Today we’d like to introduce you to Phillip Hall.
Hi Phillip, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Raised in Stanley NC, I started cooking at a young age and always loved being in the kitchen. I never thought I could be a chef for a living because I just didn’t know any “successful” chefs where I’m from and it just wasn’t something you saw people striving for where I was from. I ended taking the college route and majored in Computer Science while playing football for a few years. It was in graduate school when I became interested in following a plant-based diet. Throughout my time in grad school, I was always the one hosting and cooking at the events and I loved cooking for and accommodating folks, and everyone always loved my food. That was during the years 2013-1015, by 2015 I had made the decision to always follow a plant-based diet.
Fast-forward a few years to 2019 and another degree later, I’m in Atlanta and people are really embracing plant-based diets but are having issues transitioning. I definitely saw a need for an all-vegan meal prep service, so I started The Tasty Plant-Based Kitchen. I started doing this while I was still a software engineer for my employer. Now my partner Emily and I run the business full-time as a catering and meal prep company. We do pop-ups and events at breweries and festivals around the Atlanta Metro area. During these first few years, it has definitely been many obstacles throughout the process. Being a first-time business owner, there have been mistakes along the way but a steady progression has been the theme, and slow-motion is better than no motion.
My goals for the company include: placing our vegan and gluten-free pastry products into stores worldwide, owning a commercial kitchen that will also be a virtual restaurant, owning a food truck so this Tasty Plant-Based Kitchen brand can spread state to state. Simply put, We want to help people eat more plants because we now know embracing a plant=based diet can improve the health of society as a whole. I feel like this is my way to pay it forward and help our community get healthier.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Learning how to run a business and all the ins and outs that come on the back end. Also, Atlanta hasn’t really determined how they want to deal with tent food vendors and there’s a lot of ambiguity around all the legalities when running a business like this. Also, it’s been hard to find commercial kitchens that aren’t too expensive and only cater to plant-based businesses. This will be important in the future because vegan chefs don’t really want to take the chance of cross-contamination when using the same equipment as non-vegan chefs.
We’ve been impressed with The Tasty Plant-Based Kitchen, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We are a vegan food business that specializes in catering, private events, vegan products, pop-ups, and cooking classes. We like to say we do a Soul Fusion Cuisine, we take traditional soul food items and add other cultures’ flavors or ingredients to create a soul fusion experience on your palate.
People love what we can do with Walnut meat. We have a few products like beeph patties, lasagna, sloppy joe, sushi burrito, tacos, etc. that people love and are always amazed once they actually try it. They can’t tell it’s not really ground meat! We always try to keep it creative yet simple and introduce people to new ingredients that they can cook at home, like banana blossoms, seafood mushrooms, jackfruit, and nuts. We stay away from using fake meats, and many of our customers appreciate us for that!
Another product we have that is a favorite are our cookies! They are always gluten-free and they are truly delicious. They might the best cookie you’ve ever tasted if you get the chance to have one. You can try them and our vegan breakfast biscuits made with walnut meat sausage at BUZZ Coffee & Wine on Cascade, just ask for the vegan biscuits or cookies.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Have a mentor to help you navigate decisions. Research as much as you can, never stop learning.
Create connections.
Learn about how to run a successful business before going fulltime.
Don’t quit, your vision is meant for you and only you, it will pass if you stick with it!
Contact Info:
- Email: thetastyplantbased.kitchen@gmail.com
- Website: www.TheTastyPlantbased.kitchen
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetastyplantbased.kitchen
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ttpbk/
Image Credits
Emily Hall – Photographer
