elle + daily grub

in august i wrote about my grandmother, alice. i meant to write a monthly feature on the "people in my food life". the people who inspire me to grow food, cook food, plan food. then life happened and i forgot.
sigh.
no time like the present to do what i set out to do.
elle of daily grub doesn't let life get in the way of her doing what she set out to do. most people i know have had the daydream of one day opening a restaurant. but since most of these people work in the food industry and somewhat know the reality of what it would take to make that happen. . .i only actually know 4 people who have succeeded in this. elle is one of them. and she is a revolutionary. in less than a year, she has been named best new restaurant. best new restaurant that does not have a business phone, uses facebook to showcase its' ever changing menu, and has no outside investors. if you don't know much about the business, let me tell you, this is virtually unheard of. oh and daily grub is a vegetarian diner.
most of us are familiar with the new trend: farm to table dining. this is what she does. elle does it in a way that i have never considered. her flavor combinations constantly inspire me when i am making lunch at home. (try the quesadilla, that's all i'm saying.) elle started all this restaurant business by hosting sunday brunches at her home. the brunches grew into huge events. like 80 people every sunday. see what i mean? people dream of doing this type of shit, but no one actually does it. but elle did. (and now i have dreams about the cashew butter on the sopes at daily grub.) and she's doing it in an old south omaha bar on 20th and pierce. elle has not only made vegetarian fare accessible, but she has offered it in such an unpretentious way that she has successfully made non-vegetarians fall in love. she has given customers access to local fare made from locally sourced ingredients at a very affordable price. so this holiday season i invite you to check out the dream. the virtually unfathomable. go eat lunch in between your shopping or have dinner over the weekend and be inspired.