At The Purple Fern you’ll want to eat your greens
283 Oxford Avenue | 585-563-7633
redfernrochester.com
As Andrea Parros labored to open The Purple Fern, she was involved about launching with an all-vegan menu. She puzzled if vegan meals was widespread sufficient in Rochester for the restaurant she had in thoughts to outlive.
However a dialog with Joel Capolongo, proprietor of Syracuse’s extraordinarily in style vegan and informal restaurant Robust Hearts, modified her thoughts. He reminded her vegan restaurant can be extra in step with her private beliefs and inspired her to take the chance.
Parros, a 42-year resident of the Park Avenue neighborhood, opened The Purple Fern in September 2013 and the restaurant’s vegan consolation meals menu was a fast hit. It’s now widespread to stroll in at meal time to see a eating room with few or no empty tables and some individuals milling across the counter ready for his or her takeout orders. CITY readers have chosen it as Rochester’s Greatest Vegetarian/Vegan Restaurant for the second 12 months in a row.
“I’ve made peace with the truth that even when I do that and fail, I simply must know,” Parros stated from a desk within the nook of his institution’s cozy eating room.
With The Purple Fern, Parros constructed on what she realized as a founding accomplice of The Owl Home. She helped be sure that the restaurant’s menu had vegan and gluten-free choices, and she or he noticed that a lot of clients gravitated towards these dishes.
She expanded that method to the menu at The Purple Fern by offering vegan variations of acquainted dishes and providing extra choices for individuals with sensitivities akin to allergic reactions or meals intolerances. Parros stated the restaurant’s best-selling dish is the compost plate, her model of a Rochester staple. The nachos and mac and cheese on the menu are made with cashew cheese. The “steak” within the steak and potatoes is seitan, a chewy and flavorful meat various produced from wheat gluten.
Parros believes that, above all else, his restaurant must serve good meals. The Purple Fern appears to have hit the mark, and lots of patrons who aren’t vegetarian or vegan have raved in regards to the restaurant’s meals with Parros.
“We have had individuals right here nearly drop their fork and go ‘Oh my gosh, is that this vegan?'” Parros stated. — JEREMY MOULE
Finalists: New Ethic Pizzeria & Cafe | The Owl Home | Voula Greek Sweets
