Launched by an Italian couple fascinated with Indian culture and the principles of nature, Mudra Café is an organic vegan restaurant and cultural space uniting the disciplines of holistic wellness, natural food, and the arts.

Is this your first restaurant?

Yes.

When did it open?

2010.

Do you want to have more than one restaurant?

Maybe.

What’s your favorite dish on the menu?

Tagliata ai Carciofi e Chardonnay: sliced seitan with artichokes, olives, and Chardonnay.

What’s your most popular appetizer?

Tagliere Mudra: wheat salami with organic bread and homemade vegan mayonnaise.

What’s the most popular entrée on the menu?

Lasagna di kamut: kamut Italian organic lasagna.

What’s your most popular dessert?

Vegan organic tiramisu.

What do you feel is special about your restaurant?

The ambience, the natural food, an elegant but cozy atmosphere, where everybody feels at home and people can relax and feel good.

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

Yes, we have daily specials and different menus for each season. We serve only seasonal food.

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

Of course—lactose-free, gluten-free. All our dishes are also free from refined sugar or additives.

What do you do to reduce your environmental impact?

We divide the trash into paper, plastic, and glass, and we have a low carbon footprint in terms of electrical usage.

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

That people who come to us are gods and goddesses and everyone is divine. When you serve God, you are doing something for the Universe.

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

We’ve been vegan for the past fifteen years. It was a natural choice for us.

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?

Now in Italy there is more consumer demand, and it’s an expanding field.

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

The vision is the same, but we always add new things and new dishes for our clients to give them the best.

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

It will grow in Italy but we also see lots of potential in India.

Tagliata ai Carciofi e Chardonnay

Serves 4

4 artichokes

½ cup lemon juice

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1½ cups seitan

1 cup black olives

1 cup Chardonnay

Black pepper

Gomasio*

* Available in health food stores.

Preheat the oven to 360 degrees. Clean the artichokes by removing the stems and the hard outer petals and cutting off their thorny tops. Then cut the artichokes in half, dividing them down the length of the buds, and cut those halves into slices, around ⅛". Rinse the artichoke pieces immediately and place them in a bowl filled with water and lemon juice to prevent them from becoming oxidized. Let them rest for a few minutes in the water and lemon juice, then drain them and place them in a baking dish. Reserve the marinating water for use later.

Add the extra-virgin olive oil and soy sauce to the dish, coating the artichoke evenly, and let it marinate for about 10 minutes. After marinating, place the pan in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.

In the meantime, take the seitan and slice diagonally into small pieces. Place in a pan and sprinkle with soy sauce, olive oil, and a drop of water, and slightly warm the seitan so that it softens further.

Once the artichoke has baked a full 20 minutes, remove the pan and reheat the oven to 350 degrees. Add the seitan and olives to the baking pan, dousing the whole mixture with the Chardonnay and a little marinating water. Mix the contents of the pan and reinsert it in the oven. Bake again for 10 minutes. Once cooked, portion out the artichoke-seitan into dishes and finish with a light dusting of black pepper and gomasio.

Raw Pumpkin Lasagna with Italian Pesto

Serves 4

For the lasagna:

10 porcini mushrooms

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons tamari

1 small pumpkin

½ cup lemon juice

1 teaspoon Himalayan sea salt

For the pesto:

1 cup fresh spinach

½ cup fresh sage leaves

½ cup pistachios

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon nutritional yeast flakes

For the vegan cheese:

½ cup macadamia nuts

½ cup cashews

⅓ cup water

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon natural yeast flakes

½ tablespoon fresh lemon juice

For the garnish:

1 grated macadamia nut

Start with the lasagna. Preheat the oven to 110 degrees. Cut the mushrooms into slices, season with 2 tablespoons olive oil and tamari, and place them in the oven to dry for 2 hours.

Remove the pumpkin skin and seeds and cut the flesh into ⅛" slices and marinate with remaining olive oil, lemon juice, and salt.

Gather together all the ingredients for the pesto and load them into the food processor. Pulse the food processor until the ingredients form a paste.

Move the pesto into another container, clear out the food processor, and load in all of the ingredients for the vegan cheese. Pulse the food processor until the vegan cheese binds together.

To assemble the lasagna, on a plate add the first “sheet” of lasagna with pumpkin and top that with a layer with mushrooms followed by pesto and finally cheese. Repeat with a second layer of pumpkin, mushrooms, pesto, and cheese. Finish with a final layer of pumpkin and decorate with grated macadamia.