This King's Lynn vegan restaurant is irrisistible
Resist! Vegan Kitchen is Lynn’s latest restaurant opening and certainly offers something a bit different.
Owner and head chef Gareth Ellison explains that the new St James Street restaurant specialises in vegan street food, offering everything from dirty burgers to kebabs, loaded fries, fried chicken and more! ‘All without the dirty bit, too, I guess,’ he says. ‘Everything is home made, often to our own secret recipes!’
The menu changes every two weeks, with specials available too. ‘About 80 per cent is gluten free and we are offering BYOB at the moment, with the intention of selling alcohol next month,’ says Gareth.
He uses as many local suppliers as possible and is enjoying seeking out new producers to feature. ‘It’s all a learning curve,’ he says. ‘I’m building up my local knowledge every day.’
Gareth, a vegan for more than 25 years, opened the first branch of Resist! Vegan Kitchen in Peterborough, where he used to live, about five years ago and although it closed during the pandemic, hopes are running high that it will reopen, with other branches in cities such as Norwich also planned.
‘But I wanted to concentrate on this Lynn branch,’ he says. ‘To make sure that I got it completely right.’
The restaurant, which opens six days a week, offers 40 covers, with extra space in the courtyard garden plus more seats about to be created in the bar area. Gareth, who has a background in the music industry, completed all the renovation and redecoration work himself, including the show stopping elm bar. ‘I just wanted to do it myself although it almost killed me!’ he laughs.
Resist! Vegan Kitchen opened earlier this month and Gareth is delighted with the response from customers and his fellow business owners. ‘I really landed on my feet here - I wasn’t expecting to find such a great community of like minded people.
‘We have quite a loyal following, wth diners travelling from some distance, so we do recommend that people book.’
He stresses that Resist! Vegan Kitchen is a safe and inclusive place, with all welcome and no prejudices tolerated. Gareth, who is in his early 40s, toured with bands such as Bad Manners, The Misfits and Vanilla Pod, and hopes to offer live music at his restaurant, too.
He has a staff of five - Jack, Alex, Jade, Louis and Loena - and the restaurant also acts as an exhibition space, with tattoo artist Laura McGovern currently showing her dramatic pictures.
A website is being created and you can also find Resist! Vegan Kitchen on Facebook and Instagram. It opens noon to 8pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, from noon to 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays and from noon to 6pm on Sundays. It closes on Wednesdays.
Foodie news:
Don’t forget the North Norfolk Food and Drink Festival in the Walled Garden at Holkham on September 3 and 4. It’s the 14th annual festival and is the largest in the county, with 60-65 stalls and about 11,000 visitors over the two days. The Arthur Howell Cookery Theatre has a jam packed programme of demonstrations by both chefs and artisan producers and there are many pop up foodie concessions, a bar, live music, children’s activities and more. The event is free - and dog friendly!