Gracias Madre (LV's LA)

 Gracias Madre means: "Thanks Mom" in Spanish. I find the concept of Vegan Mexican food intriguing. I am not Vegan by any stretch of the imagination, but I quite love eating here. When I mentioned Vegan Mexican to some of my friends, they were quite amused, especially my Latino friends. I got responses like: "Um, really LV, if its Vegan, it aint Mexican. No es bueno"

If its Vegan Mexican, it can't be real Mexican food, but actually this is definitely the real deal. This is Mexican food  reinterpreted with farm fresh vegetables, rather than meat. If you are a carnivore, you might be hesitant, but don't be. The dishes are quite flavorful and really filling.

 I sin rather boldly when it comes to food. I eat plenty of things I shouldn't, but Gracias Madre makes me feel better about my food heathen ways. These fresh corn tortillas are the perfect prelude to a great meal. What a great way to get the party started!

I could not resist this cocktail that is basically an adult snow cone sitting on top of a delicious libation of: Tequila Blanco, Muddled Kiwi, Mint, Lemon, Agave Nectar, Lime Bitters, and Hielo Raspado Bitters. Sounds intriguing right? This delicious drink is called La Quinceanera

Delicious and the perfect balance of sweetness. If you like a little snowcone with your liquor:-) Give this a try.

The Ensalada Des Espinacas, is a delicious blend of spinach, grilled asparagus, mint, snap peas, shitake mushroom and mandarin aged balsamic . This was absolutely delicious

The sweet potato flautas had a nice blend of caramelized onions, pico de galla, guacamole, cashew nacho cheese, and cilantro. The savory black beans were the perfect complement to balance the hint of sweetness from the sweet potato. You will find plenty of interesting twists on classics with a plant based vegan flair

 The restaurant space is absolutely gorgeous inside and out

The rustic decor makes the space warm and inviting

I have a little less than two weeks before my birthday, but my good friend and I decided to start celebrating a little early, so this is birthday celebration number one:-) more to follow!

Peach  cobbler with homemade vanilla bean coconut ice cream. Absolutely delicious! The peaches were not quite as sweet as my southern taste buds are accustomed to, but the ice cream added the extra element the peaches were missing

This gluten free vegan fudge brownie had me floored by how good it was.The base of this is made with black beans and as crazy as that sounds, this tasted pretty awesome. The Mezcal Caramel sauce, cashew cream and coconut bacon made this so good that it tasted every bit as good as its less healthy counterparts. The desserts were delicious, decadent, sweet and sinful. You get the point, right?

 I'm not embarrassed to say that when we finished this, I went around the plate with my finger to get the last of the caramel sauce. Well, at least I didn't lick the plate. I really wanted to though.

Nothing like wonderful friends and great food:-)

Doesn't a great meal make you feel good?

 This is the perfect restaurant to enjoy delicious and healthy Mexican food in a gorgeous setting. Pay no attention to the Hollywood starlets at the next table...Just eat:-)

Gracias Madre

8905 Melrose Ave

West Hollywood, CA 90069

323-978-2170

Cool Haus Ice Cream (LV's LA)

I love ice cream. Love it! back in the day when the familiar sound of the ice cream truck had us all tripping over our own feet to catch it, we could expect a bomb pop, a nutty buddy, a 50/50 bar, an Eskimo pie and that familiar ice cream sandwich with the chocolate cookies filled with vanilla ice cream. Those familiar traditional frozen treats are now in the company of ice cream with unfamiliar curiosity invoking flavors like chicken and waffle. Yes, it's not just for breakfast anymore.

The ice cream truck has gotten a makeover and gone gourmet. The owner of Coolhaus is an ex-architect who left the practice to start up a food truck business, and the architectural theme uses the clever play on words Cool Haus as in Cool House an ice cream sandwich with a cookie roof, floor, and ice cream walls.  This great architectural concept could also be viewed through the eyes of fashion. If there was a Versace, Valentino or Betsy Johnson of Ice Cream, Cool Haus would be it.

Bold flavors that don't seem to go together are insanely good. Kind of like: Oh my God, you wore those purple bell bottoms with yellow shoes a polka dot top and a red purse? That's actually a killer combo. You have to see that to appreciate it. With Cool Haus, you have to taste it to believe it.

After playing hide and seek with the trucks and finally catching them. It was worth the chase.

Hello Cool Haus!

Fried Chicken and Waffle Ice Cream on freshly baked snicker-doodle cookies

If you had told me I would eat chicken and waffle ice cream and like it, I would have looked at you like it was time for the men in white coats to take you away. Well, I tried it and let me tell you, I LOVED IT! I didn't just like it. I loved it! 

My taste buds didn't know what to do. They were confused and happy. Two fresh snicker doodle cookies held together by fried chicken and waffle ice cream. So how was it? The ice cream was buttery, sweet and had a rich maple finish and a hint of crunchy saltiness. Delicious! or as the kids would say, "SICK!" In addition to the amazing ice cream sandwich itself, the experience was enhanced by the edible wrapper each ice cream sandwich is served in. Jaw-dropping flavors, great service and environmentally responsible. This is my kind of company.

If you don't like ice cream, the folks at Cool Haus will make a believer out of you. During my Cool Haus ice cream truck experience, there were so many intriguing flavor combos that the phrase "you show me yours and I'll show you mine" had strangers chatting like long lost friends. And then I had to find a place so that me and my Cool Haus ice cream sandwich could be alone. 

Just me and my sammie.

Ice cream just shouldn't make a woman feel like that and I was giving this sammie some serious public displays of affection. 

And it was so good that I had to have that feeling again, so I showed up at their storefront in Culver City. The service was excellent and they let me sample every flavor in the freezer. I loved every single one! And then I settled on brown butter candied bacon ice cream with a Potato Chip Butterscotch cookie. 

I told you they were insane, but in the best way. The cookie was soft and moist with the perfect hint of sweet and salty which was a great compliment for the brown butter candied bacon ice cream. After I devoured my ice cream sandwich, they gave me a complimentary molten chocolate cake ice cream to make my sinful experience complete. All I have to say is: ooh ooh ooh...

Potato Chip Butterscotch cookie with candied bacon 
ice cream. YUM!

Its unbelievable. Seriously.

Are you curious yet?

When they said Molten chocolate cake ice cream, they weren't playing. So rich and chocolatey!

Red Velvet Cookies for your Ice Cream sandwich. 

They have an amazing selection of rotating flavors to choose from. You start by picking your cookie.

The flavors vary each day, but every last one I tasted was very good.

Cool Haus has over 50 tongue twisting flavors. Some of the unique flavor combinations are: Chicken and Waffle, Brown Butter Bacon, Rosemary, Mascarpone Fig, Thai Iced Tea, sweet potato and marshmallow, red velvet, spicy pineapple and cilantro,  and so many other flavors to tease your tasebuds. They also have vegan and gluten free options such as: vegan chocolate truffle banana cookies and coconut almond. An ice cream sandwich at Cool Haus is five bucks, but for the quality of ice cream, it is worth the money.

I love Cool Haus, but If I don't exercise some restraint this love affair with Cool Haus could put me in a sweet sugar coma:-)

Cool Haus

8388 Washington Blvd

Culver City, CA 90230

310-424-5559

Cool Haus Truck

Follow on Twitter or check website to see if the truck is in your area: http://www.eatcoolhaus.com/