“Saving lives, raising awareness and creating jobs!” – James Knaap
The family-owned restaurant is the only vegan junk food chain in Cape Town and its popularity just keeps on growing, along with the menu items. Lekker Vegan also won restaurant of the year in 2018 in the fast food department.
Lekker[1] Vegan specialises in vegan gourmet junk food – a perfect spot to eat naughty yet guilt-free and is the definition of conscious fast food. Lekker Vegan is the brainchild of James Knaap and his family. The idea was inspired by the lack of proper ‘wicked’ foods for those who want to choose a meat-free meal. “I used to be a junk food lover, but when I went vegan the options for vegan junk food were almost non existent.” says James.
Lekker Vegan is his approach to change the perception of vegan food and to redefine what it means to eat as a vegan. He says “Vegan food doesn’t have a lekker image. People think that vegan food is carrots, hummus and celery sticks. We trying to prove that vegan food can actually be very yummy.”
Lekker vegan is a social space filled with life, music is always blasting, from trap, to local South African house music. Plus James and the entire Lekker crew are vibey, mellow, kind and down to earth. The place, the people and the taste encourages you to dig in and enjoy your food!
Everything here is guaranteed cruelty- and GMO-free goodness and demand has been so great that they recently launched a new menu with 19 new items. Current menu offerings include a range of burgers, gatsbys, toasted sandwiches, chips, wraps, pork skewers and snacks. Desserts include chocolate cheesecake, coconut-based soft-serve ice-cream and apple crumble. Their famous “Lekker Messy Gatsby” is for everyone – from a businessman to a broke student. This massive sandwich will you have you eating like a kid!
Another plus for the chain is that the packaging is almost entirely plastic free, with 95{85424e366b324f7465dc80d56c21055464082cc00b76c51558805a981c8fcd63} of their packaging being environmentally friendly. The only exception being small plastic lids for sauces used for take away, which they’re working to do away with.
So what next for Lekker Vegan? With the rapid success, from opening the first doors on Harrington Street in December 2017 to the second store on Kloof Street in October 2018, things are looking up. However, James has even more exciting ideas, starting with expanding into South Africa and then going international.
Facebook (www.facebook.com/lekkervegan)
Instagram (www.instagram.com/lekkervegan/)
Website: www.lekkervegan.co.za
[1] Nice, good, great, cool or tasty.
Written by Derrick Shadrack