Green Leaves Vegan

When you bite into the first pillowy hunk of tofu wallowing in the peppered and garlicky sea of one of Green Leaves' vegan soups, it's like you're at the beach in Summer, eyes closed and not filling up with suffused sunlight. You feel instantly rejuvenated, like Prince Namor plunging back underwater or, if you prefer a DC Comics analogy, Hal Jordan recharging his Green Lantern ring. And the entrees at Green Leaves, which opened early this year in Los Feliz, are healthful without being bland, unlike the square fare at so many vegan restaurants. Cauliflower and cucumber contrast with pineapple amid the Sweet-'n'-Sour Veggie dinner's neatly tangy sauce, and the yellow curry is liltingly spiced without overpowering the natural collusion of coconut milk and potatoes (although some might find the bits of less-natural soy "chicken" stunt doubles to be too realistically chewy).