Seizan Dreux Ellis - Love is Served : Inspired Plant-Based Recipes from Southern California

Caf Gratitude began with a very simple mission: to serve as a gathering placeone where people could walk in feeling instantly accepted, discover a path to elevate their perspective on life, and connect with a like-minded community. That goal didnt necessarily include having six locations throughout California, almost daily celebrity sightings, and a devout following of customers who treat our restaurants as an extension of their own kitchens and homes. But over the last seven years, thats what our company has miraculously witnessed. While we of course owe much of that success to Chef Seizan Dreux Elliss inspired and enlightened plant-based offerings using ingredients that are just as kind to the Earth as they are to our bodies, we also trace these accomplishments to our humble and most dependable guides: love and gratitude. They are what permeate our culture, from the people who grow our food, to those who prepare and serve it, and to those who eat it. They are what inform our choices as a company, whether its supporting regenerative agriculture, consistently finding new ways to leave a smaller footprint on our planet, or serving foods that function as both indulgence and medicine. They are what saw us through the evolution from a small raw food caf in San Francisco to an internationally recognized restaurant group. They were the beacons that fascinated Chef Dreux and allowed him to fill our menu with dishes that energize, comfort, and inspire; and they are what have knit a community from the millions of people who have graciously allowed us to serve them.

But to us, success is not just measured by tables filled or by anyone entering our spaces feeling welcome, appreciated, and satisfied. We believe that the true success of our mission is when these same individuals go out into the world ready to pass on those exceptional feelings. And so a more beautiful world is made. Now were passing on that love and gratitude to you, in the form of this book and our most treasured recipes that weve served over the years. Our food is just as much about spirit as it is about appetite, so we invite you to welcome these recipes into your own home and, in turn, create and share the abundance.

Caf Gratitudes founders, Matthew and Terces Engelhart, have always believed that given an open, supportive, and loving environment, people could be inspired to transform their lives. They also believe that changing your outlook and, in turn, your life, begins with a focus on gratitudeand that each of us has much to be grateful for, no matter our circumstances. To their minds, turning our attention from what we dont have to all that we have been given is a foundation for meaningful human growth. Although they werent necessarily looking to open a restaurant as the encapsulation of these ideas, thats exactly what they did. The first Caf Gratitude opened in 2004 in the Mission District of San Francisco. They served 100 percent plant-based, organic, from-scratch, raw foodsbeing among the first in this country to do so. They coupled that with the concept of Sacred Commerce, or the philosophy that a functioning business can also be a place of empowerment, giving employeesor advocates, as they are referred toa place to feel heard and appreciated. The idea was that this acknowledgment would be passed on to the customers, who in turn would feel nourished, both physically and emotionally, and bring that feeling with them out into the world. Matthew and Terces planted the seed that love is a contagious way of being.

In 2011, Terces and Matthew partnered with CEO Lisa Bonbright and her husband, Chris, to bring Caf Gratitude 2.0 to Southern California. Along with the Engelharts adult children, Cary and Rylandnow our chief operations officer and chief inspiration officer, respectivelythe team opened our first Los Angeles restaurant in Larchmont Village. Over the next seven years, our company Love Serve Remember opened five more locations, in Venice, the Arts District in downtown Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, San Diego, and Newport Beach. But despite our growth, our core values and mission have remained the same.

Chef Seizan Dreux Ellis joined the endeavor in 2008 to open more hearts and minds to plant-based food. After helping the Engelharts and Chef Chandra Gilbert (now the executive chef at our sister restaurant Gracias Madre) deliver their vision in the Bay Area, he stepped into the role of executive chef in Los Angeles in 2011. While still honoring the founding principles of Caf Gratitude, Chef Ellis expanded and evolved the menu to include cooked foods in addition to some of the beloved original raw offerings (including the then-trailblazing selection of raw dessertsGratitude classics that have never come off our menu for fear of revolt, and are included in this book). He brought with him a deep understanding of how to celebrate the flavors of plants in their most natural state, while also creating dishes that scratch the deepest of indulgent itches for vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores alike. But no matter how seemingly naughtycinnamon rolls, chicken-fried oyster mushrooms and waffles, eggplant Parmesan, mole abuelita enchiladas, Black Lava Cakeeach of these offerings call for organic, from-scratch, healing, and healthful ingredients free of animal products, processed soy, and in almost all cases, refined sweeteners. Testament to just how inventive, satisfying, and full flavored the food is: only 20 percent of our customers are vegetarian or vegan.