Ed Sheeran's enjoyed a meal at one of these new vegan cafes in Cape Town

Whether you live a vegan lifestyle for ethical reasons or are a flexitarian choosing to eat plant-based meals for health, variety and balance, the main thing is freshness and flavour.

Meet two new vegan restaurant owners who have revved up the creativity and are appealing to vegans and “carnists” alike.

KIND KITCHEN

Jason McNamara studied vegan culinary arts in Austin, Texas, as part of a varied career spanning yoga teaching, event production, and documentary film making. Kind Kitchen started in his home kitchen on Uber Eats before finding a permanent home at Woodstock Brewery.

“Our aim is to make good food which just happens to be vegan because we ourselves are,” says Jay. “We are vegan for animal welfare, then environmental issues and then health.”

Ed Sheeran and Passenger enjoyed the Southern style “chicken” sandwich during their Cape Town tour. 

Other signature dishes include The F’egg aka the fried “egg” sandwich, which is made of tofu, vegan mozzarella, their signature gooey vegan egg yolk, and spinach on toasted sourdough. The Darkside Burger is their take on a vegan peri-peri chicken burger.

“Our menu changes almost daily, depending on the seasons, available veg and our creative desires.”

Visit thekindkitchen.co.za

SUNSHINE FOOD CO.

The Sunshine Food Co. story starts in the garden. In 2013 Elisha Madzivadondo left his profession as a butler and started growing sprouts and microgreens on land at Oude Molen.

“I wanted to promote vegan as a lifestyle, something inclusive,” he says, himself a vegan for many years. “If you’re not vegan, be flexitarian.”

His wife, Abigail, used the nutrient-dense sprouts to perfect a healthy vegan burger patty that could be flipped without crumbling, which they sold at local food markets. The leap to the permanent, pocket-size cafe in Sea Point came when a regular market customer, a doctor, was so impressed with the nutritious and tasty burgers that he created a space within his practice for them to open the cafe, the sunshine-yellow frontage opening onto Main Road.

Here you can enjoy fresh juices and the Sunshine burger in a choice of four styles: bunless, lavishly plated with black bean salsa, cultured lemon sauce, hummus, chickpea dhal and microgreens; in a charcoal bun, a wrap, or their latest “veggie-ritto”, a burrito-meets-sushi creation using nori and sushi rice.

Visit facebook.com/SunshineFoodCT

This article was originally published in the Sunday Times Neighbourhood: Property and Lifestyle guide. Visit Yourneighbourhood.co.za