Art & Soul Gallery

by Juan Wilson (C) The Gobbler 1999 Autumn Blaze

We stumbled upon a delightful place, near where Route 474 meets Route 394 and just north of the Smith Boy's Marina. It's now called the Art & Soul Gallery and the address is 2332a West Lake Road, Ashville. You might remember the place as once being Annie's Cafe. Well, Kalene Olson has taken it over and refitted the place as a vegetarian cafe, art gallery and healing arts center.

Kalene's philosophy seems to be that all these things are related in supporting mind, body and spirit. Her view of art includes it's therapeutic benefits and her view of preparing food includes feeding your soul as well as your stomach.

The artists represented here are mostly people living in Chautauqua County. There are about 30-40 that she has established relationships with and is showing. Much of the work is jewelry, small sculpture and modest size paintings. They are reasonably priced, thus making this a good place for finding unusual and special gifts.

Kalene's cafe has a seasonal menu. Recently she introduced the Harvest Menu. Some items offered are...

• "Ancient Ones": Burritos with Salsa. The title refers to the Navajo meaning of "Anasazi" a native culture of the American Southwest. A healthy combination of seasoned kashi, beans, corn cheese, and tomato veggie salsa.

• "Sweet Potato Salad": Sweet potato with celery, onion, and a light soy dressing.

• "Shen": An herbal tonic. Shen is the Chinese word for spirit. Taoist philosophers believed that a radiant spirit was essential for good health. It's a refreshing beverage containing extracts of six herbs reputed to naturally uplift the spirit.

Although the cafe is mostly vegetarian, there are some items where meat is an option, like Greek Souvlakia Pita, where chicken can be substituted for falafel.

Desserts include home made pies.

The hours for the Art & Soul Gallery are 10am-6pm every day except Friday, when the hours are 10am-7pm. Sunday the Gallery is closed. Take out orders are available, so you should stop by and pick up a menu so you can call in an order.

The back of the place has a small deck, with tables and chairs where you can eat, and a view of Lake Chautauqua.

On the second floor Kalene's has provided space for a variety of healing arts. These include Tibetan Reiki, a discipline of healing touch; Chinese Sengshui, a study of harmonic balance in your environment; and the therapeutic use of dreams and personal stories in artbook form.