Walking the talk when it comes to vegetarian food,

[Guest guest]

From Arizona:

Inside Tucson BusinessPublished on Friday, September 07, 2007

Peggy Raisglid is a business owner who walks her talk – genuinely and passionately believing in the "outstanding vegetarian options" at her Lovin’ Spoonfuls eatery.

"I worked my way through college employed at food establishments," says the former hard-core carnivore. "I cooked chicken for the Kentucky Colonel and waitressed at hamburger and pancake joints. Not only did I cook and serve meat-based meals, I ordered my own steaks thick and juicy and sopped up any leftovers with slices of nutrient-deficient white bread."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peggy Raisglid, owner of Lovin’ Spoonfuls.

 

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That changed 18 years ago. Raisglid, who holds a PhD in chemistry, became a vegan. She remembers the exact day and hour the unexpected event happened.

"As a research chemist dealing with environmental issues, I used to teach medical personnel how to use our company products and I kept getting questions about what tests had been performed on animals," she recalled. "I’m so emotionally, ethically, and morally opposed to animal experimentation, it didn’t take long for me to realize I was in the wrong career field. The final straw was attending a lecture on vivisection. When we broke for lunch, this cheeseburger-lover did a 360-degree turn and ordered myself a vegan meal, slamming one door and opening another in a heartbeat. This wasn’t a result of long-term contemplation, it was an instant personal decision based on my intrinsic beliefs. I’ve never regretted it and I’ve never looked back."

Chemical engineering was a way for Raisglid to make a living but it wasn’t her passion.

"When I was a little girl growing up, I used to hide in my mother’s spice cabinet and mix things together to come up with unusual combinations," she said. "When my folks would leave the house, my brother and I would head to the kitchen to create our own dishes. I’ve been some kind of a foodie all my life."

The interest became a necessity when her dietary decisions changed.

"When I became a vegan in 1989, nobody knew what the word meant. It was impossible to eat out because there was nothing on the menu. Back then, I had no idea how to cook vegan, so my new challenge was to create all my old favorite dishes using a new set of ingredients," Raisglid said. "Part of what led me here was the success I had cooking vegetarian/vegan style. Invariably people would say, ‘This is delicious. You ought to open up a restaurant.’ I think that definitely played a part in working on my subconscious, planting the seeds to do something like this. When I think about it, every single thing I’ve done in my life has all lead to this point, seemingly like destiny really is pre-ordained."

The point it lead to was the opening of Lovin’ Spoonfuls, 2990 N. Campbell Ave., in September 2005. When the door unlocked that first day, all the standard emotions were there – excitement, fear, elation.

"Absolutely," she says, "although I loved the challenge of trying to figure it all out. I’d been waiting some time to find a partner with food industry experience because the restaurant failure rate in the first year is astronomical. But when it came time to bite the bullet, I was so totally engrossed in the zillions of details you need to attend to in getting a business going, I’d forgotten the partner component."

As a vegan vanguard in what is probably a steak-and-potatoes town, Raisglid has worked a seven day workweek since the ‘Open For Business’ sign was lit. The the nearly 2,000 square-foot restaurant seats 50 diners.

Despite the hours, was it the right decision?

"Oh, gosh, absolutely," she says. "One of the main reasons I wanted to do this in the first place was to be able to promote vegetarianism. The thing that’s personally gratifying for me is knowing that more than half of my customers are not vegetarian, so to some extent, my dream goal of promoting a different way of eating is being met. I always used to wonder if I’d ever find my true niche in life. Well, now, the answer is astoundingly, yes. This is what I was intended to do."

And do well apparently.

"Start-up restaurants generally take two-to-five years to turn a profit and we broke even in our first year, so I was thrilled to tears. Lucky for me that my aspiration was never to get rich," she said. "My goal is to be able to generate a profit and spread the word. In two years, it’s absolutely surpassed my expectations, so anything else that happens is a benefit."

Kathleen McCarthy is a regular customer. She has been coming to the restaurant almost since it opened and comes in almost every day.

"It is great because I can trust everything I eat here," McCarthy said. "I almost feel intoxicated every time I come in here, from the food, and from [Raisglid’s] laugh. It’s just such a great place."

McCarthy was eating with Fred Beeston whom she said has cooked organically for her for the last 30 years.

"Now there is a place that does it for you," McCarthy said. "He loves this place and he is not a vegetarian at all."

Beeston said he enjoys the atmosphere in Lovin’ Spoonfuls.

"Everyone comes here," he said. "You will have the pierced-up tattoo crowd over there, the elderly over here, a whole family there, the vegetarians, the non vegetarians, it is just a peaceful wonderful place that everyone can enjoy."

Watching the national trend toward vegetarianism and healthier eating, Raisglid keeps cooking up her original Route 66 veggie bacon cheeseburgers ("Carnivores tell me it’s the best bacon cheeseburger they’ve had anywhere") and looking toward the future, possibly a second location on the northwest end of town, and beyond.

"I’d like to think of the Campbell Avenue site as the first link in what will hopefully be a big chain. Over the long haul, I’m looking into getting investors on board and perhaps setting up franchising," Raisglid said.

As for today, "The more success we have, the more we can do to promote a vegetarianism/vegan style of life, benefiting both humans and animals, and that’s my ultimate goal. This isn’t just a business, it’s a lifestyle, and I’m finally getting a chance to walk my talk."

 

Lee Allen is a Tucson-based freelance writer.

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2007 Inside Tucson Business

 

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Charles wrote on Sep 8, 2007 7:01 AM: " It's great to see these stories about people making a success with vegetarian or vegan restaurants. Long-time vegans, like my wife and I, know there's no problem getting food that is delicious, nutritious and free of animal products. But I can't tell how many times we get asked, "but what do you eat?" The answer, of course, is that we eat wonderful, delicious and healthy food. If our friends doubt it, we're happy to have them over for dinner. We've had no complaints from dissatisfied carnivores yet! It's wonderful that there are more and more restaurants now, catering to the growing vegetarian and vegan population, and that they are also helping to educate the public about the many delicious, healthy and cruelty-free options. Kudos to Peggy Raisglid, and thanks to Lee Allen for the story. "

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