Newly Discovered Veggiepreneurs

With the outrageous expense of store front rentals in NYC, pop-up shops and markets are becoming a great way for small business vendors to sell without the overhead....literally. I recently attended the Vegan Shop Up, NYC's only vegan pop-up market and met many roof-less veggiepreneurs doing amazing things with food. Start supporting a #veggiepreneur today! 

Here are some of my new favorite vegan businesses, serving up a full meal to hungry, healthy New Yorkers, in a very ethical fashion:

Main Course

Fogwood & Fig

Diana Bezanski's slow living food company, Fogwood & Fig, is simply amazing. Her tempeh burger was the best thing I've ever eaten. Period. It was perfectly prepared tempeh, with a berry BBQ sauce that was so unique and tasty that I'm still thinking about it! Also between the bun is avocado, slaw, and a mint, cilantro, jalapeño dressing. It had a nice kick, so I was happy to recommend it as a great warming winter meal for an article in Brokelyn, a Brooklyn-focused webmag. Slow food by the way is the opposite of fast food. Fast food cares for nothing but profit, whereas slow food is responsibly sourced food that considers and protects people, animals, and the environment. Please do check out the amazing food ideas coming out of Diana's work!

Yeah Dawg!

Scott enjoyed the Yeah Dawg! vegan hot dog that is organic, gluten-free, soy-free, and plant-based. There were a lot of menu options, so he asked the Yeah Dawg! team what they like the best. This is a great strategy when trying new foods. Especially if you are new to vegan foods, be sure to ask the chefs. They are passionate about food and your enjoyment of their creations. They told him to go for the Cali Kush dog. He loved it, and had a blast diving into that over-stuffed bun. It was packed basically with a full kale caesar salad. So many bright leafy greens! That's one healthy dog. The topping was kale, avocado, coconut bacon, and chipotle sauce. Yum squared.

Drinks

Pilot Kombucha

Genius founder of Pilot Kombucha, Alex Ingalls, has created kombucha drinks that are the lightest and most enjoyable kombucha I've ever tasted! Kombucha is a fermented tea rich in probiotics. Probiotics, or healthy gut bacteria, are important for good digestion, eliminating toxins, and building immunity. Her flavors are spot on and I loved them all. As a person who always suffered from indigestion before becoming plant-based, I was delighted to see all of my go-to stomach care solutions in one in her Turmeric Aloe kombucha. It is the perfect elixir for a topsy-turvy tummy with tumeric, aloe, ginger, and puerh tea. The Grapefruit Mint flavor was divine. The first sip felt like coming out of a meditation, during a sunbath, post a massage on a beautiful island! Seriously! Physical and mental health are found here.

Dessert

Gone Pie Vegan Bakery

I've spoken before about how much my Mom and I love snickerdoodles, so it was so much fun for me to find a soft and comforting snickerdoodle made by Gone Pie. It was very well done and brought a smile to my face. Scott enjoyed a vegan thin mint! This bakery clearly knows how to recreated the treats we grew up on. There is always a healthy substitution to help you enjoy life and food richly.

Future Vegan Shop-Ups will be on February 13th, March 12th, and April 16th at the Pine Box Rock Shop in Williamsburg Brooklyn. I'll certainly be back to revisit these wonderful veggiepreneurs and to discover others! Please go, too, and let us know what you tried and your review in the comments below or on social media @forkfuloflove. If you run into a veggiepreneur that you love, please let us know! #veggiepreneur