Pink Noodle

Remember me? I am sorry that I have been gone so long but it has been for a really good reason. Guess who's opening a restaurant?! This girl! Keithon has always wanted to open a restaurant. (but I decided to write a cookbook instead)  I have decided to call it Pink Noodle vegan cuisine (thanks Brenna for the name) and most of the recipes from the cookbook will be on the menu. The plan is to change the menu with the seasons so the food will be fresh and locally sourced. This all started because I went to a local place for breakfast and had a vegan meltdown. For those of you that don't know a vegan meltdown is it happens when you go out to eat and there are very few things on the menu for you to eat or they just offer you the most impractical thing to eat and you lose it. Well that morning I was offered soup and I lost my shit! I looked at her and asked her can I eat soup and drive. Now of course she said no, so for breakfast that morning I had a bagel and a latte that ended up costing me $9 bucks!!! That is crazy and of course I was starving as soon as I finished it. That is when I said screw this , this restaurant is happening.Vegans shouldn't have to be punished financially for their food choices. So I set up a Go Fund Me page and support has been amazing!

Of course the first step is finding a building, being the midtown girl that I am I wanted to stay in the area mainly because with Pink Noodle I want to give back to the community that made Cassi Cassi. I credit the universe and my deceased grandmother for this location because ( while driving) I closed my eyes and asked my grandmother to send me a location. And not 20 seconds later I passed a building, sadly the sign said for sale by owner and a cloud formed over me because I thought there was no way I could buy a build. The Law of Attraction is a motherfucker because when you put something out into the universe you get it. My first bid on the building was rejected so I had to counter it and Ta-Da, I got the building!!  ( loan free and interest free might I add) Saturday I did the closing paperwork and got my key to the new home of Pink Noodle!!

Now this building has been sitting for a few years so there is work to be done and right now I do not have it in the budget to hire people to clean it. That is where my amazing friends and coworker came into play. Today they came out with husbands and childhood friends in tow and we set to work. Lawd Jesus did we work today the heat index was in the 100s but no one complained and that is why I love them. Even in the heat Amy managed to get a posed picture of me. Please excuse the face it was hot and right now the building doesn't have air. 

Now this building as been completely gutted so we had to clean up the mess that was left behind. The building caught fire and I am glad it did because even in the state that the building is all of the  bathroom fixtures, duct work and electric is brand new. So that helps out a lot when it comes time for the inspections and what not. The cleaning did not take as long as everyone thought, we knocked out all of the big stuff about noon and we started around 10:30.

Since I am not able to pay to play the gang for the hard work, I decided to feed them and test out a few menu items for lunch. Today we had Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna with Avocado and Kale Salad and Pantry Cookies for dessert. All of these recipes are in the cookbook that I wrote (unpublished as of yet) for the Kale Salad I used kale, avocado, sundried tomatoes, regular tomatoes and massaged the kale with olive oil. Now the reason the cookies are call Pantry Cookies is because one Sunday I was bored and my sweet tooth was kicking my ass so I literally threw some ingredients that were left over in the pantry in a bowl and made cookie. I used coco powder, shredded coconut, chopped almonds and the normal cookie base. I like testing my food on non vegans because they are use to animal products when eating and I love the reaction when they discover that you don't need animals to cook. One even went back for seconds! 

Now after lunch we set to work on the outside because it was train wreck with trash and overgrown weeds but lucky for me I had someone that brought a backhoe to get the nastiness up. Sadly I just couldn't, anyone that knows me knows I hate nastiness but IF I had to pick it up by hand I would have and then proceeded to take a millions showers. ( check out the backhoe in the sunlight it looks pink)

There is still a lot of work to be done to make Pink Noodle a success and that is where my readers come into play. My goal is to open Pink Noodle in October and without a loan from the bank, so I need donations of Time, Money and Talents. Share the Go Fund Me page, send people that have talents my way, donate building material or if you can please donate please do even if  it is just 5 bucks every little bit helps.

Thank you to everyone that has donated thus far. 

Tina Sullivan

Megan Travis-Carr

Melissa Minor

Coretta Anthony

Molly Clark

Sheridan Posey

Bianca Phillips

Yasmin Bowers

Karen Conway

Margot McNeely

Jason and Diane Garrett

LisaMarie Wilson

Spencer Syfrig

JaNese Altow

Melissa Redmond

Keida Jones

Yvette Wong

Brandon Ayers
Eric Heard
Cassi Conyers 
Pam Saavedra