An Interview With The Only Vegan Staff Member at a Vegan Restaurant
I’ve been a vegetarian for about three months, and let me tell you how damn hard it is to eat on a strict diet (and being vegetarian isn’t even that strict of a diet). I’ve been craving Jim’s Wings since week one of this food adventure I decided to start, and it has been ROUGH.
There’s this vegan place in Old Town called Tasty Harmony and let me tell you, the food is stellar. I knew they had a hot wing substitute; so I strolled in one beautiful Wednesday afternoon to fulfill this craving. I also decided to talk to a resident vegan, Isabela Rosales, about her food adventure into veganism (a two birds one stone type of thing. Except no animals were harmed during this interview, because of the whole vegan thing).
Q: Before we get into super detailed stuff, can you just tell me a little about yourself?
A: Yeah! I’m 23. I grew up in Iowa, and I graduated from a liberal arts school there. I just moved out here with my boyfriend and my dog.
Q: Sweet, I grew up in Illinois! You like it here?
A: The atmosphere here is very different, but I’m digging it so far. We moved here in September and I’ve been working here (at Tasty Harmony) since October.
Q: So, what drove you to be a vegan? How long have you been doing it for?
A: Well, I had been a vegetarian ever since I was like 10. I think PETA was the organization that really got me into it. I was one of those kids with PETA stickers all over my backpack.
Q: You were a PETA kid??
A: Yeah, I was a PETA kid! I was getting all riled up about KFC in the 6th grade. So I guess I showed promise in that way. I’ve only been a vegan for about a year and a half. It was kind of just like why not, you know? I had been a vegetarian for a decade, this seemed like the next step. It helps me pick out more vegetables when I grocery shop. I’m more aware of what I put in my body. I put less of a list in my body, if that makes sense? I also watched this documentary called Earthlings that moved me towards veganism.
Q: I’ve heard documentaries move people towards veganism and vegitarinism, that’s really cool.
A: I mean everyone likes animals right? But aside from that there is a lot of environmental sustainability reasons just for not eating meat, particularly red meat. Cowspiracy is another good documentary on the subject.
Q: So, I know Tasty Harmony is pretty socially and environmentally conscious, could you speak to that a bit?
A: Sure! So, what Tasty Harmony is most proud of, is that most of our fresh produce comes from the Steinhauser family’s garden. They own the restaurant, and work very hand in hand with us. Sacha and Jill are here everyday for a couple hours, which is awesome, because it’s not like we’re just thrown to the wolves. Beyond that though, over 90 percent of the food is sourced here in Colorado. Our menu rotates twice a year, during the summer and winter. During the winter we’re technically a vegetarian restaurant, because we have cheese on the menu. But, you can easily substitute that out with our cashew cheese. So the restaurant is 100 percent vegan if you want it to be!
Q: What do you like to eat here and what’s your guilty pleasure?
A: If I’m trying to be health conscious, I like to get a Samurai Bowl. It’s sesame crusted tempeh over rice, veggies and with a wasabi dressing. But you can eat shitty as a vegan too, like oreos are vegan. At the restaurant, if I’m treating myself, I like to get the Seitan Hot Wings extra fried with buffalo sauce. They’re essentially a vegan hot wing, and they’re SO good. At home though, I like to buy vegan cookie dough and put an avocado, a banana, and a scoop of peanut butter in it and just eat it “raw”. It’s literally my favorite thing to do.
Q: You had mentioned eating holistically. Can you touch on your own shopping habits?
A: Of course! My boyfriend and I shop almost exclusively at this discount grocery store called Esh’s, and for the couple things we can’t find there we’ll go to Whole Foods or Sprouts. Where I’m from in Iowa, we have a really cool co-op where we would shop all the time. Eating local was super important to me growing up. That’s my one knock on Fort Collins. There is a co-op, but it’s super tiny. Maybe there’s just more ranchers than local farmers, but it seems like you have to know people or come to a restaurant like this and spend more money.
My interview with Isabela was super fun, and it was cool to get to know more about a restaurant I’m already a pretty big fan of. I tried her extra fried buffalo seitan wing recommendation and let me tell ya, SO GOOD. You can find out more about Tasty Harmony on their site http://tastyharmony.com/