Off Beet vegen restaurant

Transcript

00:00 It's been open for a last few months in Albert Road. How have you been finding it?

00:04 Yeah, it's been good. It's been good. We've been open since May.

00:08 Initially, obviously, it's really busy because there's quite a lot of anticipation about this opening in Southsea.

00:15 It's something that we've wanted to do for years. We love Southsea.

00:20 It's just such a bustling place, full of independence, which is amazing.

00:26 For a place like us, it's hard to get in these days. There's a lot of chains everywhere.

00:32 Southsea really seems to promote independent restaurants, cafes and businesses.

00:39 I think there's a big community support network around that as well.

00:44 I think that's what the community and the residents of Southsea want.

00:48 Is that a main reason why you moved to Albert Road specifically then?

00:51 Was it hustle and bustle, the people around, people supporting independent businesses?

00:56 Supporting independent businesses. We've always been visitors of Southsea.

01:02 We don't live in Southsea ourselves, but we've always come down.

01:05 We've come to different businesses here. We love all the different foods that you can get.

01:09 It's so diverse. I think the other thing is it's very open to that kind of diversity down here as well.

01:16 People might be happy to eat Latin American food, Mexican food, vegan food and so forth.

01:27 I think that's why we're really well suited for this area.

01:31 How have the residents taken on to you guys over the past few months?

01:34 It's seemed to be good. We've certainly got a lot of local faces that come in every week.

01:41 It's really lovely. The clientele has been amazing down here.

01:47 Very supportive of what we do, very friendly. It's great just to be here.

01:54 Where did the idea come from?

01:59 Our feed started about nine years ago. I'm vegan myself, so you've got that catalyst.

02:10 For me, I've been a non-vegan my whole adult life up until that point.

02:19 I really wanted to do something for a club-based food movement that encouraged people to come in and give it a go.

02:28 I always say it's like a vegan eatery for non-vegans.

02:32 The menu is tailored to try and get most people in. Use familiar words that will entice people in.

02:40 So they can get some familiarity with what they think they're going to be eating.

02:45 Just a very open and no propaganda, just come on in and give it a go.

02:53 It's philosophy. We're still here after nine years and it seems to be working.

02:59 It's a good thing.

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