Meat lovers will
appreciate this place. You can leave here and keep your pants buttoned!
On a side note: I've been meaning to write this blog for the longest. I really liked it that much that I kept writing about this blog. Now, after a long overdue wait, I hope you enjoy this blog!
Café
Gratitude looks like a beachfront restaurant with the beautiful patio and clear
window walls. The décor is cozy and simple inside, wooden chairs, giving it a
natural but modern feeling. But this little gem is located on Larchmont and
Melrose, pretty busy streets in Los Angeles. However, the place is just as
quaint as you’d expect despite its location. I remember coming here with a
friend whenever he took me to work but we’d only come for the drinks and
desserts because work would tire us at the end of the day. He worked at
Paramount and Café Gratitude was located right behind the studio backlots. Truth be
told we were a little apprehensive about trying vegan food not just because we
were meat eaters, but because of the stereotypes people label vegan/vegetarian
atmospheres and the taste of the food itself back in 2009/2010.
I do need to
mention that there is a theme to this
place; call it a kind of ‘new age’ or anything you like. So if this is a
problem for you, then you probably will not like it. But I’ll tell you
right now, the workers are not pushy about it at all and don’t judge if all you
simply want is to eat and go. It’s not just that new age feeling, it’s much
more that they care that you are taking care of your body by choosing healthy
meals. Café Gratitude may look new age/ hipster and may throw you off, but not
once did they make me feel uncomfortable. Not that I’m not heavily into this theme
but it is something I do appreciate to an extent. Don’t hate on people who
do find enlightenment with things like this. Respect it because we all have
your own way of self-satisfaction. And remember, you’re here for the food,
which is amazing. After your meal, you feel good about yourself, and not like
you just joined a cult or something because you didn’t. You just experienced
great food and service.
While we’re on
the service side of the blog, the staff at the LA Café Gratitude is friendly. I
took two friends to dine with me and they don’t live in LA or SoCal in general.
Neither are into the LA scene
though but they willingly agreed to come with me because they trust my foodie
knowledge. I don’t mind it because I’m a SoCal native and I’ve lived in San Diego/Orange
County/Los Angeles my whole life. This is normal to me. Anyway, you can reserve
a seat on open table but that should really be for dinnertime since the place
looks amazing at night. But for breakfast/brunch, it’s easy to get a table.
What I love most
about restaurants is their creativity. A lot of that comes from the food, but
also the way they name their dishes. At Café Gratitude, dishes are named simply
by how you’d feel after eating it. Kind of like the "you are what you eat" saying, except you won't be ashamed of what you eat here. Everything starts with “I am” and that
supports what I mentioned that they care about what you think about yourself
and your health. Ok, this may seem a little cheesy to some people, but I
thought it was pretty cool. And when they serve your dish, the servers say,
“You are” instead of “I am”, which was nice and still personal.
The beverages we
ordered were (sorry, we forgot to take photo's of our drinks. They were just too good!):
I AM SPLENDID-ICED Citron Green iced tea. Green rooibos, lemongrass,
lemon myrtle, bergamot, orange, tangerine and jasmine.
I AM WONDERFUL Fresh watermelon juice topped with mint
I AM INSPIRED Summer berry limeade with agave and sparkling water on
ice topped with mint
The dishes we
ordered were (In the same order as the photos above):
I AM BONITA. Rice/quinoa black beans, salsa fresca, avocado and
nacho cheese topped with pumpkin seeds served with two corn tortillas
I AM FANTASTIC. Raw chia seed-banana crepe filled with fresh
fruit and topped with coconut yogurt maple syrup and pecans.
I AM SUSTAINED. Steamed quinoa with fresh fruit, goji berries, cinnamon, maple syrup and coconut milk.
