Plant-based eating is no trend. It’s just plain smart. The National Institutes of Health points out that it has the potential to save health dollars and people’s lives by supporting weight loss, reducing needs for certain medications, bolstering heart health, managing diabetes (even reversing type 2 diabetes), decreasing the risk of most chronic diseases from high blood pressure to hyperlipidemia, lowering certain cancer risk factors and more.
Meat and potatoes have had their heyday. In 2020, vegetarian and vegan eating has become a full-scale way of life for a growing number of people. These four destinations in Berks County excel at making your dining experience not only delicious, but nutrient-rich from soup to nuts.
Good Life Organics: Juice It Up
Joel Moceri, co-owner of Good Life Organics, lays out the evolution of his establishment in Shillington saying, “The Juice Bar opened 18 months ago. The plan originally was to have just cold-pressed juices, yogurt parfaits and oatmeals — gluten-free baked oatmeal — but where we are located, there are 25 to 30 employees in house, plus their clients and traffic and a gym open to the public. So we found ourselves hard-pressed to offer food as well! Now we offer a lot of really high-quality organic food. Our main goal is to ensure and motivate a new generation of individuals to eat farm-to-table foods, locally sourced foods.”
The restaurant was founded on smoothies and smoothie bowls. “Not many smoothie bowls exist in Berks County,” says Moceri. “And they’re the hit! They’re vegan across the board — delicious and high quality. We use superfoods, nutrient-dense foods, in our smoothies and smoothie bowls.” The Spinach Salad culls super-duper add-ons, with ingredients from kale to goji berries, and the pizzas, soups and sandwiches are absolutely mouth-watering.
2395 Lancaster Pike, Shillington
610.924.2862
The Farmhouse Kitchen: Ramping up Nutrition
Since her opening on Penn Avenue in West Reading, Martie Samuel’s The Farmhouse Kitchen has grown increasingly plant-based. Her menu-standard vegan dishes are customer favorites, “rotating according to the season and availability of products,” she says. “There’s always a Vegan Burger, though the sauce, greens and beans might change. The grain bowls are also popular, and they’re based on whole grains. We do a lot with micro greens and shoots — broccoli sprouts, sunflower seeds — as we’re always trying to make dishes more nutrient-dense. Those greens and shoots are really nutrient-dense.”
This year, the restaurant will be making their own vegan cheese and adding jackfruit to the menu. Samuels is excited about the future. “It’s amazing how much the population has changed; the numbers of people who came in and used to order meat dishes but who are now trying the vegan and vegetarian meals.” She adds, “From the standpoint of health, the planet, and how animals are treated, it’s the only way to go.”
426 Penn Avenue, West Reading
484.869.5193
HIVE Café: Vegetarian and Vegan Cheesesteaks
Robyn Jasko of Kutztown’s premiere vegetarian and vegan restaurant, HIVE Café, happily reveals the catchy name’s origin: “It’s named HIVE because it’s a hive of activity! We’re very busy. We also have a farm and a hot sauce company.”
But that’s not all. Jasko also authored the book, Homesweet Homegrown: How to Grow, Make and Store Food, No Matter Where You Live. “There’s been a huge rise in mindful eating,” she says. And the HIVE Burger is “definitely” the most popular menu item, she says. “It’s made from scratch. It’s not any of those ‘beyond burger’ foods. It’s an actual vegetable burger.” A close second is HIVE’s Vegetarian or Vegan Cheesesteak. “My husband came up with this one! It uses local seitan from Allentown.” Also, it’s topped with Homesweet Homegrown heirloom marinara, served with or without onions.
236 W. Sacony Alley, Kutztown
610.737.7836
Firefly Café and Outpost: Home-Cooked, Made with Love
Loriann Wade of Firefly Café in Boyertown “went vegetarian 25 years ago.” She is now vegan. Popular standouts on the menu include the Black Bean Burger as well as an Oven Roasted Portobello Sandwich. Grilled Cheese with Avocado and a Quinoa Salad are luscious options as well.
“I have to say though, that it’s our specials that really bring people in. My husband, Michael Martinez, and I cook everything ourselves. We’re actually home cooks; we just love cooking. Everything Firefly evolved from that. It’s all home-cooked, not batch-produced, made with love, with someone’s actual hands,” she says.
After Firefly Café opened in April 2016, they expanded to a vegan grocery in October 2017 and a vegan Airbnb the following month. “What surprises people the most about Firefly is how approachable it is, and you don’t have to know much about vegan and vegetarian food. We make everyone feel welcome, especially people who are skeptical coming in for the first time. We want people to know that vegan food is delicious. It’s good for the environment, good for your health, for the animals…it’s all good.”
12 N. Reading Avenue, Boyertown
484.415.5066
