Vegan Love arrives on 10th Street

Vegan Love is now in soft-open mode (as of Tuesday) in the former Quintessence space on 10th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue.

As we understand it, the chef from Quintessence is behind this raw-food venture. Vegan Love offers a smallish menu featuring several burgers (guac and mushroom) as well as a variety of create-your-own salads. In addition, there are sides, including daily soups, air-baked sweet potatoes and squash mac and cheese, as well as smoothies and desserts.

While there are several tables and stools inside, given the menu items, it looks to be a good to-go option.

Quintessence, the 17-year-old raw-food cafe, closed back in late June without any notice for patrons on its website or social-media properties. The space has been under renovation this past month.

Previously

Quintessence is not open this weekend

Several EVG readers have noted the renovations in progress this weekend at Quintessence, the 19-year-old raw-food cafe on 10th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue...



There's nothing on the cafe's website or social media properties noting the closure. (And their phone number is currently not in service.) However, a reader says that Quintessence will reopen early this coming week. Open Table indicates that reservations won't be available here until Tuesday.

Quintessence mourning death of an owner; wrapping up crowdfunding campaign to save restaurant

We heard that sad news that Steve Bohen, an owner of Quintessence and the husband of co-founder Mun Chan, died Tuesday night following a short illness. He was 62.

One friend of the couple shared this about Steve: "He was dedicated to making Quintessence a success and a truly wonderful human being."

Meanwhile, Quintessence, the 13-year-old vegan restaurant on East 10th Street, is currently fighting to keep the doors open.

The owners launched an Indiegogo campaign back on Dec. 27, and are not even close to their goal by midnight tomorrow. (Sorry for the short notice — we just learned of this ourselves.)

Here is part of the appeal from the owners:

A business such as this is not a money maker, or get rich and retire operation but more of a non-profit community serving operation serving a needing market. Therefore if we do not maintain a certain level of business to generate a certain level of cash-flow we will not survive. We do not have backers or investors to float us through a low season or even a momentary lull. We need customers daily to keep things moving.

All this said winter is particularly difficult for us as patrons tend to eat more cooked/hot foods pulling their business from us and going somewhere else. I understand and realize this as each year for the past 13 years this has been the case. We have run special incentive programs during the winter months in the past and they have help us until business picks up again but it was not so easy and it was only a small part of what carried us through the winter months.

This year has been particularly tough as the economy has forced our patron to spend less at the same time as Organic and Raw Products have jump in price to an all-time high. We try our best to offer our very special foods at a reasonable price but our cost of goods sold is simply too high for any substantial profitablility. All Quintessence owners work second jobs, our employees are paid first and the rest goes to operations cost.