelina, still one of the hottest reservations in town. And you’re paying the cost of an actual meal ($10) for a smallish paper bowl of raw vegan yogurt and granola. But it’s worth it. For starters the paleo granola is straight up delicious. I have a borderline obsession with it. When I have to have it, I have to have it. It’s clusters of different nuts and seeds and it’s sweet and kind of chewy and crunchy at the same time. I have been known to jump out of a (slowly) moving car and sprint to the stand in order to purchase a cup full of this paleo granola before they close.

What goes under the granola is up to you—there is the standard option, the Acai cashew yogurt. Who in LA has not yet had an Acai bowl? Anyone? But this bowl isn’t your standard issue. It’s not frozen. It’s raw, the consistency of yogurt, and lightly refrigerated. Okay, raw cashew yogurt can make you feel kind of ill if you eat too much of it, especially if you’re not used to a raw vegan diet. Just warning you. But it has a really interesting flavor, and I like it a lot, and it’s quite filling. If the thought of raw cashew yogurt that may or may not make you feel just a tad bit sick to your stomach is not appealing, you may opt for actual cow’s milk (gasp!), or the homemade almond milk instead. This almond milk is not anything like the stuff you get at the grocery store, that grayish water with a few pulverized almonds in it—it’s creamy and rich and delicious. It goes really well with the amazing paleo granola, banana, berries, and coconut flakes.

Their muesli is also downright crave-able. It is soft and crunchy at the same time, with little puffed rice pieces and oats. It is not too sweet, just a hint of honey, maybe from the almond milk. There are plenty of superfruits in there—dried gojis and goldenberries and good-old fashioned raisins for a nice chew.

A couple more caveats for you: I’m not super familiar with the concept of a paleo diet, so I don’t really know what makes the granola “paleo,” or whether that’s actually good for me. Also, the stand sells something called Buttery Brew, or as Shailene Woodley and other in-the-know, painfully hip people with first-world problems call it, Bulletproof Coffee. It’s coffee blended with coconut oil, spices, and ghee. It’s supposed to be a good way to get all of your healthy fats in the morning so that you don’t crave fat throughout the day. It’s also one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever put in my mouth. But hey, that’s just my opinion, man. Some people swear by it. The Yelpers certainly like it. But you know how I feel about Yelp.

So that’s it—that’s my suggestion for you. Get your raw Acai bowl, sit on a distressed wood bench and scoop up a mouthful with your compostable corn spoon. Maybe treat yourself to a delicious $4 inch-square biodynamic dark chocolate afterwards from Zenbunni. It’s imperfect, but it’s wonderfully weird.