I can't wait to visit the Homegirl Cafe. I read about it in the LA Times yesterday; it's a restaurant in Boyle Heights, and is backed by the nonprofit Homeboy Industries, which helps former gang members remake their lives. The Homegirl Cafe provides training and jobs for women who once were, or are at risk of getting, involved with gangs. The menu is a fresh, healthy take on Mexican food, with an emphasis on vegetarian dishes (yay!) The mole sounds amazing--Barbara Hansen, the Times reviewer, writes

Rosa's mole, named for a friend who showed Zarate how to make the sauce, blends six kinds of dried chiles, four kinds of nuts, pepitas (squash seeds), ginger,banana and many other things. This is top-level artisanal mole, slightly sweet, mellow and rich.

Pepa's creamy poblano chile soup sounds delicious, as well (as does every other dish mentioned in the article). There is a picture in the paper of a drink made with raspberry and mango juice--it looks like a sunset, the colors of both fruits swirled together. Another drink, "Angela's green potion", is mentioned, too--it mixes mint and spinach with lemonade (the reviewer says you can taste the mint more than you can the spinach.) Every dish there is named for a woman associated with the restaurant. I love what these women are doing to help one another (and what they're doing to nourish the community!)

P.S. I need to send congrats to one of my own homegirls--my sister in law Heather was just sworn in as a lawyer today. Congrats, Heather McGunigle, Esq.!