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Attention straight up Vegans, leaning-Vegans, upright Vegetarians, and even crouching Carnivores, Gracias Madre, a Mission district restaurant is offering you a dynamic and delicious “lightly-cooked” Mexi-Vegan menu.
Owners of the popular Raw and Vegan restaurant Cafe Gratitude, Matthew and Terces Engelhart have brought their superlative sense of both community and cuisine to bear on this unique and artfully designed Mission district restaurant. Surprisingly, Vegan and Mexican fare have a natural affinity. Indigenous Mexican food tends to rely less on dairy products and more on beans, corn and squash. So by simply swapping in a few well-crafted nut creams for dairy products, and of course tossing in a lot of love, the beautiful venue offers a rich complex and satisfying fusion.
The star of the menu is clearly the Quesadillas de Calabaza ($8). Two small hand-pressed tortillas enfold butternut squash, caramelized onion puree, salsa, and tangy cashew cheese. The tortillas are pan-fried and topped with lots of toasty pumpkin-seed sauce and the dish pairs well with a side order of Swiss Chard or Kale ($5), both deftly prepared with garlic, lemon and toasted pumpkin seeds. The rich raw desserts were always great at Cafe Gratitude. Over time, Terces’ original raw dessert recipes have been reworked, and embellished by young and inspired Bay Area chefs like Tiziana Alipo Tamborra and Matthew Rogers whose recent dessert cookbook Sweet Gratitude makes an excellent raw-cuisine resource.
At Gracias Madre, the decadent tradition continues. The dense yet silky smooth cashew-cream based Flan ($8) is so rich that after a couple of bites you’ll assume your credit-line has been extended. The Chocolate Cake with Toasted Coconut Ice Cream ($8), poised lotusfully in perfect stillness in its pool of cacao-cinnamon sauce accompanied by a hot Horchata Latte ($5) makes for a mutual awakening of sweet gratitude... and one helluva good meal.
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