Canada’s first one-hundred-percent gluten-free vegan restaurant, Lettuce Love Café features local and organic plant-based cuisine created with deliciously vibrant flavors.

Is this your first restaurant?

Not really. My husband Ken has been in the restaurant business all his life, and he has been very influential in our journey.

When did this restaurant open?

May 2010.

You have two restaurants. Do you want to have more?

Definitely we are moving toward more locations. We feel there is such a demand for what we do. Right now, we have people who drive from Toronto, Guelph, or London, Ontario (a one- to two-hour trip), and they aren’t even fazed by the drive. They just want to be a part of our culture and eat here as often as they can. And we want to be able to provide food to them wherever they live!

What’s your favorite dish on the menu?

Oooh, that’s a hard one. For breakfast, it’s either one of our organic green smoothies or green juices, along with a pumpkin seed muffin or our amazing World Peace Cookie (a gluten-free cookie made with oats and cranberries). If it’s lunch or dinner, wow, our vegan Caesar salad is to absolutely die for.

What’s your most popular appetizer?

Our soups seem to be the most in demand. These are made organic and fresh daily and are hearty and very popular.

What’s the most popular entrée on the menu?

We have an incredible sandwich called the B.L.A.T.: Bac’Uns, lettuce, avocado, tomato, and a little sea salt with our house-made mayo on toasted gluten-free bread.

What’s your most popular dessert?

Our Mile High Brownie is the best! It came in first place in Toronto’s Totally Fabulous Vegan Bake-Off in February 2012, against forty-eight other competitors, and crazily enough, we were the only gluten-free bakery, too! People drive for hundreds of miles for our goodies.

What do you feel is special about your restaurant?

The vibe. It’s very special. We have amazing, vibrant colors throughout and groovy music and lighting. We engage with all people who walk in our front door.

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

We don’t change our menu too often because people would be very upset if their favorites disappeared. But we have daily features and daily bakery features.

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

We are a one-hundred-percent gluten-free restaurant and bakery. This is a huge feat and we managed to get all gluten-free ingredients for our restaurant and bakery departments.

Also, all our baked goods are soy-free. We have a few items on our café menu that have soy ingredients, but if people ask, we will gladly omit anything with soy in it.

As for sugar-free, we never use refined sugar in anything. As sweeteners, we will use dates, banana, applesauce, maple syrup, coconut nectar, and raw evaporated cane juice.

What do you do to reduce your environmental impact?

Being kind to the environment is one of our three pillars—and as a one-hundred-percent plant-based whole-food café and bakery, we use ingredients that automatically bring us very close to being green and sustainable. You have to follow through, though, with recycled or plant-based packaging and postconsumer recyclable items and print materials. We make purchasing decisions based on how far our products have to travel and how they are packaged. And we share our passion with our staff and customers.

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

The restaurant business is hard work. It’s twentyfour/ seven. Even if you’re not physically there, you’re still there in your mind. As my husband (and restaurant coach) says, “you paint a picture one brushstroke at a time, and if you don’t have that picture in your head, you’ll paint a mess.”

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

Reading The China Study was the tipping point for me to change my diet to vegan. I was already vegetarian for a long time and then when I read about the ill effects of dairy and the corrupt dairy and food industry, my blinders came off. I took it one step further and studied plant-based nutrition at Cornell. At the same time, I watched Earthlings and I found out more about factory-farmed animals and the cruelty inflicted upon them.

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?

Way more demand now! I think the attention given to Bill Clinton and Ellen DeGeneres has helped us all to have a bigger voice. It has become trendy to eat vegan with all these celebrities going vegan and more and more people are realizing the health benefits that come from it.

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?

We decided to eliminate gluten in the restaurant. That has really been the only change in direction for us. None of us, in our family, have celiac disease or are gluten-intolerant per se; it was a voluntary thing, and now, strangely enough, we have never felt better in our lives.

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

I see it going huge. I mean really big. The healthcare system in the US is bankrupt. And people are realizing they need prevention—that is, nutrition from food, rather than drugs, to fix their ailments. Going plant-based is a natural cure-all, and one I promote wholeheartedly. I love that I have people coming to me from all over the world needing to know the first steps to going plant-based. Later they’re thanking us a million times over for helping them get off their medications or reversing their diabetes or losing weight. It’s just so rewarding!

My daughter Erinn and I have always had a sweet spot for carrot cake. This one we created without any wheat or gluten in it. We wanted to make sure it was still just as moist and full of flavor as the one we used to bake. Pineapple and coconut help to boost the natural sweetness of carrots, and they also enhance the grated carrot in the cake and give you a really nice texture and mouthfeel. We love this one!

