HYPERLOCAL NEWS HUB BY THE UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS DEPARTMENT OF JOURNALISM
Finding Veggies in Cooper-Young
Catching-Up with Imagine Vegan Cafeby Katie Hannings/MicroMemphis Reporter
March 19, 2012 As Imagine Vegan Café approaches its one year mark, owners Kristie and Adam Jeffrey say business has picked up in the last couple of months. It’s been “pretty busy since the first of the year, Saturdays are slam-packed and Sunday brunch has been getting busier,” says Kristie. |
Vegan Options in CYIf you're curious to know what other Cooper-Young restaurants offer for vegans, take a look at the list MicroMemphis has compiled.
Click here to view the list. |
The couple decided to open a restaurant after making the lifestyle change to be completely vegan. Kristie says they had trouble finding places to eat.
They had to worry about the food they were being served because not everyone knows the specific restrictions of the vegan diet. For example, no butter or milk, which is very difficult to find as many vegetables and breads are cooked with these items. She says “we wanted people to have a place where they didn’t have to worry” about whether or not there were animal products in the food they were getting. The Jeffrey’s opened Imagine Vegan Café on April 30th of last year. Kristie says they are getting about 100 customers a day (an average guess), which is good for a new business. The café offers a very large selection of appetizers, entrees, sandwiches and desserts, all of which are completely vegan. They even have a selection of vegan beers for $3 each. For non-vegans trying out the café, Adam recommends, “[to] base what you order on what you like.” If you like Karina Khan, a vegan baker and specialty dessert maker, provides all the sweet treats found in the café. She brings them in about twice a week. Kristie says some of the most popular menu items are the chicken drumsticks meal and the quesadillas. “We have as many meat eaters as we do vegans and vegetarians, it’s about 50/50,” she says.
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Inside Imagine Vegan CafeA Few Vegan Guidelines:Avoid: Eggs, Milk, Milk Cheese, Gelatin, Honey, Lard/Shortening, Some Vitamin Supplements, Certain Soups and Sauces
Use Instead: Egg Replacers, Non-dairy Milk, Soy Cheese, Alternate Sweeteners, Alternate Oil
Household Products to Check: Shampoos and Soaps, Cleaners, Medicine Non-Vegan Household Products Vegan Food Pyramid |
To make items such as the chicken drumsticks, Adam explaines that they use soy and wheat gluten products along with tofu to simulate the meat product, and they place a stick inside to make it a “drumstick.”
Karina Khan, a vegan baker and specialty dessert maker, provides all the sweet treats found in the café. She brings them in about twice a week.
Currently Imagine Vegan Café is the only entirely vegan restaurant in the Memphis area. The Jeffrey’s plan on celebrating the one year anniversary of the opening of the café around April 30th.
Karina Khan, a vegan baker and specialty dessert maker, provides all the sweet treats found in the café. She brings them in about twice a week.
Currently Imagine Vegan Café is the only entirely vegan restaurant in the Memphis area. The Jeffrey’s plan on celebrating the one year anniversary of the opening of the café around April 30th.
Katie Hannings /MicroMemphis reporter
Katie Hannings covers Lifestyles for MicroMemphis.
You can send her story ideas here.
You can follow her on Twitter ( @K_Hannings)
Vegan vs. VegetarianBy Bri Jones/MicroMemphis reporter
Not as surprising as some may think, many people do not know the difference between a vegetarian and a vegan. Merriam-Websters dictionary simply defines a vegetarian as a herbivore (one who does not consume meat; only eats vegetables). The definition of a vegan is a strict vegetarian who consumes no animal food or dairy products; also : one who abstains from using animal product. Bri Jones/ MicroMemphis reporterBri covers Lifestyles for MicroMemphis. You can send Bri story ideas here. Follow her on Twitter ( @BriJonz ). |
Murfreesboro Baker Makes it Sweet to be VeganBy Bri Jones/MicroMemphis reporter
Giving up sweets may be one of your biggest feats when converting to the vegan lifestyle, but you can still have vegan chocolate chip cookies and milk, too.
As a matter of fact, at Imagine Café you can enjoy ice cream, cake, brownies and many other guilt-free indulgences without milk, eggs, or refined sugar. You don’t even have to sacrifice the taste or texture of the sweets you know and love. Karina Khan, owner of Khan’s Desserts specially delivers homemade vegan desserts to the café located in the Cooper Young area. The counter is covered with mouth-watering goodies that she bakes from scratch with organic and pure ingredients. The specialty of her business is that she makes desserts for a vegetarian/vegan restaurant called the Wild Cow in Nashville and makes frequent trips to Memphis to deliver desserts, as well. Khan also takes special orders for vegan wedding cakes and more. |
The vegan-leaning vegetarian says,"I accept that I am going to pay more to buy things that minimize the impact on animals, but I feel it's balanced by not having to pay for meat."
Massey's decision to become a vegetarian was for animal rights, but she also feels it is better for the environment.
"I try to always buy free-range (not just "cage free") eggs, usually at the
Cooper-Young Farmers' Market or the Whiteville, TN, eggs from Whole Foods, and I try to always buy organic cheeses, especially from Organic Valley.
Although Massey is a vegetarian, she still enjoys food and she has even published a cooking blog of recipes she shares with friends and family.
"I am a Southern girl who loves to eat! I don't have a favorite dish or even a favorite food ethnicity. I just like delicious food! I relish fresh food and lots of variety. "
This Southerner does not find it hard to eat in Memphis and she loves to dine out , even though she is a vegetarian.
"For example, soul food restaurants The Cupboard on Union Ave. and At The Bistro on Brooks Rd. have very good vegetables that are meat-seasoning-free. Huey's offers Veggie burgers for just 50 cents more, and many other restaurants list their vegetarian friendly meals on its menus.
However restaurants that do not offer vegetarian substitutes Massey says she orders appetizers or sides and carefully proportions her food.
To Massey her diet is just like everyone else. "Vegetarians only have to do what everyone has to do: make sure you're eating a good variety of foods so you get all the different fuels and nutrients you need without taking in too many calories."
Massey's decision to become a vegetarian was for animal rights, but she also feels it is better for the environment.
"I try to always buy free-range (not just "cage free") eggs, usually at the
Cooper-Young Farmers' Market or the Whiteville, TN, eggs from Whole Foods, and I try to always buy organic cheeses, especially from Organic Valley.
Although Massey is a vegetarian, she still enjoys food and she has even published a cooking blog of recipes she shares with friends and family.
"I am a Southern girl who loves to eat! I don't have a favorite dish or even a favorite food ethnicity. I just like delicious food! I relish fresh food and lots of variety. "
This Southerner does not find it hard to eat in Memphis and she loves to dine out , even though she is a vegetarian.
"For example, soul food restaurants The Cupboard on Union Ave. and At The Bistro on Brooks Rd. have very good vegetables that are meat-seasoning-free. Huey's offers Veggie burgers for just 50 cents more, and many other restaurants list their vegetarian friendly meals on its menus.
However restaurants that do not offer vegetarian substitutes Massey says she orders appetizers or sides and carefully proportions her food.
To Massey her diet is just like everyone else. "Vegetarians only have to do what everyone has to do: make sure you're eating a good variety of foods so you get all the different fuels and nutrients you need without taking in too many calories."
Ashley Todd/ MicroMemphis reporter
Ashley Todd covers Lifestyles for MicroMemphis.
You can send her story ideas here.
Follow her on Twitter ( @_rontae )