The inaugural Phoenix Vegan Restaurant Week, happening September 12 to 18, is being organized by Jozh Watson of Phoenix Vegan and chef Jason Wyrick of Casa Terra and The Vegan Taste.
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These days, the Valley’s restaurant scene has gotten pretty good at embracing diners dietary restrictions and decisions. You can now be a vegan here or indulge in a plant-based diet, and eat pretty well. Veganism, in short, means abstaining from animal food products. Among the distinctions from vegetarianism are that vegans also skip additional products like eggs, dairy, and honey. For an added perspective on the subject, we turned to Michelle Dudash, a chef, registered dietitian, and cookbook author formerly based in Scottsdale. Dudash shared a few pointers for vegan diners in the Phoenix area. For those thinking about making the change, “start gradually,” Dudash says. “You don t have to go all or nothing to enjoy the health benefits of less meat. Your taste buds may take an adjustment period. And for your intestinal tract, too, it s in your best interest to go gradually to prevent discomfort while adjusting to more plants.”
On most days, from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., people can find Krystal Harris behind a Plexiglas shield, perhaps smiling under her mask as she takes orders and packages to-go food in brown paper bags. Harris opened her south Phoenix restaurant Early Bird Vegan in late 2020, as a spin-off of her food truck Trash Panda Vegan. The corner shop serves Quetzal Co-Op coffee, house-made pastries, sandwiches and superfood smoothies. Her restaurant isn t open for dine-in service, but she s working on adding outdoor seating. Restaurant etiquette is so different now because of the coronavirus pandemic, Harris said. She feels fortunate she hasn t experienced some of the worst problems her peers in the industry have endured.
and the people aren t coffee experts. They are volunteers roasting coffee at the Quetzal Co-Op, a nonprofit organization that supports and raises money for native and indigenous communities. The coffee in the roaster comes from Mexico and Guatemala, and is grown by farmers who are native to those areas as well. Quetzal buys green coffee beans from family farms in five different regions in central and South America, roasts them in Phoenix and sells it at markets and coffee shops around the Valley. Eve Reyes-Aguirre has been part of the Quetzal Co-Op for 22 years. She started as a volunteer and five years ago, she became one of two staff members.