First Meal at Cafe Gratitude

Happy Mother’s Day weekend!

We’ve been trying to acclimate back into “normal” life after everything going on, and getting back from the funeral in NY. There’s a lot still to do, but we decided to take it easy this Saturday to catch a little much needed breather. Enter … the perfect time to check out two of Kansas City’s newest additions; Café Gratitude and Little Freshie.

Café Gratitude

I blogged about the grand opening house of Café Gratitude a few weeks ago, and we finally had the opportunity to eat a meal there today.



We got two things and split them … “I Am Transformed” and “I Am Magical”. Erik’s “I Am Magical” got put in to the kitchen wrong on accident, so instead we got to try “I Am Extraordinary”.

In case you’re confused, all the menu items are words of affirmation starting with “I Am …” so when you order, you get to say whatever you order, in my case “I Am Transformed” and when your item is brought to the table, the wait staff will say “You are transformed”, etc.

First up, “I Am Extraordinary”. We got it on the live wrap instead of bun, and it is their “BLT with spicy cashew aioli, crispy chipotle-maple coconut, romaine lettuce, tomato and avocado”.



And “I Am Transformed” which is “two seasonal corn tacos with brown rice,  black beans, guacamole, salsa fresca and cashew nacho cheese”.



We enjoyed both menu items, and they both happened to have a pretty nice spicy kick to them. But the star of our meal was definitely dessert.

One thing about raw/vegan desserts … they are so delicious, especially considering how healthy the ingredients usually are! We got “I Am Awakening”, their key lime pie.

It was incredibly smooth, creamy, and delicious. Why did we only get one to share?? ; )



Really happy to have Café Gratitude in Kansas City!

 

Cafe Gratitude KC Opening Celebration

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

My parents came to town this weekend, so we were busy visiting and exploring. One highlight? Hitting up Good Ju Ju’s garage sale on Saturday. Lots of neat things going for great prices. I walked away with a couple purses, but I’m sure I could have found much more. The next weekend highlight was …

Café Gratitude Opening Celebration

Erik and I went to the Café Gratitude opening celebration this past Sunday night (on Earth Day … how fitting). I’ve been really excited for Café Gratitude to be opening and their celebration was definitely a success!

If you haven’t heard of it before, Café Gratitude is a vegan/raw restaurant that has been around for awhile in California. Thanks to Natalie George and her dream of opening one right here in Kansas City, it’s now made it to the wonderful Midwest, and her dreams have come true. They are officially opening to the public on May 1st and are located in the old Lulu’s building at 333 Southwest Boulevard.



There was a line to get in the door …



And inside, it was completely PACKED the whole entire evening!



Throughout the celebration, they were serving hors d'oeuvres, samples and drinks, and The Makepeace Brothers were there playing music.  I wish I could tell you the name of everything they had to sample, but I don’t remember them all! Here’s a selection of what there was to offer, though, in picture format:

   

I’m so excited for Kansas City to have another vegan restaurant, and I’m thrilled to be able to eat there on a regularly opened night so soon!  Check out The Purple Carrot on Facebook for some more photos from the night.

Coming Up in KC: Cafe Gratitude & Little Freshie

Hey there, blog world!

I feel like a bit of a terrible blogger lately inundated with ONLY March Food Photo and April Food Photo posts with a recipe here and there. In an ideal world, they would be surrounded by lots of recipes and fun Kansas City happenings, but as you may have noticed, it’s not been an ideal world, ha. My internet has been having issues going in and out, so I'm using that as my excuse!

So today, I bring you a little bit more in form of two upcoming Kansas City additions I’m really excited for. First up … Café Gratitude!

Café Gratitude

There’s long been rumors of a Kansas City Café Gratitude and I’m so happy that these rumors are finally a reality! They're having an opening celebration THIS Sunday, on Earth Day. Taken from their official announcement here, these are the details:


"WHO: Friends, Family and Fans of Cafe Gratitude.  If you're excited about CG coming to KC, please join us and bring a friend.
WHEN: Sunday, April 22nd, 2012
TIME: 6:00 pm to 10:00ish pm
WHERE: Cafe Gratitude, 333 Southwest Blvd, KCMO 64108
ATTIRE: Whatever makes you feel happy
WHAT: It's a celebration of a dream come true!
As part of our celebration, the MAKEPEACE BROTHERS will have us dancing, singing and feeling the celebration through their music.  They've toured with Jason Mraz and if you've watched the movie, May I Be Frank, you'll recognize one of the members of the Makepeace Brothers - Conor Gaffney.
Your tastebuds will be happy as you will have a chance to sample some variations of Cafe Gratitude treats.
And of course, we'll have organic wine, beer and lemonade so we can raise our glasses and "CHEERS" to our new beginning!"


Be sure to check out their Facebook page for updates. You better believe that we will be there Sunday night, and I will be reporting back with a blog post!


Who else is going??



Little Freshie

And Little Freshie!

I’m very excited for this one, I anticipate Little Freshie is going to be an awesome addition to the Westside Neighborhood, and housed right next door to Fud, and near other great places such as Westside Local, Blue Bird, and Chez Elle.

I don't have any idea when the official open date it, but I'm hoping it's not too far down the road. If anyone does know, you must fill us all in! 

That's in for now ... until later ...