Burlington's Lettuce Love Café may change your mind about vegan dining

When Neven Madzarac purchased Lettuce Love Café in 2017, he wasn’t a vegan; he just fell in love with the food.

“I’m a bit of a foodie and open to exploring and trying new things," he says. "I just loved the taste of it. I didn’t get hung up on the fact it was vegan. It was just great food.”

Lettuce Love Café has crafted a wide variety of plant-based options, from bowls and salads to burgers and sandwiches, as well as a weekend brunch, coffees, specialty beverages and desserts.

The food is made with the freshest ingredients and prepared daily in-house. The restaurant is fully licensed, offering a selection of biodynamic and organic wines and gluten-free, organic and hemp beers. During the summer, guests can enjoy a sangria on the patio.

“It’s really come a long way from the original thoughts people had about vegan food," Madzarac says of the lifestyle. "In the past, vegan food was a raw diet, and you can only season that so much. But as the vegan diet started to expand further, it got more creativity and more flavour profiles.

“We have a Caesar dressing you could put up against anybody else’s, but it’s a plant-based version," he adds. "You saw more focus from a culinary perspective and quickly realized that you could do a lot with these ingredients without having to add a protein. Even though very different in their molecular designs, you can still get quite a bit of protein out of the vegan diet."

Madzarac says diners often ask him to mimic traditional proteins, such as chicken or fish.

"And I say, no, I don’t want to. I want you to enjoy this meal because it’s a great meal,” he says.

Lettuce Love Café is known for their bowls, with eight varieties on the menu ranging from the Burrito Bowl to the Falafel Bowl to the most popular, Power Bowl.

“It’s got lots of flavour with portobello mushrooms, braised kale and black beans, and an amazing amount of tahini dressing on top of it,” says Madzarac. “We offer bowls of the month. One of my favourites is the Greek bowl. We were able to create a lemon oregano tofu base that brings all of those Greek flavours into the dish itself, with kalamata olives and the different spices.”

Another of Madzarac's favourites is the Reuben sandwich. It uses a tempeh patty and offers as much protein as meat or chicken. It’s also a fermented soy, which is easier for the body to absorb than unfermented soy. The Lettuce Love version is marinated with a Rueben-like dressing and topped with organic sauerkraut.

Lettuce Love Café, located in downtown Burlington at 399 John St., is now a part of Happy Belly Food Group. The restaurant has recently done some renovations, including adding new signage and refreshing the exterior and patio.

“We’re looking forward to the next evolution of our growth. I think it’s an exciting time for the plant-based field,” says Madzarac. “The industry is trying to change the stigma of vegan based on how we present it and approach it. Focusing on vegan becomes very narrow in terms of people’s perception.

"It’s a plant-based meal, and it’s delicious."