Opened by a devoted group of pizza and sandwich enthusiasts, Blackbird strives to prepare the most enjoyable vegan food possible—and succeeds, much to the delight of the denizens of the City of Brotherly Love.

Is this your first restaurant?

Yes, it’s my first, as an owner. I have been working in the vegan/vegetarian food community for over ten years, though.

When did it open?

September 30, 2010.

Do you want to have more than one restaurant?

Possibly. My co-owner Ryan and I do talk about expansion.

What’s your favorite dish on the menu?

Probably the Haymaker Pizza (with seitan sausage, red onions, garlic butter, and vegan cheese) or the smoked tofu Cubano sandwich.

What’s the most popular entrée on the menu?

The Haymaker Pizza. It’s a crowd favorite.

What’s your most popular appetizer?

House-made seitan wings. They come in either habañero-citrus Buffalo sauce or a root beer BBQ sauce.

What’s your most popular dessert?

All our desserts seem equally popular. We currently get desserts from Vegan Treats, a bakery in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

What do you feel is special about your restaurant?

Pretty much everything. I generally try to give everything on the menu a little bit of a twist to make it more interesting and stand out. My goal isn’t just to make a vegan version of a pizza place; it is to make the best food I can that just happens to be vegan. I think the feel of the restaurant is different: We try to do more than your average pizza/sandwich shop. We make an effort to make as many items from scratch as possible, and to change the menu semi-frequently. And we embrace the punk/hardcore community more than most establishments.

How often do you change your menu items? Do you have daily or weekly specials?

Every six months or so we tweak the menu a little bit. For the most part, it stays the same, though. I do specials here and there, but it isn’t a constant thing.

Do you have gluten-free, soy-free, and sugar-free options on your menu?

Gluten-free is difficult because there is so much flour around and because we make seitan on premises. It’s hard to guarantee that something didn’t come into contact with gluten. We do have plenty of items without soy or added sugar.

What do you do to reduce your environmental impact?

We compost all the food waste through a local composting company. All the packaging we use is compostable and primarily made from postconsumer waste. All of our used cooking oil gets turned into biodiesel fuel. Pretty soon we should be switching to using only solar and wind power for electricity through an alternative energy supplier in the area. I’m actually just waiting for them to make the service available to commercial customers.

What are the most important lessons you’ve learned as owner or chef of this restaurant?

Probably that drinking lots of coffee solves most day-to-day problems.

What led you to want to open a vegan restaurant, and/or what led you to the vegan diet yourself?

Well, I always wanted to go into cooking, and once I did, I wanted to open my own restaurant. I have been vegan since my eighteenth birthday, so naturally I wanted to open a vegan restaurant. I went vegan primarily due to a moral obligation I felt, and still feel, the need to abstain from things contributing to animal abuse. I grew up going to hardcore shows, and the hardcore music scene is greatly influenced by the vegan straight-edge movement. So there were a lot of great bands and people that supplied me with information [about veganism] during my teenage years.

In the time since your restaurant first opened, how has the plant-based food movement changed? Do you find more demand now for vegan food?

I think that interest in vegan food is booming. I’m sure there are many reasons for this happening, but it is definitely on an upswing.

Since your restaurant first opened, has your view of what constitutes healthy or delicious food changed? Have you changed the types of foods you offer?

Neither of these things has really changed for me. I’ve been in the vegan/natural food community for a while now, so for the most part I’ve formed my opinions on a lot of these matters. I’m always open to new information, though; I just haven’t come across much new info in the past few years.

Where do you see the plant-based food movement going in coming years?

Hopefully it will continue to grow. My first job in a restaurant was at [vegan restaurant] Candle 79 in New York back in 2004. Since then I have worked at many vegetarian and vegan places and from what I can tell, it has been constantly growing. I really don’t see any reason for it to slow down.

Beet Salad

Serves 2

4 tablespoons coarse kosher salt

1 large red beet

1 large golden beet

1 large leek, green parts removed

1 tablespoon olive oil

Pinch salt and pepper

¼ cup raw pumpkin seeds

1 large navel orange

2 cups baby arugula

Shallot-Thyme Dressing (recipe follows)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut 2 square pieces of foil (each large enough to cover a beet completely). Place 2 tablespoons of kosher salt on each sheet of foil. Place the red beet on one foil square and the golden beet on the other and wrap them completely. Bake until the beets are very soft and easily pierced with a knife, about an hour or longer. Allow to cool completely, then unwrap and peel the beets. Roughly dice the beets into 6 pieces ¾" thick. Refrigerate before using in the salad.

