Plant Power: The Best Plant-Based and Vegan Restaurants in Rhode Island

Sweet Treats

Cruelty-free cakes and cookies.

Celebrated
This 100 percent vegan bakery and new dessert shop, recently opened in Warwick, specializes in all kinds of plant-based pastries. Baker Becky Morris is known for her vegan French macarons, cupcakes, cookies and cookie dough, and she can also create custom cakes for any occasion. 901 Warwick Ave., Warwick, celebrated.co

Wildflour Vegan Bakery
Venture over to Wildflour for dessert, right next door to sister restaurant Garden Grille and nearby Rasoi. This 100 percent vegan bakery is known for raw vegan cheesecake, cupcakes, scones, cookies and delicious gluten-free chocolate brownies and a full vegan espresso bar. 727 East Ave., Pawtucket, 475-4718, wildflourbakerycafe.com

The cannoli tacos, or taccoli, from Miss Vegan bakery. Photography by Angel Tucker.

Miss Vegan
Miss Vegan bakery handles custom cake and cupcake catering orders while working on opening a storefront. Known for inventing plant-based cannoli tacos called taccoli, the bakery also bakes pies, tarts, cheesecakes, doughnuts, bars, cake pops, truffles, cookies and more. Look for Miss Vegan at popups, festivals and farmers markets. missvegan.co —J.C.

Vegan Victors

People who have gone plant-based share their experiences.

Karen Krinsky, co-owner of Like No Udder
Vegan for: I became vegetarian in 1985 and vegan on New Year’s 1993 (so vegan for twenty-seven years).
Reason for going vegan: There’s no question that my ethical stance on animal cruelty and exploitation has always been the driving force for my vegan lifestyle. If people can be kinder to animals, surely we would be kinder to each other.
Go-to meals: I think noodles should be their own food group — ramen, pasta in marinara sauce, stir-fried udon — or whatever my husband, Chris, feeds me (he’s a great cook!).

Peter Carvelli, owner of Twelve Plants
Vegan for: Three years, vegetarian for most of my adult life.
Reason for going vegan: The main reasons are concern for environment, my health and the animals, in that order. The environment was what inspired the change. It’s the overall environmental impact from the production of meat from the amount of water it takes to produce it and the effects from greenhouse gases.
Go-to meal: The meal I like to make the most is my barbecue maple roasted carrot because everything on the plate is carrot. It’s the carrot itself, carrot puree, carrot crumble and the carrot top salsa verde.

Laura Barlow, president of Rhode Island Vegan Awareness (veganawareness.org) and high school art teacher
Vegan for: Twenty-one years. I went vegan when I was in high school.
Reason for going vegan: I went vegan after learning about the way that animals are treated on factory farms and in slaughterhouses. I watched undercover video footage and researched the benefits of a vegan lifestyle. I have always been a big animal lover and did not want to contribute to their suffering. I was relieved to find a lifestyle that not only benefited my health but also showed love and compassion to others. Now I am proud to be vegan for the environment, the animals and my health.
Go-to meal: Panko-crusted tempeh with a side of creamy mac and cheese.

Robin Dionne, consultant and co-founder of RI VegFest
Vegan for: Twenty years, since I was eighteen.
Reason for going vegan: I was vegetarian first, and I never enjoyed eating meat, dating back to childhood. I had not been aware of the factory farming and mistreatment of animals that occurs during dairy production, and there was no way I could continue consuming it after I knew.
Go-to meals: I love to try new things, and part of my goal with RI VegFest is to promote the idea of a plant-based lifestyle to restaurants that are not the typical go-to places. Trinity Brewhouse has some great vegan menu options now and I spend a lot of time there.

Maria Tocco, founder of Providence Flea
Vegan for: A few months so far.
Reason for going vegan: Three reasons actually. My doctor was strongly encouraging me to take a statin to reduce my high cholesterol level. I knew several people personally for whom a plant-based diet showed quick, extreme and lasting results. 2. As an animal lover, I couldn’t reconcile rescuing one animal and eating another. And 3. Considering myself an informed consumer, there was no way I could reconcile knowing what some of these industries are doing to the planet and consuming their products anyway. My cholesterol results have dropped exactly seventy points from last year.
Go-to meals: Once you change up your pantry and stock the fridge, it’s pretty easy and mostly painless. For breakfast it’s a tofu scramble. For lunch, it’s a salad with quinoa and edamame. For dinner, I love an Indian or Thai curry with tofu or a plant substitute for chicken.

Joshua Lee Clark, vegan bodybuilder, East Providence
Vegan for: Eighteen months.
Reason for going vegan: Animal cruelty awareness.
Go-to meals: Clark works out five days in the gym for two hours a day, which includes stretching, twenty minutes of cardio and ninety minutes of weight training. The other two days, he does calisthenic training. In order to get enough protein to sustain his workouts, he eats five meals a day and supplements with raw plant-based protein powder in his shakes and consumes lots of oatmeal, bananas, fruit, beans and his favorite, vegan-style risotto. —J.C.

Photography courtesy of the individuals.

Basil and Bunny owners Lyslie and Mathiew Medeiros at their plant-based food trailer. Photography by Angel Tucker.

Basil and Bunny

A new plant-based food trailer hits the road.

Even if you didn’t get a ticket to the sold-out RI Veg Fest in February, you might already be familiar with Basil and Bunny, the plant-based food truck based out of East Providence that debuted at the festival. Lyslie Medeiros has been sharing photos of her gorgeous vegan food creations on Instagram (@basilandbunny) for the past few years. Here, she talks about launching her “dream project” with husband, Mathiew Medeiros, and how you can eat healthier versions of your favorite indulgences.

Tell us about Basil and Bunny.
The menu is seasonal, and it’s all health-focused comfort food. You can have slightly healthier versions of your favorite foods. We’ve got chipotle chili, bourbon pineapple jackfruit and homemade tater tots with our own vegan cheese sauce. We’ve got two kinds of grain bowls, and blueberry and apple/lychee “pop tarts,” too.

Basil and Bunny’s vegan cheesesteak sandwich. Photography by Angel Tucker.

Is this all food you dreamed upin your kitchen?
It really just starts with an idea of what we want to eat, and what we think people will want to eat. Everything that we do is homemade. The burger patties on the Bunny Mak (a plant-based riff on a Big Mac) are all homemade. We make our own seitan, too. We didn’t want to sacrifice any of the quality or the taste, so we wanted to make sure anything we’re doing
is ours.

Where can people try Basil and Bunny?
We’re doing mostly events, booking with local breweries and doing pop-ups. Our calendar is on our website with everywhere the food trailer will be. We knew a food trailer would be a good place for us to start, so we can see what menu items people are really gravitating towards. We’re hoping to do a brick and mortar in the next year or two. basilandbunny.com —J.T.