There's a new place to get vegan food and great coffee in Fort Worth: Called Von's Coffee Shoppe, it's a virtual restaurant operating out of Fort Worth Food Works, the restaurant hub at 3004 Cullen St., where it's serving vegan pastries, omelets, burritos, wraps, and soups.
Von's was founded by Monique Farrell, a food & beverage veteran with more than 20 years experience in the hospitality industry who is taking her first step into entrepreneurship.
A New Orleans native, Farrell worked in the hotel industry after college, including the Roosevelt New Orleans as well as a Hilton property in Orlando. She came to Fort Worth because her mother lived here.
They both adopted a vegan diet to combat illness.
"Working in the restaurant industry is not always healthy," Farrell says. "You're always busy and you're often eating food that is not good for you. I developed a lot of illnesses including Crohn's disease and colitis, and choosing vegan food helped counteract that."
They began plotting the idea of using their combined experience to open a place of their own.
"I still wanted to sit down and enjoy a pastry and and a cup of coffee," she says. "So my mother and I said, 'Let's open our own vegan coffee shop.'"
Sadly, Farrell's mother had pancreatic cancer, and passed away a few months ago. But that only motivated Farrell to finally make it happen.
Monique Farrell (right), with her mother and inspiration.Von's Coffee Shoppe
"I decided I was doing it — I said, this is for my mom," she says.
Her menu includes:
- pastries - bagels, croissants, chocolate chip cookies, bundt cakes, macarons, scones
- omelets - Just Egg with vegan sausage, or with vegan spicy hot sausage
- wraps - make-your-own, choosing from ingredients such as spinach, mushrooms, sausage, Just Egg, and dairy-free cheese
"We have so many people who love our omelets," she says.
Bundt cakes are another bestseller, and there's a full espresso bar as well as a large selection of coffees, teas, and specialty drinks such as EggNog Latte, Matcha Latte, and Peppermint Mocha, as well as herbal and chai teas.
She recently introduced a "Big Vegan Brunch," available Fridays-through-Sundays, perfect for holiday spreads, with a bounty of items including choice of omelet or pancakes, with eggs, sausage, two Bundt cakes, and two drinks for $60.
"You can feed the entire family with this feast," Farrell says.
Eventually she hopes to have her own storefront, but this ghost kitchen is her start, and is serving 7 days a week.
"I love it when people say, 'Oooh a white chocolate mocha, can you make it vegan?' — because everything comes vegan," she says.