Kelly and Erinn’s Carrot Cake

Serves 10–16

3½ cups gluten-free all-purpose flour (we use Bob’s Red Mill)

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1½ teaspoons xanthan gum

1 teaspoon salt

1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon allspice

1¼ cups unsweetened coconut milk

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

2 cups evaporated cane juice

¼ cup maple syrup

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1¼ cups canola oil or melted coconut oil

¼ cup hot water

3½ cups grated carrots

¼ cup shredded unsweetened coconut

¼ cup drained pineapple pieces

½ cup raisins

For the cream cheeze frosting:

1 cup palm shortening or Earth Balance shortening*

1½ cups vegan cream cheese

2 tablespoons coconut nectar or maple syrup

Pinch sea salt

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

6½ cups powdered sugar, sifted

½ cup shredded coconut (garnish; optional)

* These are organic and nonhydrogenated.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare three 9" cake pans with nonstick spray or parchment paper cut to line the bottom of pans.

To a medium-size mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and allspice, and dry whisk to combine. Set aside. In small bowl, combine coconut milk and apple cider vinegar and let sit for about 5 minutes.

In a large bowl combine evaporated cane juice, maple syrup, vanilla, and oil and mix with a hand or standing mixer. Add the coconut milk and vinegar mixture and mix again with an electric hand mixer. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture in the large bowl and process with a mixer until combined and the batter begins to thicken (due to the xanthan gum). Gently add in the hot water and stir until combined. Fold in the carrots, coconut, pineapple, and raisins.

Pour the batter equally into 3 cake pans. Place the cake pans into the heated oven and bake for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

For the frosting: With an electric hand mixer or a tabletop mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the shortening and the cream cheese until combined. Add the coconut nectar (or maple syrup), salt, and vanilla, and continue to mix until combined. Add the sifted powdered sugar in small batches until combined, then mix on high speed for about 2 to 3 minutes until you have desired consistency. Keep covered in sealed container in refrigerator until ready to use.

Cool the cake. Then gently remove the layers and place the first layer on the serving plate that the final cake will rest on. Place three-fourths of the frosting onto the layer and smooth out to edges; add the second layer and repeat with the remaining frosting, gently smoothing out to edges and on the sides with a wide knife or spatula. If you’re using coconut to garnish: Over top of a cookie sheet (or a sheet of parchment or foil), place a handful of coconut in your hand and with the palm of your hand, push the coconut in place on all sides of the cake until fully covered. (The cookie sheet will catch all the coconut that falls and you can clean up quickly and neatly.)

My husband loved and missed Reubens once we went to a one-hundred-percent plant-based diet. It became my mission to reproduce a vegan version as best as I possibly could.

Tempeh Reuben

Serves 4

For the tempeh marinade:

cup beet juice

¼ cup pickling or sauerkraut juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

teaspoon minced garlic

Juice of ½ lemon

For the Russian dressing:

½ cup vegan mayo

¼ cup ketchup

2 tablespoons finely diced dill pickles

1 teaspoon finely diced red onion

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

teaspoon brown mustard (optional)

For the tempeh:

1 9-ounce package of tempeh

½ cup Daiya Cheddar-Style Shreds

To assemble:

8 slices of gluten-free bread (we use Organic Works Chia Buckwheat Bread)

1 cup sauerkraut, drained (we use nonpasteurized for a healthier fermented option)

For the tempeh marinade: Place marinade ingredients into a small mixing bowl and whisk together very well or put into a small food processor and process until combined, about 5 seconds. Pour the marinade into a 13 x 9 roasting pan or cake pan.

For the Russian dressing: In a small mixing bowl, use a spoon to gently combine dressing ingredients until fully incorporated.

For the tempeh: Heat a steamer pot. Once hot, place the tempeh in the steamer for about 5 minutes, until you see it slightly swell and plump up.

Take the tempeh out of the steamer, place on a chopping block, and let it cool to the touch. Cut it in half so you have 2 rectangular blocks. Then take each rectangular block and slice it carefully through the middle so that you have 4 thin rectangles.

Place the tempeh in the prepared 13 x 9 pan and marinate the pieces on both sides for about 30 minutes minimum in the fridge. (You can marinate overnight and store the tempeh slices in a sealed container for up to 3 days.)

Heat an iron skillet over medium heat. Once hot, put the 4 tempeh slices in the skillet. You should hear them sizzle. Sear on the first side for about 4 minutes and then flip over each piece of tempeh. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of Daiya shreds on each tempeh piece and then place a lid on the skillet to melt the cheese for about 3 to 4 minutes.

To assemble: Toast the bread. Top 4 slices with 2 tablespoons of Russian dressing and 2 to 3 tablespoons of sauerkraut, then place the tempeh with melted Daiya on top. Top with 1 more tablespoon of sauerkraut and final slice of toast.