Pizzeria creates niche with new vegan menu

Rochester Democrat & Chronicle

*Sigh*

Seems like all these vegan-friendly pizzerias are out on the East coast. I do have a pizza place near me in Hollywood that sells a vegan pizza using Follow Your Heart "mozzarella," but that's the one item on the menu (besides an extensive selection of eclectic brews) that I am willing to put in my body. I shouldn't complain, since it's a pretty good (if expensive) pizza, and I have a lot of other vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants near me here in Los Angeles, but I want to see a healthy vegan pizza competition, and it simply doesn't exist here yet.

A Rochester, NY, pizzeria has added not just vegan pizzas, but other vegan menu items that appear to be popular with all types of eaters:

The restaurant is claiming to be the first pizzeria in the Rochester region to introduce an extensive vegan menu, a move Nabar says reflects changing diets of local residents of the South Wedge and other nearby neighborhoods.

"We thought, 'No other pizzeria does anything like this,'" says Jill, a Rochester native. "We have a vegan employee who said there aren't a lot of places in Rochester for this."

Two Paisans has long produced meat-heavy specialties like the "upside-down" sausage pizza, which is considered upside-down because the sauce is poured on top of the cheese.

But the restaurant has an assorted menu of vegan items, including "Phillysteak" sandwiches, a Buffalo sandwich, a vegan "trash plate," a "trash plate" pizza and of course a build-your-own vegan pizza. The "meat" is made from wheat gluten, a spongy material that can soak up sauces.

"I like how they offer both vegan and classical meat-style (trash) plates," said Evan Guerin, 23, a regular South Wedge customer and self-described omnivore.

Guerin also does sign work for the restaurant as part of his graphics business. "Sometimes I like to get paid in food credit," he says.

Jill's husband, Ram, a district manager for the food service company Sodexho USA, said the move to introduce vegan was inspired by some research into the health benefits of the diet.

"The menu's also for people who are lactose-intolerant and who can't eat the cheese," Jill says.

Jill says the new menu has attracted a "phenomenal" response from college students and restaurant regulars alike and has been endorsed by a few local vegetarian societies.

The drive for a vegan menu was also fueled by the business hurdles that Two Paisans faces, such as volatile prices for key ingredients, delivery costs and staffing issues.

Like many other family-owned pizza shops, Two Paisans has focused on higher-valued specialty pizzas to keep business strong.

"The margins are not good in this business because everything is made from scratch," Jill says.

The vegan menu adds another dimension to the restaurant's specialty menu, she says.

I guess this points out yet another way vegans can help the animals (and other vegans in their area). By being willing to work in an omnivore-oriented diet, the vegan employee that suggested this change made a difference in an unlikely setting. It's important that vegan food become more accessible, if nothing else to make the option more available to people who are willing to try and even eat vegan food on a regular basis, even if they're not willing to go completely vegan. Many of these people would not necessarily step foot inside a vegan restaurant, and the diverse menu makes it easier to go eat out with groups, and for the restaurant to stay in business.

Categories: food | restaurants | pizza