Anyone here fantasize about opening their own restaurant?

[winter]

I'm coming up on 42 and I don't know if I'm having a midlife crisis but occasionally I get frustrated when eating out. "No oil! no/low salt! No dairy/cheese! No shrimp paste! No fish sauce! No ... No ... No ..."

It would be nice to just order off a menu with no modifications necessary ...

I tend to day dream of what the ultimate starchivore/healthy vegan restaurant might look like and wonder how difficult it would be to run/maintain.

Anyone else here like this?

Ideas that would be on my menu:

Thai food - My favorite ethnic food; but done the McDougall way.

Vegan Sushi - there are a very few Vegan Sushi places across the country that surprisingly have quite an extensive menu. A contrast to the typical place near me that only has a couple of choices.

A wide range of "Burgers" and Frys - some from Jeff Novick some from across the Internet.

Salads of course with in house daily made dressings (oil free vegan of course)

For dessert ... many recipes from the McDougall book plus various fruit sorbets and Ice"creams". Since I would also like to make fresh Tofu in house the left overs "Okara" could be used to make breads / cookies.


The average Vegan restaurant in my area charges between $12-$18(!) a plate. I'd hope I could do better.

[Dougalling]

Yep

A nice little bistro cafe across from a hospital with a nice WFPB menu promoting heart health, diabetes health, cancer health, weight management, and overall health. All gluten free. All certified organic.

Simple fare - burgers, soups, wraps, baked potatos, chili, pizza, Desserts - bean fudge, fudgesicles, ice no-cream, cake, pie.

In the corner, a good book library. You can read while at your table. You can buy on your way out.

In the other corner, a freezer, as the day's unsold food gets frozen and sold as take-home food.

On the tv screen, Forks Over Knives.

I need a catchy name and an investor with deep pockets lol

[viv]

I don't fantasize about opening my own restaurant, too much work for my liking! But heh if it's your dream, GO FOR IT! I'm a great believer in following your dreams.

Viv

[ETeSelle]

As we've discussed here before, a restaurant like that would fail. The McDougall niche is a TINY niche compared to most of the population, and most people want fat, sugar, and salt. This is precisely why most vegan restaurants aren't place we can eat--the general public wouldn't go near them if their menu items weren't full of fat.

It's just a fact that most restaurants fail in the first year. And a restaurant that appeals to only a very tiny subset of diners? No chance. Sad, but true!

[dailycarbs]

I don't like to burst anyone's bubble but most restaurants fail and early. Success looks like long days with no personal life for not a lot of money. And this is while serving cheap sad food (cheap to buy and popular with patrons). A restaurant like you propose has worse odds. I hope you have restaurant experience a least. Anyway, if you decide to go for it, I will be rooting for you!

[miranda2060]

Well, we're just fantasizing here, not applying for a business loan. It's encouraging that there are more vegan restaurants opening (even if not McDougall-style), and more plant-based options on restaurant menus.

My fantasy is a low-fat vegan deli/diner, with all your favorites -- "deli" sandwiches, soups, salads, "fries," comfort-food casseroles, etc. -- but of course without all the bad stuff. Getting hungry just thinking about it.

[GeoffreyLevens]

This place

http://natures-express.com/about-us/

had an restaurant in Yuma, AZ I ate at several times on road trips. Excellent food! You could even get wraps in giant collard leaf instead of tortilla. The one in Yuma unfortunately closed (not a huge surprise really) but they are still going strong in Berkeley, CA (not so surprising either).

I have worked in a number of restaurants and as mentioned above, crazy, stressful work and not much money with high overhead. But if you have the right personality and creativity it could be a grand adventure. I do think location is crucial to success though, as in Yuma vs Berkeley.

[healthyvegan]

Slice of Life in Sebastopol, CA has tons of no oil WFPB stuff! Their air fries are amazing, too.

The trouble with restaurants is that you need to induce a gut busting calorie Chipotle explosion in the gut to achieve caloric addiction in the customers pleasure centers.

That being said I'll one up you... I dream about opening a WFPD island / country why stop at a restaurant if we can make an entire community? I'd move in a heart beat.

[GeoffreyLevens]

Slice of Life in Sebastopol, CA has tons of no oil WFPB stuff! Their air fries are amazing, too.

Had forgotten about that place, haven't been there since lived in Sebastopol so about 8 years or so. Sweet potato air fries, yum!

