Mama Mango salad with macadamias and quesco fresco on ACME bread...no I don't know what ACME bread is...





Potato masa cakes

 Ok, so the pictures aren't great...they don't exactly inspire or cause you to salivate...or do they?  Anyhoo, it was dark inside, I was HUNGRY and my friend Veronica was slipping away...I didn't have time to get out the lighting metre, photographers big white disc thingy or wait until the sun rose again..So I snapped a couple of pics and tucked in.  FORGIVE ME FOR MY HEINOUS UNPROFESSIONALISM!

But, what I CAN bring to the table (pardonez moi the pun)..is news of the greatest meal in the land. Sought out, scouted, from the four winds..well on 18th & Mission in San Francisco anyway.  Gracias Madre is, IMHO, the best vegan eatery I've gorged in yet..

Picture borrowed (stolen) from Google Images...bizzarely when trawling through the food shots, nestled among  the plates of food was a picute of a stack of naked and not very buff men running down the street?!   This isn't what we ordered but it's close.

Two friends..both hungry..both taught to share by their ma and pa..both with highly developed taste receptors and legends in their respective fields.. ok, kitchens..alright, minds...their own minds.  God!  We ordered way too much and a LOT more than we would have if we had been on a first date with a dashing young man.

Potato masa cakes & mango, macadamia salad with kick ass chipotle dressing got the show on the road.  The masa cakes somehow seemed to carry off being delecate whilst filling at the same time.  The crisp lettuce offset the 'mash' nicely and the avocados were so creamy.  The salad was a taste extravaganza!  The dressing was sooo good and the spinach lent a wonderful background to the slightly sweet mango.  I LOVED the crunch of the oil dense maca d nuts.

Entree for me was butternut squash tamal with escabeche and beans.  My friend, Veronica, ordered the mix plate with frigoles, sauteed kale with roasted pepitas, brown rice & fresh, blue corn tortillas.  After a little swapsies (and... there is a God...Veronica insisted on diving it up 2 thirds one third..in my favour) we attacked the entrees.   My tamal was so fluffy if almost fell apart.  Perfectly seasoned.  Delish.  Garlic, sauteed kale.. 'got it going on!'  woo!  kale ROCKS.  The beans were ultimate comfort food, I'd say slop but it doesn't sound appetizing.  The escabeche - carrots and onions, the perfect accompaniment, cut through the creamy beans like a dream.  It was ALL extremely tasty.  The service was great, the mariachi's irritatingly loud, the atmosphere buzzing.  The tortillas were too much for even me so they got popped into a bag and taken home to get acquainted with my fridge.

Put Gracias Madre on your bucket list....if you know what's good for you.