Cafe Gratitude

I've returned to Los Angeles for the summer from a fabulous gluten free spring in Italy.   I had one interview with The American Academy in Rome for a sous chef position with the Rome Sustainable Food Project spearheaded by California's very own Alice Waters.  I didn't land the spot in the kitchen, which really sounded more like carrying the chef's job, since he'd had a moto accident and couldn't walk or stand.  I bumped into a woman at the farmers market in Monteverde Vecchio who's a personal friend of the departing sous chef - well, she certainly gave me an ear full - small town, word gets around.  Alas, the position started up in September and my interest is for an immediate gig.  


That night, while taking a bus from the heart of Rome up the hill to Monteverde sometime past 11pm, I got a phone call from L.A.:  "Hello Maria?  This is Ryland Engelhart from Cafe Gratitude."  "Hi Ryland, I'm in Rome..."

I returned home on a Tuesday evening and Sunday morning I was working in one of L.A.'s premiere kitchens preparing raw desserts. 

Cafe Gratitude is the perfect place to be this summer.  Here are some of the pies I turn out on a daily basis:

"I am Bliss"

"I am Awakening"

"I am Irresistible"


All of the desserts at Cafe Gratitude are gluten free!  Each day, though I'm deliriously tired, I leave the kitchen with a smile and eternal gratitude.

Pace e bene.