Cornbread Café is a family friendly vintage vegan diner, as down-home as Eugene, Oregon, itself.

Is this your first restaurant?

Yes.

When did it open?

The restaurant opened July 1, 2011. In 2010, we operated out of a parked food trailer.

Do you want to have more than one restaurant?

Yes. I have a dream of easy access drive-thru restaurants along I-5, although I’ll consider my dream realized with just one.

What’s your favorite dish on the menu?

Fettuccine Alfredo. I like this dish because of its simplicity and its uncanny similarity to traditional fettuccine Alfredo. It’s got all the flavor and creaminess, but a lot less fat, no cholesterol, and most importantly, it’s vegan!

What’s your most popular appetizer?

The Fries Deluxe combo, with unCheese sauce and cashew gravy.

What’s the most popular entrée on the menu?

Chicken Fried Tempeh with cashew gravy.

What’s your most popular dessert?

Frozen Peanut Butter Pie.

What do you feel is special about your restaurant?

It has a community feel to it—very diverse clientele and everybody feels welcome. We also have a very large percentage of nonvegetarians who regularly dine with us!

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

Our core menu stays the same, with new additions about every six months. We offer at least one daily special.

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

We have a lot of gluten-free options, quite a few soyfree options, and we have plans to add a sugar-free dessert to the menu.

What do you do to reduce your environmental impact?

Our food scraps are picked up by a local gardener who runs his car on our used cooking oil. We use compostable takeout containers and utensils, one-hundred-percent recycled dinner napkins and toilet paper, and earth-friendly cleaning supplies and hand soap. Most of our staff rides their bikes to work, and our wholesale items are delivered to local markets via bike. We also give a ten-percent discount to folks who walk or ride the bus to the café, as well as a twenty-percent discount to folks who get $20 or more of biofuel from our local SeQuential Biofuel Station. The café was painted with no-VOC paint and all of the décor is reused. As far as our food goes, ninety-five percent of our menu is organic, we buy most of our ingredients locally, and all brews on tap are made by our fellow local businesses.

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

Organization is key, and baby steps are crucial. Pay attention to customer demands and critiques. Clear communication with staff is a must.

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

I have planned to open a vegetarian restaurant for the past twenty years (even before I became vegetarian). I had plans to become vegetarian for many years before I finally made the commitment, but I didn’t fully make the connection between the animals I loved and the animals I had been eating/ exploiting until years later. Once that clicked, I quickly gave up dairy and eggs, too. It’s a no-brainer for a vegan to open a vegan restaurant. It evolved into a vegan restaurant several years before the Cornbread food cart opened. I fully enjoy creating cruelty-free meals that have all the taste and texture of the comfort foods most of us grew up with.

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 it’s changed quite drastically! I’m noticing more every day that nonvegetarian folks are opening up their minds to either giving up meat or consuming a lot less of it. The mainstream seems to really be making the connection between what they eat and how they feel—both physically and mentally. The vegan food movement has only just begun! If you look at how many “traditional” restaurants are out there, we have a long way to go before the market is even close to being saturated. But it just keeps getting better!

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?

When the food cart opened, we were mostly catering to the fast-food scene and not necessarily concentrating on the health aspect of veganism. When the restaurant opened, we included some healthier options. There is now a big demand for even more healthy items, including some raw options. We just started offering raw fettuccine Alfredo and will add fresh juices and smoothies to our menu in the near future.

I wouldn’t say that my view of what constitutes healthy and delicious has necessarily changed, but my commitment to share more of it with the public has. I know how to do healthy and delicious…watch out! We’re just getting started!

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

I see it continuing to grow, but gaining momentum as the years go on. We’re in a time of more conscientious thinking, and that’s great for all of us—especially our animal friends!

Chicken Fried Tempeh

Serves 4–8

2 12-ounce packages tempeh

2 to 3 cups canola oil to grease the pan and for frying

1½ cups unsweetened soy milk (no substitutions)

1½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 teaspoons hot sauce

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons baking powder

1½ teaspoons sea salt

1 teaspoon poultry seasoning

⅛ teaspoon celery seed

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Slice the tempeh horizontally, then on the diagonal to make 4 triangles per 12-ounce baking tray. Lightly oil the tray and place the triangles on the tray and into the oven. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, flipping after about 6 minutes.

