Pralines and Crunches: Cafe Gratitude KC

I recently received my Certificate in Plant Based Nutrition from Dr. T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies through eCornell and I have been incorporating more and more plant based foods into my diet. Yes, mom was right, eat your vegetables. Everything you need for a long, healthy life is in them.

Fortuitously, a close family member recently decided to become vegan and the whole family went to Cafe Gratitude this morning to celebrate his birthday. This was my first time in this vegan restaurant (I believe there is only one other in the metro area). As expected, the atmosphere was cool and relaxed and the food was fantastic. I particularly liked the names for smoothies, elixirs, shakes, and main dishes: Enlivened, Healthy, Rejuvenated, Transformed, Cozy, Powerful, Serene…. All the food is organic and there are a lot of raw options. A big sign by the bar also says that they have recently started serving vegan beer and wine.

I ordered the Cured tonic (infusion of E3Live and coconut water with 65 vitamins, minerals, amino acids & EFAs) and also had a fair share of the Cool shake that our five-year found underwhelming (I loved it!). The Cool shake is a mint chocolate chip milkshake with Vitamineral green and raw cacao nibs -- delicious! I also had the Peace breakfast item, which is an imitation of bagels and lox, the part of lox being played by strips of seaweed and the part of cream cheese by cashew creme cheese. It was served on a bed of delicious live onion flatbread, with tomatoes, onions, capers, and sprouts.

I remember sharing a beautiful lunch with my husband at the Pure Food and Wine in Manhattan, a chic vegan restaurant serving raw food, about three years ago and wondering just when will KC get its own high-end vegan restaurant, and Cafe Gratitude is definitely the answer to that wish. I can't wait to go back.

"Peace"

The water bottles have positive words on them. It has been shown that water absorbs its surrounding energy and you can charge it with good vibes by labeling the bottle with a positive word.