CLINTON – Nicole Broushet and her husband Victor didn’t just start a vegan restaurant in downtown Clinton; You are creating a community with a mission to promote healthy eating and more nutritious food security.
“Clinton is a very special place,” said Broushet. “We fell in love with the deep sense of community and wanted to contribute to it. Eating is one of those things that brings people together in very special ways, and we feel healthy, nutritious food is the best way to celebrate that togetherness, sense of community and compassion that binds what we eat and how we eat . “
The Vegan Nest, 54 High St., offers plant-based whole foods, mostly freshly prepared, such as soups, salads, sandwiches and appetizers such as a “steak” and cheese and French crpe. The drinks include handmade herbal teas, smoothies, lemonades and their “signature agroforestry herbal coffee alternative”, MoCa.
Broushet and her husband have long been vegan foodies, but when they first started training in culinary nutrition and health work, we started making meals to complement our work, she explained. They have learned to help others by incorporating more plant-based meals into people’s diets, even if they are not interested in being vegan.
First, the couple traveled around the east coast serving as some sort of plant-based food and health education missionary while hosting catering and pop-ups. They did everything from offering nutrition classes in New York City public schools to lecturing at universities, health programs, and even the United Nations.
In November 2017, they opened their location The Vegan Nest in Worcester, inspired by the revitalization of the city. Broushet said it was an “amazing experience” combining the way people consume and interact, and they created “a really special community of people with different backgrounds and dietary preferences who are just plain simple, delicious, and healthy To enjoy food”.
You can consider a variety of diet restrictions besides vegan. They also source their ingredients as non-GMO and / or organic products as much as possible from local farms and, when that is not possible, source them from an “organic, plant-forward” grocer in New York.
They plan to do the same in Clinton.
“In everything Clinton does to revitalize the area, we wanted to be part of something so positive in such a great community. We spend a lot of time here investing in a healthy and prosperous Clinton, ”she said.
Broushet said they were “grateful to be able to expand during a pandemic” but that doing so created numerous delays and challenges along the way, and there were moments when, despite what they had accomplished, they were not entirely sure what the future would bring.
It was a detour for Broushet and her family to do this work, but much of it has to do with their strong belief in Seventh-day Adventists.
At first it was her husband who came up with the name of her restaurant, The Vegan Nest. They had “prayed to find a way to leave our careers and go full-time in business and the church together in a way that also enables us to keep our children close and involved.”
Broushet was working as an organizational psychologist for large international non-governmental organizations and her husband had worked as an electrician for over 30 years. You lived in New York City because your husband is originally Queens; she is from Dallas, Texas.
“I remember sitting clearly in my living room at the end of my maternity leave, watching my then toddler laugh and play in the corner,” she said. “I thought to myself, ‘I don’t want to miss a second of this.’ So in my heart I made up my mind to create something that would give our families the kind of togetherness we wanted. The freedom to use my talents and gifts to create healthy, loving spaces for my family and for others. “
Broushet said her denomination was “tremendously supportive” as “the voice of encouragement when we needed it most, the babysitters we needed when it took us 85 hours a week to finish construction provide ”sofas to rest, prepare meals for them and stand in the corner of the café on the opening day to pray for them and their business.
“Every action was a demonstration of love and support, and we want to keep growing and giving,” she said.
Broushet and her husband have just received a $ 25,000 grant from the Boston Celtics, NAACP, and Vistaprint for their collaborative effort to expand their “volunteer” Tuesday lunch program that exists in their restaurants into a separate entity.
They plan to start a mobile communal kitchen and pantry, the Restoration Table, in the coming months. It will be a donation-based initiative for fair sharing; Buyers either pay what they can, or pay for work or advertising. You will also have organic pantry items available.
Their goal is to serve communities with limited access to healthy food options and those who are at home, with the truck also being used for pop-up events and festivals.
Although Broushet misses both New York and Dallas, she said she couldn’t believe how much she loves New England. She lives in Sturbridge and works in Worcester and Clinton and enjoys “the green spaces, peace and quiet that comes with living in a less crowded area”.
Broushet and her husband take their inspiration from nature.
“The natural world has a rhythm that oscillates deep within itself. The simplicity, the variation, the color and the functionality are a pleasure, ”she said. “Our goal is to do the same on your plate. Simple, practical, wanted and beautiful.
“We love taste, color and texture, and we love the way food speaks; how you can say so many things with a carefully designed plate and how it brings people together, ”she added. She said that a nest, even a vegan one, is a safe place for people to “gather, connect and explore”.
Broushet said she enjoyed the excitement of running a business.
“It takes a certain level of risk tolerance to ride the roller coaster of entrepreneurship, but the reward is well worth it,” she said.
“Our team works really hard to provide exceptional customer service and really high quality food, and if we miss the mark it can be difficult,” she said. “We learn to take these moments as teachable moments, as opportunities for improvement, to reflect on our practices and sometimes just to understand that it was a tough day and that tomorrow it doesn’t have to be the same story.”
The Vegan Nest employees come from the neighborhoods it serves, including local high schools, and are “really like family”.
Broushet said it was important for others to get involved in entrepreneurship, so she and her husband have another side project that is an extension of the cafes’ mission: an “entrepreneurial advisory service … on how to get your concept off the ground in just a few months Being able to implement the “dream phase”. “
Broushet can be contacted at nicole@thevegannestcafe.com. For menus, hours, and to place an order at the Clinton location, visit www.thevegannestcafe.com; Delivery should be available soon.
[ad_1]