In a bowl, whisk together soy milk, apple cider vinegar, and hot sauce to make the “buttermilk” ingredients, and set aside.

Combine the flour, baking powder, sea salt, poultry seasoning, and celery seed in a large bowl and whisk together well.

Heat oil in a large, heavy pot. Use shallow oil for a less fatty dish, or a pot full of oil for deep-frying. (If you can, use a thermometer and keep the oil at 325 degrees for best results. You may need to adjust temperature if you are frying a lot of tempeh, as it will cool off.) Always use tongs for safety!

Line up 2 shallow bowls for the dredging process. Fill one with the flour and the other with the “buttermilk.” Use one hand for wet and one for dry (unless you like big, globby fingertips!). Take a tempeh triangle in hand and dip it in flour using your dry hand, put it in buttermilk and coat it with your wet hand, then put back in flour and use your dry hand to cover up tempeh before handling. Repeat dipping in the buttermilk and flour once more.

Now you’re ready for frying. Using your tongs, gently place the tempeh in the oil. You will need to turn it once so that both sides get all golden brown and crispy. The total frying time is about 4 minutes, depending on how many pieces of tempeh you’re frying at once. Fry until a golden-brown color is achieved. Then remove with tongs and place on a paper-towellined plate. Repeat the process with the other tempeh triangles.

Serve topped with cashew gravy and enjoy with your favorite sides. It is also very good cold and perfect for a picnic, served with potato salad, baked beans, and biscuits.

Tofu Omelet Sheets

Serves 6

For the omelet:

1½ blocks firm tofu

1½ tablespoons arrowroot (or cornstarch) mixed well with ¼ cup water

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

2 teaspoons onion powder

1¼ teaspoons sea salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon black pepper

⅛ teaspoon turmeric (for color)

Oil for greasing and frying

For the filling:

Vegan cheese

Chopped vegetables, your choice (mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, asparagus, spinach)

Fresh herbs, your choice (oregano, basil, chives)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Crumble tofu into food processor bowl and add the rest of the omelet ingredients except the oil. Process until all ingredients are completely blended together and perfectly smooth. It’s a good idea to turn off the food processor and give the mixture a good stir with a rubber spatula, then turn it back on to finish.

Lightly oil a jellyroll pan (13 x 18), and line it with parchment paper. Scoop the tofu mixture into pan, and spread tofu evenly to the sides. Take another piece of parchment paper, lightly oil one side of it, and place oiled-side down on top of the tofu. You can also even out the mixture a little easier with this top sheet on—use your hands to gently pat and make sure there are no uneven spots.

Bake for about 12 minutes, checking after 10 minutes. It’s a good idea to rotate the pan back to front after about 6 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven when the parchment paper turns yellow.

Once cool, take off top piece of parchment paper. Run a butter knife around the edges to separate the omelet from sides of pan and gently remove the bottom piece of parchment paper. Make 1 vertical cut down the middle and 2 horizontal cuts, making 6 even omelet sheets. Heat a lightly oiled pan over a medium flame. Place the omelet onto the pan, smooth-side down. Sprinkle filling ingredients on half of the sheet and fold. Top with more cheese and cover until hot. Remove and serve.

Skillet Cornbread

Serves 6–10

1 to 2 tablespoons Earth Balance butter substitute

1 cup cornmeal (medium ground)

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

½ cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup soy or rice milk

⅓ cup oil

Egg replacer for 2 eggs (follow directions on box)

For the topping (optional):

Earth Balance butter substitute

Agave syrup

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Put 1 or 2 tablespoons Earth Balance butter substitute (or other vegan margarine) into a 9" cast-iron skillet and put in the heated oven for about 10 minutes.

Add together the dry ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl and whisk together, combining thoroughly. Set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together all the wet ingredients (soy or rice milk through egg replacer). Add wet ingredients to dry and mix well, just until all of the dry mixture is incorporated with the wet. Some small lumps are okay.

Remove skillet from oven and coat bottom and sides with the melted Earth Balance. Pour (or scrape) batter into skillet, spreading evenly with rubber spatula. Bake for approximately 20 to 25 minutes in the middle of the center rack. Test the center of corn bread with a toothpick after 20 minutes. When the toothpick comes out clean without crumbs sticking to it, the corn bread is done. Let it cool for a few minutes and, if desired, serve with Earth Balance and agave syrup.