[Dougalling]

This one is vegan, has been in business since 2010, now has 3 restaurants. It does use oil, but no sugars. Many people who eat there regularly are not veg people. They just like the burgers there.
http://boonburger.ca/about/

[BlueHeron]

I personally have no interest in starting a restaurant - too much work and too much risk. But after reading this thread, I was searching for a local restaurant that recently replaced one of our vegan restaurants. They claimed that their food would still be 80% vegan, but would in general be more healthful (the vegan restaurant that closed served lots of fake meats). While searching for that, I found the site of a local woman who acts as a plant-based, no-oil food coach and also works as a cooking instructor and personal chef. She is certified in plant-based nutrition through Dr. Campbell's foundation. It's too pricey for me (I'm not commenting on whether it's a reasonable price for the services offered in general because I have no idea how she sets her fees). Anyway, if anyone is seriously interested in pursuing something of this nature, it might be a more viable business plan than opening a restaurant:

http://annarborvegankitchen.com/

Michigan has changed its laws to make it easier for people to sell food cooked at home. Obviously, you'd need to check with your own health department.

[docscience]

You would probably find it amazing in how many people have the onset type2. I guess only your doctor knows for sure.
I would think it might be a possibility to set up a heart disease / diabetes, improvement center, something on the style of a smaller Mcdougall weekend.
You could not get away with calling it a heart disease / diabetes healing center.


In Halifax, Nova Scotia, We have a couple so called vegetarian/ vegan restaurants.
I do not think that any go without oil.


http://www.iloveheartwood.ca/
in business since 1995. (vegetarian/ vegan)
They also sell loaves of breads, and other in-store made foods.
When we are there, we buy a loaf of bread to take home.
https://www.google.ca/search?&q=Heartwo ... +NS&rlst=n
. . . . . . . . . .google.ca/search?&q=Heartwood+Halifax,+NS&rlst=n


http://enviehalifax.com/
This is described as a vegan kitchen.
I have never been there, and do not know how long they have been in business.
I will check it out, next time we are there.
https://www.google.ca/search?&q=enVie+A ... +NS&rlst=n
. . . . . . . . . .google.ca/search?&q=enVie+A+Vegan+Kitchen+Halifax,+NS&rlst=n


http://www.thewoodenmonkey.ca/
Opened in 2003.
We have been there a couple times.
Although they advertise as a vegetarian restaurant, they survive on main dishes of animal products.
A great place to go, if you want to eat vegan (if you can find it on the menus), but smell all the fried fats, and meats.
https://www.google.ca/search?&q=The+Woo ... +NS&rlst=n
. . . . . . . . . .google.ca/search?&q=The+Wooden+Monkey+Halifax,+NS&rlst=n


.

[Langeranger]

As Viv says, we're just fantasizing here, so here goes. I'm a multi-billionaire and have no concern about finances, making lots of money, etc. Open a string of outlets on the Interstate highways all over the country which serve a very limited menu, lunch and dinner only, perhaps 2-3 one dish kick-ass healhful, fully McDougall compliant meals, ready-to-serve so hardly any waiting, put it on the table for 4-5 dollars. Advertise it as a fast, affordable, meal that'll taste so good it'll knock your socks off and, as a bonus, arrest or reverse most anything that ails ya. "good eatin,' Don

[docscience]

I just found a link to the almost perfect vegan restaurant in 2409 Lyndale Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN .
http://www.ecopolitan.com/
It sure looks like he is beating all the odds. I wonder if it is self supporting ??
Dr. Adiel Tel-Oren ("Dr. T"), is the founder of Ecopolitan .
Check out the menu here.
http://www.ecopolitan.com/Recipes--Menus


He does have a few miner disagreements about some foods, but he is NOT aggressively trying to reverse heart disease as far as I can tell.
I also noticed that he uses some olive oil and coconut oil. ( MAYBE HE MISSED READING THE MEMO !!!!!!!! )
He is mainly DIRECTING his message to help those struggling to stick to a much healthier WHOLE plant food diet, so that they do not fall back to eating animal products.
Here is a youtube video of him talking about food.
Dr. Adiel Tel-Oren at World Veg Festival 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPIJ0re7QEM

I found it to be a very interesting fascinating talk, which included many foods that people do not know that they can actually eat.




It looks like they have been in business since at least apr,2010
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 881&type=3

https://www.facebook.com/303638617881/p ... 81/?type=3
. . . . . . . . .facebook.com/303638617881/photos/a.376639752881.161957.303638617881/376642207881/?type=3


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[TerriNC]

I saw a news clip (not local for me) awhile back. It wasn't about vegan restaurants, but rather a couple of ladies (I think Food for Life instructors for PCRM) in one area that came up with a challenge for their local restaurants. They called it "The Vegan Cookoff" and got each restaurant to come up with 3 healthy vegan options to offer on their menu for one month. It could be 1 main dish, 1 side, and 1 dessert, or any combination. They publicized to get people to the restaurants to try the vegan option and vote for the best ones. Even their local news media got involved! My guess is that after the restaurants see a good response, hopefully they'll leave the options on their menu permanently.

I really plan to do this, within a year's time, once I get my classes up and going. My small town is becoming an equine tourist attraction, and we NEED these options. I think they'll see the need, when presented properly and they realize they'll get free advertisement for participating.