Love of nature inspires launch of new Sudbury vegan café and shop Green Man Lounge
A love of nature and a desire to offer delicious animal-free dishes are the driving forces behind a new vegan eatery, which opened in North Street in Sudbury on Friday.
Because of lockdown, Jessie Carter and her partner Darryl Noe will be operating the Green Man Lounge as a takeaway to start with, until they can fully open as a vegan cafe and shop, hopefully from December.
Born and raised in Sudbury, 28-year-old Jessie is a member of the Green Party and she wants to stand as a town councillor next year.
She admits she likes to offer her five children – aged from three to 15 – a healthy diet, but it is ultimately their decision over what they eat.
“Two are vegan, one is vegetarian and the other two eat all sorts of naughty things,” she laughs.
The cafe will join an increasing number of vegan eateries in Sudbury and Jessie said she is pleased to see how much a plant-based diet is growing in popularity. A few doors along in North Street are the White Nettle vegan art cafe, and The Cradle cafe and bakery.
“I was a vegetarian for about 14 years and have been vegan for the past four,” she said. “I think it’s a mixture of things that have made me that way.
“It’s a love of animals and the fact we need to make changes in the way we live for our planet’s sake in the way we produce food. The older I’ve got, the more I’ve come to realise and learn how important it is.”
Jessie’s shop sells oils and balms, clothing and cosmetics and she hopes to expand by offering services from a henna artist, a tattooist and locktician – someone who cares for dreadlocks.
Jessie describes her menu as vegan junk food. It includes pizza and calzone, oat shakes, fresh fruit and vegetable smoothies, churros, sweet potato fries, hash browns, pretzels and a nanwich – nan bread with a curry in the middle.
Green Man Lounge is on Facebook and Instagram.
It is open for takeaways on Tuesdays, between 5pm and 9pm, and from Wednesday to Sunday, between 11.30am and 2.30pm.
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