Restaurateur Interview Series: Owners of The Naked Sprout

 

Restaurant:
The Naked Sprout
4040 Palladium Way Unit 11
Burlington, Ontario L7M 0C2
905-319-2293

Owners: Clayton Smith, Shanine Dennill and Peter Niculescu

Is this your first restaurant? No
If not was the previous one vegetarian/vegan? Yes.

What made you decide to open a vegetarian/vegan restaurant?
We have a co-located yoga studio and our vision was to share the joy and health benefits of yoga and healthy eating with as many people as we could so having a vegan restaurant made perfect sense!! We also wanted to offer people in our area of the world a full-service beautiful space in which to enjoy awesome food and company.

What has been your greatest professional success and your biggest setback?
Greatest professional success was getting both the yoga studio and the restaurant opened and staffed with amazing people!

Biggest setback was underestimating the amount of time and money it would take and trusting bankers when they told us that the loans wouldn’t be a problem, only to find out the day before opening that the loans were a problem and we had to scramble to find other sources of financing! ☺

What’s your favorite dish on the menu?Tempeh Reuben sandwich, Burger, Soba Noodles

What’s the most popular appetizer on the menu? Sushi

Most popular entrée? Warrior Bowl

Most popular dessert? Chocolate Torte

How often do you change your menu items? Do you have daily or weekly specials? How do you choose those specials?
We plan on changing the menu two to three times a year – bringing in more warmer dishes in the fall and more raw dishes in the summer. We have specials whenever our chefs come up with them!!

Do you have gluten-free, soy-free, and sugar-free options on your menu?
All of our menu items are gluten-free, soy-free and sugar-free other than two of our sandwiches for which we use a sprouted bread that has gluten. We do offer a gluten-free wrap option for these two items.

Do you use eco-friendly packaging? What else do you do to reduce your environmental impact?
Yes, all of our take-out packaging is eco-friendly from Green Shift in Toronto. Floors are all bamboo and cork. Tables are made from reclaimed barnboard. Lighting is all CFL and/or halogen. Chairs are made from mango wood which is usually just cut up for firewood after the tree stops producing fruit. Walls are covered in American Clay rather than paint. American Clay is a natural clay finish with no VOCs.

If you could eat at any vegan restaurant in the world where would it be?
We’re probably biased, but we would have to say ours!!

Do you have any advice for those wanting to start a vegetarian/vegan restaurant?
Have a solid business plan with firm numbers on the build out and have lots of financing available so you don’t have to sit on pins and needles wondering if you’ll be able to pay your bills. Pursue your passion and have fun!!

Thanks to The Naked Sprout for sharing with us today! If you are a restaurant owner who would like to be featured in our Interview Series please let us know! 

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