untitled aaron adams project 
Opening Date: April

Watch out, Natural Selection! Portobello’s former head chef has plans for an upscale plant-based restaurant featuring a five-course tasting menu. Chef Aaron Adams intends to create a hyper-seasonal, hyper-local menu by sourcing ingredients from within 200 miles of the city, even personally harvesting his produce from Dancing Root Farms. Up to ten customers will be seated at one long chef’s counter for a prix fixe menu with juice and wine pairings. Although an opening date is still months away, Adams is already posting potential menu items on his personal Instagram; we recently spotted a perfectly plated dish of brassicas, puffed quinoa, cabbage cider and smoked walnut milk. Expect equally innovative items in the future—Adams is determined to avoid vegan analogues (think soy cheese and wheat meat) in favor of more creative cooking.

Juniper
SW 3rd & Washington St
Opening Date: March 2

Founded by five women passionate about vegan cooking, community building, and yoga, this worker-owned food cart will craft plant-based, gluten-free global fare from seasonal, whole-food ingredients. That’s a lot of buzzwords, so think five-spice vermicelli bowls with zucchini noodles and bulgogi-style soy curls, and a Portobello melt with smoked cashew provolone on a pretzel bun. Also on the menu: salads, fresh smoothies, and a signature botanical juniper berry tonic. 

Harvest at the Bindery
3115 NE Sandy Blvd
Opening Date: Late February

NE Sandy’s imposing black Bindery building will soon house Harvest, a “casual-chic, decadent-healthful” eatery owned by former Soda Pop Kids frontman Jon Steur. Wellness-focused personal chef Tia Murray has crafted a gluten-free, plant-based menu featuring seasonal dishes like sweet potato basil ravioli in turnip shells with chipotle cashew alfredo. We’re already planning to stay for dessert— Murray promises a red velvet beet cake with New Deal Distillery Mud Puddle Vodka mousse and white chocolate ganache.

Black Water Brewing
835 NE Broadway St
Opening Date: Late January

From punk rock records to plant-based pub fare? Yup! The team behind Black Water Records and the now-shuttered Cemetery Gates Café is brewing up small batches of IPAs, ambers, and stouts for a new Broadway brewpub set to open later this month. The all-vegan menu will include a plethora of burgers and sandwiches, including French dips and cheesesteaks, as well as plenty of classic pub grub like fries, onion rings, and mozzarella sticks. The space will also serve as the commissary kitchen for Snackrilege, a local seitan company whose products will presumably grace the bar’s menu. Oh, Black Water—you had us at vegan mozzarella sticks.

Urban Green Vege-terranean Deli
927 NW 14th Ave
Opening Date: Now Open!         

This sister shop to Pearl District coffeehouse Urban Grind offers an all vegetarian deli filled with flavorful Middle Eastern favorites. Take advantage of the array of authentic old world recipes with the build your own bowl option; pile a plate high with kale quinoa tabbouleh, fava bean salad, and collard stems in tahini. Most items are gluten-free, vegan, and—according to all we’ve heard about the Mediterranean diet—some of the healthiest lunch options around.

Open Source Café
3423 SE Belmont St
Opening Date: Now Open!

If you wax nostalgic about fried bologna, this new Belmont food cart is for you. Started by a former software programmer at the urging of his young daughters, Open Source vends vegan American comfort food like chili dogs, biscuits and gravy, and, yes, fried bologna and cheese on white. Overall, the menu isn’t exactly extraordinary, but it is cheap and easy—just like mom used to make. Order a Stilly Cheesephake, the cart’s signature dish, a seitan Philly that gives DC Vegetarian a run for its money.