Popularity of vegan cuisine reflected on restaurant menus
On a chilly March afternoon in 2018, Catherine Perry peeked outside Corbett Family Hall at the University of Notre Dame and saw a line of hungry people winding around the stadium. It was Michiana’s first VegFest, one in a series of plant-based food festivals sprouting up around the country. But organizers had underestimated local interest.
“We expected, at the most, 1,000 people. And we got about 3,000,” she says.
The venue filled to capacity. Dozens of disappointed visitors turned back toward home, though some, enticed by promises of vegan tacos and mac ’n’ cheese, waited their turn in the bitter wind.
The inaugural event confirmed what she and fellow VegFest planners like Rama Ganesan, founder of Vegan Michiana, have insisted for years: Veganism is spreading, and it’s time for restaurants to keep up.
Since moving to the region in 2014, Ganesan has organized dozens of restaurant meet-ups, cooking demonstrations and an all-vegan holiday market. “I think I’m part of the movement, but it’s huge. It’s much bigger than me,” she says.
“An evolution is happening in our area. The whole Midwest is waking up,” adds Perry.
Vegan chef Josh Musinski agrees. He and his wife, Kerry Hagy, chose to open a vegan eatery in the Midwest, away from hubs like NYC and Los Angeles, where veganism is more mainstream. He says it was Michiana’s climate that persuaded him to launch Water & Wheat Cafe in Coloma, MI.
“We found the soil, the land, the agricultural movement—with the vineyards and orchards and vegetable farms—this has the best selection and variety of food grown outside of California,” says Musinski.
The couple opened the café in November; they serve up hearty vegan meals that appeal to omnivores, too. Perry calls Musinski’s plant-based comfort foods, from butternut squash “bacon” to mushroom “scallops” to toasted palm “calamari,” “wonderful creations.”
Vegan writer and animal liberationist Nekeisha Alayna Alexis says she has noticed an uptick in inventive plant-powered menus around the region since she became vegan 11 years ago. She was studying theology and ethics at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary when she learned about modern factory farming.
“You know, if I’m against violence and I’m a pacifist, what am I going to do about it?” she remembers thinking.
Alexis, a Trinidadian who grew up in New York City, laughs as she recalls her transition to veganism in “the meatiest part of the country.” Once, she was offered chicken salad as a vegetarian entrée. But the Midwest’s food landscape has “changed rapidly,” she says.
Pinellia, South Bend’s first all-vegan restaurant, opened in 2018. Render Kitchen & Bar, among others, offers guests a separate vegan-vegetarian list that mirrors the standard menu.
“I’m not a vegetarian or vegan, but I can sympathize,” says Render’s executive chef, Eamonn McParland. “You go to a restaurant and your options are limited. It’s so depressing. So, we make sure to ask the guests when they come in, would anyone care for a vegan or vegetarian menu? It makes them feel like anyone else they’re eating with,” he says.
Being thoughtful with ingredients pays off: One of Render’s most popular desserts is McParland’s cheesecake, which is vegan and gluten-free.
Perry remembers laughing years ago when she heard vegans say, “You can eat anything but animal products.” Now she understands: Not only are there more vegan options each year, but expanding her palate has resulted in a flood of gratitude for new textures and flavors.
Several Michiana vegans echo that sentiment: Abstaining from animal products ignites appreciation for the huge variety of vegetables, nuts and grains they can eat. Creativity blossoms as they reimagine old favorites with plant-based ingredients.
Megan Zwart, professor of philosophy at Saint Mary’s College, remembers tears of grief when she finally committed to a vegan diet years ago.
“I thought it meant our family would no longer have cinnamon rolls at Christmas, and this was a ritual I had delighted in since childhood,” she says. “(But) I still make vegan cinnamon rolls every Christmas, and they are every bit as decadent as they ever were—soft, gooey and covered in vegan cream cheese frosting.”
Zwart had been a vegetarian for years before deciding a plant-fueled lifestyle made the most sense.
“Nutritional science showed the benefits of including mostly plants in our diets, and conversations with my (vegan) brother were opening my eyes to the experiences of animals in our food system,” she says.
Though most vegans see their food philosophy as a triple win—“for the environment, the animals and one’s health,” according to Perry—sometimes the mission for plant power and animal liberation is best spread through invitations to dinner.
Alexis explains: “It’s not lost on me that I am a black vegan. One of the things I hope to work on, and that Rama has been supportive of, too, is how to talk about and make people of color aware of what their choices are around food. A choice is not a choice if you don’t know what your options are.”
For Musinski, creating options means Water & Wheat Café is the beginning, not the end. He will soon offer wholesale selections of his vegan cuisine to other restaurants.
“I just want to give consumers and wholesale purchasers no excuse not to give it a try. … I want this region to be known as a culinary destination in the middle of the country. We’re really hoping to cause a scene, and we’re starting to feel it already.”
Resources
facebook.com/groups/MichianaVegGroup
Michiana VegFest 2019
April 14, 11am–4pm
Century Center, 120 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
South Bend, IN
Free event; please register on website michianavegfest.org
Vegan Eats
Black Crow Café
224 S. Main St., Elkhart, IN
Crooked Ewe
1047 Lincoln Way E., South Bend, IN
Pinellia
3601 Edison Rd., Ste. D,
South Bend, IN
Purple Porch Co-op
123 N. Hill St., South Bend, IN
Render Kitchen & Bar
521 E. Jefferson Blvd.,
South Bend, IN
Tapastrie
103 W. Colfax Ave., South Bend, IN
The Moringa Tree
109 W. Lexington Ave., Elkhart, IN
Water & Wheat Café
6218 M-63, Coloma, MI
Find more restaurants on veganmichiana.com
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