Archive

Dining in Dufferin: Plant.ed Cafe helps Orangeville residents embrace plant-based living

May 9, 2024   ·   1 Comments

By Gail Powell                        

A new cafe with fresh plant-forward West Coast energy has opened up beside independent bookstore BookLore on Orangeville’s First Street.

Plant.ed Cafe, owned and operated by couple Alex Kiru and Blair Forsyth, offers customers a variety of nutrient-packed smoothies, whole food dishes and (mostly) plant-based options in their newly renovated foliage-adorned establishment.

“Plant.ed Cafe was born out of our immersion in the vibrant cafe culture from around the world,” said owner, Alex Kiru. 

“On our travels over the last few years, Blair and I experienced the magic that cafes – as hubs for societal connection – can have on a community’s creativity and cultural exchange. While living on the West Coast in BC for the last five years, we became inspired by this connection to community, nature and the abundance of well-crafted plant-based cuisine. We want to create a vibrant community space in Dufferin County where everyone feels welcome and there are menu choices for all palates,” she said.

Even though the majority of Plant.ed Cafe’s menu is centred around plant-based dishes, with an emphasis on vegan options, the pair also offer a few baked goods that may contain eggs and honey. 

All dressings, sauces, and spreads, including their vegan cheeses, are made in-house. All lattes are also made with real, fresh ingredients, no store-bought boxed mixes or powders.

“We want our customers to know that we will also have many gluten-free choices plus a variety of dairy options for hot and cold beverages too. We will also have a big pot of chai on the stove simmering each day,” Kiru added.

“We’ve put a lot of thought into our ingredient sourcing. Many of our ingredients are organic and we will buy local when possible as this is definitely a priority for us. We love supporting other small businesses so if we don’t make something in-house, we’ll always try to find another small business who can.”

This minimalistic and airy loft designed space with subtle pastel pink and sea foam green accent walls pays homage to the look of a modern-day cool vibe oceanside beach cafe. There’s seating for six customers on the main level with an upstairs mezzanine area housing multi-use seating for approximately 20 people. A sunny seasonal patio will be opened in the future.

“We’ve designed the space to be very open and light with some cute, colourful accent walls,” noted Kiru. 

“Customers will find a lot of homemade touches in our cafe including our tile tables – made by Blair – and our cafe side plates crafted from pottery that I made myself.” 

Since opening, the duo have fielded a few questions about their establishment’s name – Plant.ed. 

“Of course, the obvious reason is because we are plant-based,” explained Kiru. 

“But the ‘.ed’ is to represent education. We want to be an approachable source of info for people who may be curious about plant-based living, and we want to share what adaptogens or functional mushrooms are and why we use them. It’s also our goal to host workshops and bring in experts in the field to the cafe to collaborate with.”

For more information about cafe hours and news, visit Plant.ed’s Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/plant.edcafe/

Readers Comments (1)