Homemade, healthy, sometimes exotic, Green Cuisine’s flavorful food is served buffet-style.

Is this your first restaurant?

This is the first restaurant I’ve owned. Other vegetarian restaurants/kitchens where I have worked include Divine Light Mission, London, 1973; Supernatural Restaurant, Newcastle, 1975; East West Restaurant, London, 1980; and The Last Resort, Toronto, 1983.

When did Green Cuisine open?

November 1990.

Do you want to have more than one restaurant?

I want to have only one.

What’s your favorite dish on the menu?

Tofu noodle soup with focaccia bread.

What’s your most popular appetizer?

Falafel with tahini sauce.

What’s the most popular entrée on the menu?

Veggie gratin.

What’s your most popular dessert?

White and dark chocolate mousse cake.

What do you feel is special about your restaurant?

Everything! Our main feature is our pay-by-weight buffet that allows people to create their own meals by choosing as much or as little of exactly what they want from our wide selection of hot and cold dishes.

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

We change our menu daily, though we repeat the most popular dishes approximately once every two weeks. Our menu is posted online every day so that people can see when their favorites are being served.

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

We’re ninety-five percent gluten-free, and we have many soy-free dishes. Sugar-free is not a big issue with our customers, and we use a variety of sweeteners including dried whole cane juice, rice syrup, maple syrup, and organic cane sugar. All our dishes are clearly labeled with signs listing all the ingredients so people can easily select items to their liking.

What do you do to reduce your environmental impact?

First and foremost, we only offer vegan food! We also recycle everything we can. We compost our own scraps. We run our vehicles on used vegetable oil. We buy local and organic ingredients. We use earth-friendly cleaning products. And we use biodegradable takeout containers for those wanting food to go.

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

The most important lesson I have learned is to stick with your own vision but at the same time draw on the suggestions and feedback of others to keep that vision fresh.

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

At the age of eighteen, I looked into where my food came from, having never questioned it or given it a second thought before. Becoming conscious of the fact that meat is dead animals made me become a vegetarian. From the get-go, I loved vegetarian food and cooking: lentils, brown rice, carrots, soba noodles, oatmeal, sunflower seeds, kasha—the list goes on. I discovered a whole world of wonderful ingredients that continue to inspire me to this day. I went on to study macrobiotic cooking at the Kushi Institute and this further helped me refine my cooking style and commitment to a vegan diet and introduced me to yet more fascinating ingredients.

I opened Green Cuisine because I love cooking and I wanted to nourish and bring joy to others with my food. Discovering this way of eating was a revelation for me, and I hope that it can be a revelation for others, too.

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?

There is much more demand for vegan food these days. The vegan diet is more accepted and mainstream. I see the vegan movement as a branch of the larger natural-foods movement, which has evolved and will continue to evolve at a rapid rate; people are drawn to it because they want to feel good about their food choices and it tastes so good.

In the time since your restaurant first opened, has your view of what kind of food choices to offer changed? Has your view of what constitutes healthy and delicious food changed?

We offer a way of eating based on whole grains, beans, legumes, and vegetables cooked in a variety of styles, and that hasn’t changed. But over the years, we’ve drawn influence from many different culinary cultures around the world, and we’ll continue to develop and offer a wide range of new vegan recipes for our customers. Sometimes what’s old is new again. Good honest whole foods prepared with love and care will always have a timeless appeal; not only do they taste delicious, but our bodies instinctively recognize them as wholesome and beneficial.

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

Nowhere but up. Though there may be a few blips on the way! The younger generations are more educated regarding what they eat, and are more knowledgeable and concerned about the environmental impacts of their food choices. Barely a day goes by without the media linking meat-based diets to serious health concerns. At some point, the true cost of meat will be reflected in the cost at the cash register.

The way I see it, animal foods have an image problem similar to tobacco. The Marlboro Man used to look pretty cool, but now, not so much.

With the challenges to feed a growing population on a shrinking planet, people are realizing that veganism is not only a moral option but also a realistic necessity.

