Love is Served

Bright, clean, and hip recipes to enchant vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores alike, from plant-based haven Café Gratitude.

Before it was a fixture on the L.A. dining scene and a magnet for celebrity diners, Café Gratitude was founded in the Bay Area with the simple ethos that joy derives from loving and being grateful for food, health, and good company. The dishes are named to double as affirmations of self. “I Am Fearless,” “I Am Humble,” and “I Am Open-Hearted” nod to the restaurant’s core belief that food is just as much about spirit as it is about appetite. Since then, the café has evolved quite a bit. It’s changed locations, expanded, and been the backdrop for more paparazzi shots than one can count. But the founding principles have remained the same, and the food continues to celebrate the flavors of plants with organic, from-scratch, and healthful ingredients free of animal products, processed soy, and, in almost all cases, refined sweeteners.

Now, with Love is Served, Seizan Dreux Ellis, executive chef at Café Gratitude, brings Gratitude-quality meals to your table and the soul and mission of the restaurant to your home. Indulge in café favorites “I Am Awakening” (Raw Key Lime Pie) and “I Am Passionate” (Black Lava Cake) while cooking up hearty, nourishing dishes like Grilled Polenta with Mushroom Ragout (“I Am Warm-Hearted”) and Radicchio, Roasted Butternut Squash, and Sundried Tomato Pesto Grain Salad (“I Am Gracious”). With unfussy methods and easy-to-access ingredients, this cookbook makes the wholesome satisfaction of the restaurant as accessible as ever for the home cook as it charms and inspires readers to change the way they look at food.