As a vegan, eating breakfast out in the world can be difficult. It’s easy to whip up a batch of pancakes without eggs and cows’ milk at home, but most chefs haven’t quite mastered the art of dairy-free flapjacks just yet. Luckily, we now have the Killer Vegan Pop-Up Brunch.
Killer Vegan will soon become New Jersey’s first and only all vegan diner and deli, and once they’re able to open in their own space, they will be located in Union NJ. For now, they take over Lalibela in South Orange every other Sunday.
The Killer Vegan brunch is an all-you-can eat buffet that features some of the best breakfast food in New Jersey – vegan or otherwise. The buffet includes, biscuits and gravy, pancakes, French toast, fried plantains, rice and beans, steamed greens, soy bacon, meatless sausages, tofu scramble and hashbrowns. Coffee, tea and juice and also included.
Janelle Soto is the owner and brains behind Killer Vegan, and the seed for the dinner was planted in the early days of her activism. “My desire was to open a space that was comfortable to vegans and non-vegans with regards to food and setting. I would not only contribute to my community - vegan and local - but, more importantly, I would be helping animals”, she says. Before 9/11, Janelle ran a vegan food cart outside the World Trade Center where she fed between 300 to 400 people daily, most of whom were not vegan or even vegetarian. The success of the food cart only cemented her desire to open a brick and mortar establishment.
Once it opens, Killer Vegan will serve up Latin, Italian and American comfort food. Everything will be made in house, using organic and fair-trade ingredients. Janelle has enlisted the help of Chef Alfredo, who brings with him over 15 years worth of experience in the industry. Janelle will be doing the baking and Alfredo will be doing the cooking. It will be Janelle who decides the menu, with Alfredo’s help.
The opening date for Killer Vegan will depend on funding. Money raised at the pop-up brunches goes towards opening in their own space, as does money raised in their IndieGoGo campaign, which ends later this week.
Like Killer Vegan on Facebook for updates or contact them through their website for any further information. The Killer Vegan Pop-Up brunch takes place from 10:00 to 2:00 on the first and third Sunday of every month at Lalibela Ethiopian Resturant, located at 261 Irvington Avenue in South Orange NJ.