Maciel's Plant-Based Butcher & Deli opens its doors in LA becoming the first of its kind in the city serving up Mexican-inspired deli classics.
The first vegan butcher shop opened in Highland Park, LA, over the weekend. Maciel’s Plant-Based Butcher & Deli will be serving up classic deli favourites with a Mexican twist.
Inspired by her heritage, Maciel Bañales Luna hopes her vegan butcher shop will become a neighbourhood staple. The vegan menu feature includes a selection of sandwiches, sides, juices, and homemade salsas. Additionally, the deli is selling a variety of nut-based artisan vegan cheese, including vegan Queso and Camembert.
The in-house-made sandwiches include ‘The Reuben’ – Slices of vegan pastrami, sauerkraut, provolone, thousand island dressing on rye bread, and ‘The Breakfast’ – Vegan egg, bacon or chorizo, cheddar, tomato, red onions, spicy sauce on a vegan brioche bun.
In a statement, Bañales Luna shared: “We focus on four things when making the meats: the taste — that is the most important thing, of course, the look, the texture, and the health.”
What’s more, co-owner and Maciel’s partner Joe Egender added: “The plant-based meat world has a little bit of a reputation of being highly processed.
“It doesn’t have to be that way.”
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“To cater to the community as a whole”
LA’s first plant-based butcher hopes to appeal to the local residents as well as the vegans.
Egender shared: “It was a good feeling when meat-eaters were like, ‘I wouldn’t know the difference’.
“That was really gratifying because that’s been our main push this whole time, to cater to the community as a whole.”
The couple is focused on hiring locally and staff Spanish-speaking front-of-house staff to allow for better communication with the local residents.
“There’s a lot of Hispanic people coming to the shop and asking all these questions and I immediately can tell they’re Spanish speakers, so I started speaking Spanish to them,” explained Bañales Luna. “I really enjoy that.”
Furthermore, the couple plan to keep their prices at an affordable rate for the neighbourhood.
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Feature image credit: Maciel’s Plant-Based Butcher & Deli
