Fort Worth restaurateur Belen Hernandez has already won awards for her Mexican vegan concept Belenty's Love Mexican Vegan Restaurant, and now she is expanding into a new cuisine: Italian.

Belen and her son Sammy Garcia just opened Vida Cafe, at 3522 Bluebonnet Cir., in the former Lettuce Cook, which closed in June (and before that was Hong Kong Restaurant for many years), where they're doing vegan versions of Italian food.

This is entirely new in Dallas-Fort Worth.

Hernandez hails from Tamaulipas, Mexico and has been in the restaurant industry for 17 years. She's a plucky entrepreneur who once owned 10 Mexican restaurants across Hillsboro, Whitney, Godley, and Granbury. She closed them when she made the decision to go vegan 13 years ago.

"Going vegan changed my life, my soul, and spirit," Hernandez says.

In 2018, she debuted Belenty's Love in Granbury, part of a Mexican vegan trend that began in DFW and draws both vegans and nonvegans alike. In 2020, she expanded with a second location of Belenty's in Fort Worth, at 3516 Bluebonnet Cir., a space that has been home over the years to Rusty Taco, Pegaso Mexican Diner, and a dive bar named Tiff & Andi's.

She stole the show at CultureMap's 2022 Tastemaker Awards when Belentys Love won the award for Best Restaurant — not "best vegan restaurant" but Best Restaurant — beating noteworthy fellow nominees such as Wicked Butcher and Provender Hall.

While Hernandez and Garcia love Mexican food, their second favorite cuisine has always been Italian and when the location two doors down from Belenty's became available, they felt it was time.

Like Belenty's, Vida Cafe is 100 percent vegan with a plant-based spin on traditional Italian items such as spaghetti, alfredo pasta, and a chickenless marsala.

Appetizers include mozzarella sticks, bruschetta, meatballs, and minestrone soup. Salads include a Caesar and an arugula pasta salad, and there's a big assortment of panini including chicken, pesto grilled cheese, crabcake, sausage, and a classic Monte Cristo which is fried and topped with powdered sugar.

They're open for breakfast with pancakes in options such as chocolate chip and pistachio; plus omelets and French toast. A refrigerated case is filled with enticing vegan pastries including cheesecake, muffins, panna cotta, tiramisu, fruit-topped tarts, and fruit-filled Danish. There are also coffee and espresso drinks, tea, and an AF virgin Bellini.

They've warmed up the space with deep pink walls and lots of floral touches including a row of adorable floral-rimmed lounging booths where you can sprawl out on pillow cushions.

“The idea [of] Vida Cafe has been in our hearts for years,” Hernandez says. “Vida is this place where you can come relax and feel like you are at home, enjoy conversations with friends, drink a tea or coffee, read a book, enjoy delicious food…drink a Bellini and just enjoy yourself and have a good time."