Ann Gentry has spent the past twenty-five years striving to raise the standard of vegetarian cooking in this country. Ann is the creator, founder and operating owner of Real Food Daily, the only restaurant in the Los Angeles area that serves a 100 percent vegetarian (vegan) menu using foods grown exclusively with organic farming methods. Picture 1Bon Appétit magazine declared “Ann Gentry, the creator of Real Food Daily has taken two different California trends – vegetarian foods, and the organic seasonal cooking popularized by Alice Waters of Chez Panisse – and come up with a cuisine that is as interesting and delicious as it is healthful.” With two locations, in Santa Monica and West Hollywood, California, Real Food Daily has “developed a loyal following”, from the someday to the everyday vegetarian, celebrities, trendsetting young eaters with sophisticated palates to the mature diner seeking gourmet health supportive cuisine.
Ann was born in Tennessee and grew up in a home filled with great food and a love of entertaining. She became interested in vegetarian cuisine in New York City during the 1980’s and she became interested in the cause and effect relationship between the health of her body and the foods that she ate. Fusing the essential elements of Eastern macrobiotics with her own American culinary style, her distinct “gourmet whole food cuisine” was born.
In 1986, after relocating to Los Angeles, she became the personal chef to actor/director Danny DeVito and created the idea of a home food delivery service that served truly healthful but exciting dishes. From 1988 to 1992 Real Food Daily thrived as a home delivery service and garnered many loyal customers.
In June of 1993, Ann opened Real Food Daily, the restaurant, in Santa Monica. Antithetical to the dreary perceived notion of a vegetarian restaurant, RFD’s décor of blond wood, clean lines, cozy counter space and eclectic art perfectly complements the innovative style of Ann’s gourmet whole food. The West Hollywood location opened in 1998 and has been written about in numerous publications, praised not only for the food but also for the light and modern vibe and the recycled rich teak wood used on table tables, counter bar and throughout the dining room.
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