Newport This Week

Bold Vegan Flavors to Believe In

EPICUREAN ADVENTURES


Chef Carmen Foy of Sprout and Lentil isn’t here to preach. Her goal, like that of all chefs, is simply to make delicious food. (Photo by Grace Trofa)

Chef Carmen Foy of Sprout and Lentil isn’t here to preach. Her goal, like that of all chefs, is simply to make delicious food. (Photo by Grace Trofa)

Chef Carmen Foy is proud to be cooking “food with a mission,” but just as significant as the principles that brought her to the vegan category is her mission to create items whose bold flavors and varied textures will not only surprise curious food fans, but also knock their socks off.

“When people think about vegan or plant-based eating, they think it’s boring, maybe tasteless,” she said.

After all, how much tofu can a person eat? At the new Sprout and Lentil Vegan Kitchen in Middletown, tofu is just part of the menu, not the centerpiece.

Foy cut the ribbon on her restaurant in November, but the foundation for its success was established over the past two years, during which she time began serving up surprisingly tasty, plant-based soups and burgers at the Aquidneck Growers Market.

Foy did not start out as a vegan. Raised in Spain, her passion for food and cooking was inspired by her grandmother, Julia Barona, who was also a chef. Having studied at the Culinary Institute of America in New York and at the Cordon Bleu in France and Italy, Foy traveled the globe as a chef, with stints on private islands and yachts cooking for wealthy clients, racing crews and Olympic sailors.

Carmen Foy and her husband, Matt Sole are the dynamic duo at Sprout and Lentil. (Photo by Grace Trofa)

Carmen Foy and her husband, Matt Sole are the dynamic duo at Sprout and Lentil. (Photo by Grace Trofa)

About seven years ago, she got involved in animal rescue efforts, and it was then that her thinking shifted. Her work started with dogs and cats, then extended to smaller animals like ducks and rabbits.

“That’s when my journey began,” she said. “That’s when I really made the connection between animals, food systems and the environment in a way I hadn’t before. I no longer thought of animals as just food.”

A newly discovered passion for animal welfare, activism and the environment took over as the fuel for her desire to help people eat well. A certified food safety expert accepted by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency after leaving the yachting profession, Foy followed a teaching path, creating the first food safety courses for the marine industry, allowing her time to make the shift from an all-protein style of cooking to the vegan category.

Sprout and Lentil’s flavorful soups regularly sell out. (Photo by Marial Eve Maher)

Sprout and Lentil’s flavorful soups regularly sell out. (Photo by Marial Eve Maher)

Transitioning from traditional to vegan chef took some adjustment, but with a firm grasp on technique, flavors and a passion for cooking, Foy has succeeded in creating plant-based cuisine that is inspired and delicious.

“Of course, I used to cook everything. As chefs, we all have the same foundational skills,” she said. “The important thing is that it’s not really about vegan food, but about good food.”

She takes exception to the categorization of chefs as women or vegan.

“We’re chefs,” she said, “and this is a very creative movement. Chefs going in this direction find they’re having fun with experimentation, trying all different combinations of flavors and textures. It’s simply a matter of switching to grains and plant-based proteins. But in the end, the category doesn’t matter.”

Foy aims to make her food so tasty that people understand that they can sell the healthier, more environmentally conscious food to their families. Though her epiphany came on the heels of a sparked passion for animal activism, she said that it’s just as possible to explore the vegan style of cooking and eating from the opposite angle.

New York City transplant Wendy Logan is a career writer whose work is fueled by a passion for food and libations, art, music, and culture.

New York City transplant Wendy Logan is a career writer whose work is fueled by a passion for food and libations, art, music, and culture.

“It’s a journey,” she said. “You start in one place and end at another. Maybe you look at a plantbased diet for health reasons, but then you look more closely and start to understand more about factory farming and its effect on the environment.”

As to the food itself, Foy said her soups are a big hit.

“They change weekly and sell out at every market,” she said. “Burgers come in black bean, sweet potato, curry cauliflower.“ Also, a crowd favorite is the “Krabby Cake,” a faux crab cake made from hearts of palm, green onion, celery, Panko and spices that customers say is shockingly close in flavor and texture to the real thing. According to Foy, it has served, along with the “Chickun Salad” made from chickpeas and sunflowers, as the turning point for many a curious food fan.

For Thanksgiving, Foy created a luscious lentil and mushroom Wellington that customers told her was the highlight of their meal.

It’s important to Foy that potential patrons and epicurean adventurers know that she isn’t here to preach.

She said “I’m simply coming from a place of being mindful about animals and about the planet.”

That is just a bonus to the surprisingly bold, tasty and international flavors of these innovative vegan dishes.

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