A top seller at Green Cuisine, these whole-grain patties develop a delicious crispy outer layer when fried.

Quinoa Patties (pictured opposite)

Makes 12 patties

3½ cups water

1¼ cups quinoa

¾ cup millet

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup diced onions

1 cup diced carrots

¼ cup oat flakes

¼ cup potato starch

cup Bragg Liquid Aminos

teaspoon cayenne

½ cup chopped walnuts

Oil for frying

In a saucepot, bring the water to a boil. Add the quinoa, millet, salt, onions, and carrots. Return to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, except oil; mix and mash a little with a potato masher. Shape the mixture into patties and put them on a tray in the refrigerator to cool. Just before serving, remove them from the fridge, heat a little oil in a pan, and fry them on both sides until crisp and golden.

A moist, tender cake with a deliciously gooey icing.

Peanut Butter Blondies

Serves 16

For the blondie base:

2¾ cups brown rice flour

1½ cups dried cane juice

½ cup shredded coconut

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon guar gum

1 cup sunflower oil

1 cup vegan butter

2½ cups soy or rice milk

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 cup chocolate chips, melted

For the icing:

½ cup soy milk or rice milk

½ teaspoon agar powder

¼ cup sugar

½ cup rice syrup

½ cup vegan butter

½ cup peanut butter

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients (through guar gum). Add the sunflower oil, vegan butter, soy milk, vanilla, and lemon juice one by one to the dry mixture, then mix well.

Separate the blondie mix into 2 batches. Pour half of the batter in to an oiled 12 x 9 rectangular cake pan. Add the melted chocolate chips to the remaining half, mixing well, and then pour that over the first half in the cake pan. Bake for 40 minutes. Test with a toothpick when done. Leave the cake in the pan to cool.

To make the icing, place all the icing ingredients, minus the peanut butter, in a pot and bring to a boil over low heat. Once boiled, whisk in the peanut butter until fully incorporated. Take the mixture off the heat and allow to cool a bit.

To assemble: Spread the slightly cooled icing over the cake (still in the pan). Drizzle a little more of the melted chocolate chips over the icing. Refrigerate until fully cooled, then cut into 16 servings.

These moist brownies are as chocolatey and as nutty as it gets without being overly sweet.

Praline Brownies

Serves 16

For the peanut butter filling/frosting:

½ cup soy milk or rice milk

½ teaspoon agar powder

¼ cup sugar

½ cup rice syrup

½ cup vegan butter

½ cup peanut butter

For the brownie base:

1¼ cups brown rice flour

½ cup dried cane juice

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon guar gum

4 cups chocolate chips

½ cup vegan butter, melted

¼ cup sunflower oil

1½ cups soy or rice milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Peanut butter filling/frosting (recipe above)

For the topping:

1½ cups roasted pecan pieces

¼ cup rice syrup

¼ teaspoon sea salt

Place all peanut butter filling/frosting ingredients, minus the peanut butter, in a pot and bring to a boil over low heat. Once the mixture has boiled, remove from the heat and whisk in the peanut butter. Separate into 2 batches and set aside in a warm place until the brownie base is ready.

To prepare the brownie base, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Mix the brown rice flour, dried cane juice, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and guar gum together. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate chips and vegan butter and stir into the dry mix along with the sunflower oil, soy or rice milk, and vanilla. Mix well and separate into 2 batches.

Spread the first batch of the brownie base into an oiled 12 x 9 rectangular cake pan. Carefully cover the brownie base with 1 batch of the peanut butter filling, then top that with the remaining half of the brownie mix. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove and cool.

To make the topping, on a sheet tray, roast the pecan pieces in the oven for 9 minutes. Carefully boil the rice syrup and sea salt, add the pecans, and keep heating and stirring to coat the nuts. Remove from the heat.

To assemble: Frost the baked brownies with the remaining half of the peanut butter mixture. Sprinkle the pecans on the top of the brownies. Cool before slicing.