How this vegan restaurant is reimagining your relationship to food one tasty dish at a time
“Even within our means exist tremendous opportunities to make better eating decisions”
@veganflavacafe on Instagram
Although co-founder of Vegan Flava Cafe, Yah-I Ausar Tafari Amen, has practiced a plant-based lifestyle for the last 15 years, he says the restaurant is a judgment-free zone where the focus is not necessarily on becoming vegan or being healthy, but on eating better and allowing that to take you to better health. To him, there are tremendous opportunities within our current means to make better food choices.
If you don’t know where to start, Vegan Flava Café can help as it offers healthy and affordable dishes that do not contain any genetically modified organisms (GMOs), soy, or gluten, and prioritize the use of organic ingredients. The Too Tasty Tacos, Kale Wraps, and the Mock Chickpea Tuna are only $7. I’m a fan of the Daily Specials which all start at $12. My favorite dishes are the Curry Lentils, BBQ Jackfruit, and Taco Supreme. If that isn’t enough to convince you that Vegan Flava Café is the place to be, the café sources mostly from the local, black-owned Pine Knot Farm in Hurdle Mills, North Carolina, as well as Eastern Carolina Organics (ECO) in Durham.
In addition to creating a sustainable food ecosystem, Vegan Flava Café strives to provide knowledge to those that seek it through Being Better by Eating Better . The program is a series of workshops for adults and children that support personal growth while changing the way they think about, prepare, and consume food and drink.
@veganflavacafe on Instagram
Originally from Brooklyn, Yah-I says he came to North Carolina because of the climate: social and otherwise. He was a fan of the weather and liked that his family could live in a nice sized house with a yard at a price they could afford. The path to starting out wasn’t overnight or easy. Yah-I said he had a goal to start a restaurant by age 40. In hindsight he says he wishes he would have started his entrepreneurial journey as early as age 14. He has since made up for lost time as he is not only a restaurateur but also the author of Is Your Self-worth Pseudo or Sincere? He is also a part of a relationship coaching team called Love Being A Part.
@veganflavacafe on Instagram
Vegan Flava Café location has since opened in Chapel Hill at Blue Dogwood Public Market on 306. W. Franklin Street Suite G, at the end of the promanade. So, to our Chapel Hill readers, you're welcome!