A vegan fast food restaurant may sound like an oxymoron. Vegan dishes are almost always associated with notions of being healthy, light or even having small portions. This is where Fat Vegan stands out as something unique and surprising, because they specialize in burgers, wings, fries, and milkshakes that are not only completely compatible with a vegan diet, but are also hearty meals that taste truly amazing.
The idea behind Fat Vegan
“I wanted to make a vegan option that served fast food […] there are already many vegan places that serve strictly healthy food, or fast food places where food from animal origins is served,” says Zack Bezunartea, chef and creator of Fat Vegan. He started his career in the culinary world at the age of 15 in his hometown in New Mexico.
“I adopted a vegan diet while working as a manager at a New York company that owned several restaurants, some had even been taken to Hong Kong and Mexico. I had made an alliance with La Boquería market in Spain to distribute meat and fish […] But I felt that I was contradicting myself by selling animal products, being a vegan […] I began to feel a lot of exhaustion and exhaustion within my work […]. And one day I decided to leave everything, and my partner and I arrived in Mexico, where – according to me – I would never open a restaurant.
“Living in the Roma neighborhood, you can find many vegan restaurants. However, I had this feeling that an option was missing that would give people the opportunity to eat fast food without animal products.”
This is, in essence, the concept of his restaurant, as well as the dark kitchen next door, Tacones Lejanos, which is also Zack’s creation. His fondness for Middle Eastern food, which is what Tacones Lejanos specializes in, stems from its similarity in flavors, spices, and ingredients to Mexican food, and because it is naturally vegan.
Beyond being a restaurant
“For me, veganism is political […] like many other things today. There are many things that are harming our planet and our society. And I think that one can always take responsibility for small things that can generate change […] This makes the simple fact that a vegan restaurant exists, an act of resistance.
“We want Fat Vegan, in addition to being a restaurant, to be a fun place, where everyone is welcome, both vegans and non-vegans, to form a community.
“I think that forming a community is one of the most important things for a restaurant, and another important thing is knowing how to resist despite all the criticism. Because many times, those who will ignore one’s effort are those who have never taken risks to undertake a project.”