Our Dessert (In the same order as photos above):
I AM MIGHTY SUPERFOOD ENERGY BAR Made with hemp seeds, flax seeds,
sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, goji berries, coconut
butter, cacao butter, cacao nibs, & vanilla beans dipped in chocolate or
spiced with ginger
I AM DELIGHTED SPECIAL CHOCOLATE OFFERING Chocolate truffle that is super rich and flavorful with different fillings daily
I AM SUPER DARK CHOCOLATE NUGGET An intense, bittersweet nugget of ground
cacao nibs, almond butter & maca, minimally sweetened with low-glycemic
yacon
The food took
about 15 minutes. The three of us had a nice little chat and from time to time
the waiter checked in on us for refills and to ask us their “Question of the
Day”. Yes, you read it correctly. It may be a little tacky but you know what,
it really turned our day around. Our question of the day was “What do you want
to be when you grow up?” (Other times I went they asked “Who inspires
you?” and “What is something you want to change about yourself?”). We don’t
have to answer the waiter if we don’t want to, but they tell us their answers
to start off. We did answer him and we started a nice conversation with him and each other. Our
food came and need I say it was very delicious. Some food is raw, but you won't even know the difference. But you will notice the organic and natural taste. The fruit is naturally sweet, and the oats and quinoa grainy but in a good way. The rice and beans were warm enough to be nice additions to the actual dish (regarding the I AM BONITA) and the drizzle of honey, syrup and coconut milk/yogurt was just right. This is a vegan restaurant and
I couldn’t believe the amazing food I was eating was all natural and organic. Need
I say that the portions were just right? Think of the three bears. Some Vegan/Vegetarian restaurants offer too little at such high prices, others are cheap but fail in quality and taste. At Cafe Gratitude, you get exactly what you pay for and more. The second I felt like I was starting
to get full, I realized I was on my last bite. Now that's a meal that's worth every cent.
Even after your
meal [the plate] puts you in a happier mood. “What Are You Grateful for?” It’s
really those little quirky things that Café Gratitude adds to your dining
experience. It’s not new age; ignore the theme others label it as. That’s what
I love about the new places I’ve been trying. The word associations to
‘vegetarian’, ‘vegan’, ‘hipster/new age’ and other ones I can’t think of mean
less to me. In fact, labels never really appealed to me. They’re just words
that everyone has an opinion of and that’s how it should stay. Sure there might
still be that small feeling of insecurity when I try a new place, but as
healthy and organic is fast becoming a popular trend in recent years, we all
have to break out of our shells and just enjoy food as it is.
This is definitely
one of my favorite places to go when I’m in LA. The drinks were always
what pulled me in all those years ago, why didn’t I think to sit down any
sooner? I come here every now and then for some feel good food
and a nice time. I only wish they’d have
another location south of Los Angeles, maybe in Orange County, or better yet, San Diego. Then I'd eat there everyday.
Give this place a
chance. We all need some smiles every now and then. This place defines healthy
eating and happy living. Your body, and mind will thank you for dining at Café
Gratitude.
This Café Gratitude
is located on:
639 North Larchmont Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA
I've had my fair share of visits to Peet's coffee on Woodward and that was the only shop I knew on the the street. I pulled in to Peet's then suddenly heard my stomach churn, demanding to put food in my belly. So I backed out and decided to drive down the street and randomly pick a place. It was rush hour so the first street parking I found, I parked. Cal it fate, but I parked in between CCC and Radio Shack. I took one look at the place and said "What the heck, let's try this place out."And I'm glad I did.
While waiting for my meal, which took less than 10 minutes, I observed my surroundings. It seemed pretty crowded, but the dinner rush went by harmless. When my food arrived, I started with the fruit. Oh my word, it was sweet. I confirmed with one of the servers that the fruit was seasonal so every day it was different. The mix I had was ripe and flavorful. I took my time eating every piece of fruit because it was so juicy. Next came the salad. I've had chinese cabbage salad before and the best one I've ever tasted was homemade by an old friend who sadly moved to Florida. There was only one restaurant that had something similar to my friend's salad and that's a mom and pop in San Diego. So I kind of had expectations for this. You remember in the movie Ratatouille when Anton takes a bite of the food and suddenly nostalgia passes through his very soul, reliving a moment in his childhood? The thing about memories and when this phenomena happens is we quickly have a strong desire to go back to that moment and savor it as long as we can. That's what it felt like when I took a bite of that salad. It reminded me of my dearest friend in Florida and it certainly put me in an even better mood.
The chicken was far from dry (thank goodness), not it was appetizing. I asked the family sitting next to me if they would consider this place "healthy" because I've realized how light everything felt and even after finishing my combo and pita bread (they ask if you want white or wheat option!), I was just about full. The family next to me told me that this place was considered a healthier alternative to some of the eateries here and they like the menu and location for it as well. I couldn't agree more.
