#reviewedrestaurants

Presentation is everything and this didn't fall short. A gorgeous array of fruit purees, cut berries, champagne and fresh orange juice. Too cute.

The mimosa platter was reasonably priced especially when split between five girls. It also made us feel a little dainty and you really can't put a price on that, can you?

When it came time to ordering an entree, I stumbled on the menu a bit. Not one dish was vegan friendly. Sure, I could of swapped some substitutes but the dishes didn't seem engaging enough to swap. I scrolled to the bottom and decided to go with my "last resort" option. When in doubt, you usually can find solace in the side dishes and create an entree of your own! The only problem is, you might end up paying more for an entree dish comprised of two side dishes but if the chef does it right, it could be worth it.

I went with a side of broccolini (steamed not flash-fried) and a side of the crispy potatoes with an order of avocado. 

See, this is an example of side dishes done right. It was giant! Even the waiter commented. He asked what I had ordered because he said it looked amazing. The potatoes were cooked well and sauteed with onions and peppers, the broccolini was lightly steamed (the way I like it) and then drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette. Not simple side dishes at all.

Everyone else seemed just as happy with their dishes.

I myself was waiting, somewhat patiently, to try Gracias Madre. I think we all know by now that I can live off guacamole (of course, it has to be good guacamole because I am a guacamole snob) and here comes a plant-based upscale organic Mexican restaurant where I can have guacamole on everything! I suppose it’s the Puerto Rican in me.

Gracias Madre really chose a perfect location to set up shop in LA. It’s in a nice area of West Hollywood right near a bustling section but just far enough off the path that it feels remote and serene. The restaurant has an inviting open floor plan and a large outdoor patio perfect for brunching; which is exactly what I planned.

My lovely mother and I ventured for brunch on a gorgeous sunny Saturday morning.

My appetite had been waiting months for the feast that was about to take place.

I was hoping this experience would live up to all the posts, pictures and reviews I had seen.  Recently, at another restaurant, I had a disappointing jaunt where the hype outweighed the results. Unfortunately, back at Gracias Madre, our waiter wasn’t the most personable of people and failed to give much in the way of suggestions, smiles or personality.

My mother ordered sangria to start and it ended up coming out during our appetizer. It  was way too sweet so she asked the waiter for lemon to try and fix the overly sweet situation but he forgot and didn’t end up bringing it. Mom gave up and just asked for a beer instead.

For appetizers, we started with guacamole, homemade tortilla chips and local Manzanilla olives with herbs and orange.

I like a simple guacamole with lots of avocado and only hints of the other ingredients. They made theirs just like that. It was clean, fresh and really very good. The downside was the tortilla chip. It could have been the batch we had but they were overly fried to the point that I tasted oil more then tortilla chip. I told the waiter and we received the handmade tortillas instead. Now those were amazing! I love when hand made tortillas are done well and these were done very well indeed. They had the perfect consistency, the right amount of medium thickness and a well-balanced corn flavor. I was also lucky enough to have them again with my entrée. I don’t normally have this much flour but I felt it was a special occasion.

The olives took me by surprise. The Manzanilla olives with herbs and the infusion of orange was really quite good. I didn’t expect that and I would definitely order them again. 

We decided to share two dishes for our entrees; the first one was the one I was looking forward to the most, the Quesadillas de Calabaza,

a butternut squash and caramelized onion folded into tortillas with nacho flavored cashew cheese and pumpkin seed salsa. 

I made sure to get the pumpkin seed salsa on the side because the waiter warned me that it was spicy and I am a wimp when it comes to spice.

This dish has some heat but because of the amount of stuffed pumpkin (one of my favorite vegetables), the heat balanced out.

The second entrée we ordered was El Plato.

We wanted a dish that we thought would best showcase and represent a variety of different textures and flavors that Gracias Madre had to offer.

El Plato consists of butternut squash, nacho cashew cheese, chorizo mushrooms, cilantro pesto, escabeche (pickled vegetables), rice, pico de gallo and beans.

I really enjoyed the chunks of butternut squash and mushrooms in the sweet and spicy mole sauce. I have been craving a good mole sauce that isn’t overwhelmingly spicy and it’s been difficult to find. I really enjoyed this one. Yes, there were points of extreme heat but the flavor is right on. I tried subduing the extra heat with the tortillas, making mini tacos. 

The flavors in the dish worked well with each other except for the escabeche. To me, the pickled flavor vegetables threw off the smooth transitions that flowed from one savory component to the next. It created an abrupt halt moment and not in a good way.

By this point, we were stuffed. Again this definitely did not stop us from ordering not one but two desserts! After all, I needed to formulate a well-rounded opinion. All in the name of reviewing right?

My mother grew up with flan, a very traditional flan. I knew that would be one of the desserts we had to order.  My eye also happened to catch apple cobbler on the menu. Anytime I see cobbler on a menu my eyes fix on it and then it’s hard to see much else. 

This was not only my mother’s first vegan flan but mine as well. I was nervous and excited. Crossing my fingers it was going to be good because this was a make or break it moment for mom.

The flan was poorly plated but in a way that added a traditional aspect. Flan is finicky and just because its presented nicely, definitely doesn’t mean the flavor and consistency will be there. Sometimes you will look past plating for flan because what really matters in this dish is consistency, traditional flavors and texture. 

I am going to say I was sooo pleased with their flan and so was mom! It was lighter than most, which is probably attributed to using lighter vegan ingredients. It wasn’t overly sweet which can be a problem when creating the caramel coat. The texture wasn’t as dense as most traditional flans but I was ok with the delicate quality it possessed.  Perfect for a spring morning.

The apple cobbler with coconut ice cream was mouthwateringly gorgeous.

The hard pastry shell was sugared and baked properly while the inside retained the soft textures of cooked apples and cinnamon. The first spoonful from the soft ice cream, down through the hard pastry shell, into the soft apple was a trifecta of perfectly textured layers. 

For me the sign of a great reviewed restaurant is when I take a look at the negatives and see if the negatives outweigh the positives and if when I leave, I actually think about returning for specific dishes-- than you have a great reviewed restaurant. Yes we had some negatives, but when I took a look at negatives against the positives the positive list won. There are dishes I would definitely return for; the space is beautifully designed, comfortable and great for big parties; or one on one brunches. Their menu changes seasonally, which is great for helping out our local farmers. I can’t help but appreciate a restaurant that thinks about and supports their community.