The Grateful Gourmet Is Great
New Restaurant on Church Street Offers a Varied Menu
When Desiree Bagnell first saw the space at 25 Church St., at a realtor friend’s suggestion, she had trouble envisioning the restaurant to come. “What can I do with this?” she thought. The building had the necessary space but needed work to give it the right atmosphere. The floors were bare concrete, and the plumbing needed an upgrade. “We completely transformed it”.
Her prior business model had relied on a catering food truck and delivery business that took off during the pandemic.
Desiree Bagnell and her husband Paul outside The Grateful Gourmet on 10/5/2025
“People were sick of cooking” said Bagnell, who developed a delivery route to give customers “home cooked meals they could have all week and just heat up”. The food truck is still a major part of her business, but “its primarily for weddings and private events”.
“People were sick of cooking” Desiree Bagnell
When I suggested a romantic vision of her food truck parked at a location and serving customers daily, she gave me a healthy serving of reality: “We reached out to somebody who owned a vacant gas station. We would only park there 2 times a week but they wanted $4,000/month”.
Desi and her husband Paul have indeed transformed the space at 25 Church into a cozy café atmosphere. On my visit, I got the “Fried Green Tomato Bennie” which featured “hand carved ham, perfectly poached eggs on a bed of signature pimento cheese and crispy fried green tomatoes topped with house made Hollandaise.” The plate had a seriously ample portion that was so good that I found myself nibbling on what amounted to a second serving. Desi called the side on my plate “crispy potatoes”, but honestly, somehow I have never seen fried potatoes like these. Really good.
The Grateful Gourmet’s website [ https://iamthegratefulgourmet.com ] provides an apt summary of what sounds like a mission statement: “The Grateful Gourmet combines the love of comfort food and spins on dishes from European cafes all with an eclectic music-loving vibe utilizing the freshest local ingredients.”
The restaurant opened about 3 months ago. Its hours are 11-3, Weds through Sunday. You can call Desi at 856-412-0897 if you need catering, food truck or private chef services.