Cafe Gratitude is a vegan mini-chain in California. I visited the location in Venice and the food was out of this world. Of course, being as scatterbrained as I am, I was so excited to meet up with my oldest friend that I got so immersed in conversation that I completely forgot to photograph ANYTHING. (hand on forehead – doh!)

The atmosphere was cute – very sunny and of course laid back. (This is California after all) The service was a bit slow, but that’s to be expected at the majority of vegan-only restaurants. One of my favorite parts – and you have to be down with being a little hippie here – was when the waiter asked if we wanted to hear the question of the day. It was “What am I letting go of?” I also love the names of all the dishes, like “Fortified,” “Happy” and “Magical.”

I went with Whole – the macrobiotic bowl with sea vegetables, quinoa/rice, kale, kimchee and sea whip. It was outstanding. Though order of the day goes to my dearest friend who got Terrific – raw kelp noodles with hempseed pesto and tomatoes and olives. YUM.

But the food was so good I couldn’t NOT post about it. So after my amazing but exhausting excursion to the Channel Islands, I did takeout. I was still dreaming about the bite of Terrific I had in the restaurant and decided I must have an entire serving to myself.

(Also I realize these are not the best photographs, but you win some and you lose some – after all, this is a work in progress).

Perhaps it’s a good thing I don’t live in California – otherwise I would literally be eating here every. single. day.