Cafe Gratitude Los Angeles
Phone (323) 580-6383
639 N. Larchmont Blvd
Los Angeles, CA
I have an outrageous friend, Santina, who has a real magical love for this place that just opened up in Los Angeles called Cafe Gratitude. It’s a restaurant that specializes in raw vegan goodness. I have been a vegetarian for two and a half years now and as much as I like dabbling in vegan cuisine, I don’t believe i’ve eaten pure raw vegan food before, so I was completely looking forward to it. It’s exciting when food you don’t expect to be good throws you a party and your mouth is the main guest. When the waitress gave us the menus then asked us what we’d like to be appreciated or remembered for, I knew I would like this place.
Take a look at this menu!
We started out with a couple of appetizers.
I ordered the I AM DAZZLING~Ceasar Salad for starters. It had a brazil nut parmesan, capers, avocado and the dressing was spot on…but overall, it was missing the crunch factor that is the crouton. I felt that they could’ve added a crisp with a toasted nut, maybe almond? Either way, it was a good salad, just didn’t knock my socks off.
Santina started off with the I AM GROUNDED~Roasted Potatoes and boy were those fantastic! I got full from eating them. They are roasted potatoes drenched with this really tasty and spicy cashew nacho cheese. These were really impressive…it’s hard to believe this food is actually good for you.
I ordered the I AM ELATED~Enchilada. Oh boy, where do I begin. I started first with the cilantro-spiced cole slaw. I’m a huge lover of cole slaw and I thought this recipe was great. It tasted very light and breezy, with all the subtle flavors in the right place.
At first, I thought the enchilada was tiny. Well it was tiny compared to other enchiladas, but then when I took a bite, I understood why. That bite I took rocked the inside of my mouth! It was this spicy-sprouty-seed filling, topped with cashew sour cream (yes, cashew is huge in the vegan world)! The enchilada is served cold, which added to the mystic of it all. Santina tells me that their tortilla is made from vegetables and that it takes a ridiculous amount of hours to cook. So gathering all that information, you can imagine how richly structured each layer was, bursting with flavor.
Take a look at all that! It made sense why the enchilada was so small. I took only a couple bites and really savoured the circus of spices and flavors and took the rest home.
Santina’s main lunch dish was the I AM FORTIFIED~Steamed Vegetables over Quinoa. I didn’t try this, but it looked like a basic steamed veggie bowl. It didn’t make that much of an impression on my friend. But that’s ok, this is the third time she’s been to Cafe Gratitude this week!
We went to look at the desserts and found this great little side store inside the cafe containing raw vegan cookbooks and cute little kitchen-y things.
Santina tells me they make a mean mint chocolate chip vegan ice cream. I’ll have to try that next time.
We ended up getting this really delicious coconut cream dessert. It was light and creamy and oh so airy. My only light gripe was that it needed cinnamon to elevate it to the next level.
When i’m eating something really tasty like all of this, something in me makes me automatically feel guilty sometimes because we, as a society, equate good tasting food with food that’s not so good for you. It’s wrong in this case. Give raw vegan food a try. Not only is it really healthy for you, but you’ll definitely be surprised in the richness and the uniqueness that’s embedded in this food- nevermind the fact that most of it is made with love!