Clean the leek by slicing it vertically down the middle and running it under cool water to remove any dirt from the inside. Cut the leek into thin slices and place in a mixing bowl. Toss the sliced leeks, olive oil, salt, and pepper and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the leeks are beginning to brown. Allow to cool completely before using in the salad.

Keeping the oven heated to 350 degrees, place the raw pumpkin seeds on a baking sheet and bake until deeply toasted but not burned (approximately 10 minutes).

To assemble: Using a sharp knife, cut all the peel off the orange. Carefully cut out segments of orange, slicing on either side of each segment to extract just the flesh of the orange. Place the baby arugula, orange segments, roasted leeks, and dressing in a mixing bowl. Toss in the bowl until the salad is fully dressed. Place the contents of the bowl into the middle of a large plate. Arrange the roasted beets around the salad, and top it off with the toasted pumpkin seeds.

Shallot-Thyme Dressing

Juice of ½ lemon

1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

½ large shallot, chopped

¼ cup water

¼ teaspoon caraway seeds

⅛ teaspoon fennel seed

½ teaspoon salt

⅛ teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon agave syrup

½ cup olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh thyme

In a blender, add all the ingredients except the olive oil and the thyme and blend them at high speed. While blending, slowly add in the olive oil in a thin stream. Add the thyme leaves and pulse in the blender so that the thyme is dispersed and the dressing has green flecks throughout. Once the oil is incorporated and the dressing is emulsified, it’s ready to serve.

Nacho Pizza

Makes 1 pizza

For the pizza sauce:

1 12-ounce can crushed tomatoes

1 teaspoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Juice of 1 lemon

For the pizza crust:

Cornmeal or flour (for dusting the pizza peel)

1 11-ounce ball pizza dough (recipe follows)

For the toppings:

⅓ cup shredded cheddar-style vegan cheese (preferably Daiya)

¼ avocado, thinly sliced

10 Pickled Jalapeños (recipe follows)

¼ cup Caramelized Onions (recipe follows)

Timing: Pizza dough must be made at least 12 hours in advance.

Equipment needed: pizza stone, pizza peel

Add all pizza sauce ingredients together in a bowl; stir and set aside.

Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500 degrees. Allow the oven to maintain this temperature for at least 1 hour to make sure the stone has absorbed the heat properly. Spread a light dusting of cornmeal or flour onto a pizza peel. Pick up the dough ball and lightly press it to flatten it slightly without pushing any air out. Using your knuckles, gently stretch the dough ball, working around the edge. Slowly move hand over hand until the pizza has reached 10" to 12" in diameter. Transfer the stretched pizza dough onto the pizza peel.

Spread the pizza sauce in an even layer over the surface of the dough, working from the middle out in a circular motion. Sprinkle the vegan cheddar cheese over the pizza. Place the sliced avocado and pickled jalapeño slices evenly around the surface of the pizza. Drape the caramelized onions on top of the avocado and jalapeño slices. Slide the pizza onto the preheated stone in the oven and bake until golden brown (approximately 6 to 12 minutes, depending on the oven).

Pizza Dough

5 cups bread flour

1¼ cups semolina flour

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon agave syrup

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1½ teaspoons yeast

1⅞ cups cold water (55 degrees)

Equipment needed: standing mixer with a dough hook

Place all ingredients in a standing mixer fitted with a dough hook and mix on low speed for 5 minutes. Allow the dough to rest for 15 to 20 minutes in the bowl of the mixer. Resume mixing the dough on low speed for another 5 minutes. Remove and place the dough on a floured counter. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces, approximately 11 ounces each. Cupping your hands and moving in a circular motion, shape each piece of dough into a tight, smooth ball. Coat each dough ball lightly with oil and place them on a sheet tray. Cover the dough balls loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 12 hours before using.

Pickled Jalapeños

1 cup sliced fresh jalapeño peppers

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

1 teaspoon juniper berries

½ teaspoon fennel seed

2 cloves garlic, smashed

Place jalapeño pepper slices into a jar or bowl. Combine all other ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Let the mixture boil for 2 minutes and then pour it over the jalapeño slices. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature and then refrigerate until needed.

Caramelized Onions

4 large yellow onions, very thinly sliced

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan over the lowest possible heat. Cook slowly, stirring semi-frequently, until the onions are dark brown and very sweet (at least 1 to 2 hours).