Vegan Deli and Incubator ‘The Greener Kitchen’ Coming to Pigtown

Kyle Harvey, John Neavear, and Brenda Sanders are opening The Greener Kitchen at 803 Washington Blvd. in Pigtown next month. The approximately 3,000 sq. ft. space was formerly a commercial bakery. The Greener Kitchen will function as a vegan deli retail space and also as a commercial kitchen for plant-based food businesses.

A few years ago, Harvey, Neavear, and Sanders started PEP Foods, Inc., a 100% plant-based food business that focused on catering, events, and distribution. The original plan was to stick to distribution of PEP Foods’ products, but the demand they experienced made them shift the focus towards opening a retail business as well.

“We began to look for somewhere to do both and the Pigtown space was perfect,” said Sanders.

The Greener Kitchen will have about eight seats for dine-in customers, along with shelves selling vegan mayo, vegan nacho cheese, and meat and egg replacements using tofu, wheat gluten, and soy. The owners are also applying for a permit for outdoor seating along Washington Blvd.

Sanders said the menu will be a vegan take on “traditional American fare.” Items will include waffles, vegan chicken and waffles, and breakfast sandwiches in the morning using tofu as an egg replacement. For lunch and dinner, The Greener Kitchen will offer its vegan cheese steak, which Sanders says has been a big hit at festivals, using wheat gluten as a steak replacement. Additional sandwiches will be made with tofu chicken. The Greener Kitchen will also serve soups, salads, and more.

The Greener Kitchen will likely be open daily from 7am to 7pm.

The new facility will help Harvey, Neavear, and Sanders expand their catering and distribution. Sanders said they sell a lot of their products to restaurants in the area.

The Greener Kitchen’s large kitchen will be used as an incubator for small plant-based food businesses. The Greener Kitchen is currently partnering with about six entrepreneurs, but will be opening up applications soon to expand membership to the commercial kitchen. Foods made by the partner businesses at The Greener Kitchen will be available for sale.

The Greener Kitchen will be environmentally conscious as everything will be recyclable and compostable. The Greener Kitchen had developed relationships with local farms and a compost facility for the food waste.

“Our mission is to make affordable healthy food accessible to everyone — that’s really important to us,” said Sanders. “The accessibility to health food in this city is very low.”

The team at The Greener Kitchen is very excited to be a part of Pigtown. “It really feels like a community,” said Sanders.  “I’ve never had a business in a place where it feels like family. People have been stopping by and the community association has been so warm. We already feel like a part of the Pigtown community and haven’t even opened our doors.”

Sanders sees a bright future for Pigtown Main Street and envisions it eventually becoming a tourist destination. “I can see it happening already,” she said.

Sanders is also a partner in Vegan SoulFest which brought approximately 15,000 attendees to Clifton Park last weekend.

About the Author: Kevin Lynch

Founder and Publisher of SouthBmore.com, longtime resident of South Baltimore, and a graduate of Towson University. Diehard Ravens and O's fan, father of three, amateur pizza chef, skateboarder, and "bar food" foodie. Email me at Kevin@InceptMM.com and follow me on Twitter at @SoBoKevin.