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I’ve been looking forward to this week’s episode for a long time! In this episode, I chat with Folami Geter, the chef and owner of A Peace of Soul Vegan Kitchen in Columbia, South Carolina.
Folami Geter is the self-taught chef and owner of A Peace of Soul Vegan Kitchen in Columbia, South Carolina. She was raised vegetarian and spent ten years working in her family's restaurant business before branching out on her own in 2014. She has an award-winning gift for transforming southern comfort food favorites like fried chicken and macaroni and cheese into healthier, but still delicious fully plant-based cuisine. Food Network, Thrillist, The Local Palate, and more have recognized A Peace of Soul as one of the nation's foremost vegan restaurants and food trucks. When she's not in her food truck or brick and mortar restaurant, Folami is a true foodie who enjoys traveling and eating her way across the globe.
I knew I wanted to have Folami on the podcast as soon as I first stepped into A Peace of Soul while on a trip to South Carolina. I ordered the fried chicken sandwich and, I’m not trying to be dramatic, but it changed my life!
When I say you have to get to Columbia, SC just to try her food, I mean it.
Unlike most vegans and vegetarians, Folami was actually raised vegetarian and has never eaten meat before. Her parents decided to go vegetarian for health reasons right before she was born. In the episode, we talk about what growing up vegetarian was like (there was no Miyoko’s cheese or Beyond Sausage in the ‘90s, ya’ll!) and how Folami transitioned from vegetarian to vegan when cheese was always a big part of her diet. We also touch on being vegan in the South and accepting that it can be harder to find vegan food options.
Of course, Folami’s amazing food and menu at A Peace of Soul Vegan Kitchen is why I wanted her on the podcast in the first place, so you already know we are diving into the food (again…that vegan chicken sandwich), the menu, and the behind the scenes of opening a vegan restaurant. The restaurant and menu was made with vegan-curious or newly transitioned vegans in mind, so you know that food is out of this world good!
Folami also shares her experience with non-vegan customers that are skeptical of eating vegan food and how she kindly talks them through the menu and turns them into regular customers.
In this episode we cover:
Growing up vegetarian + being the only vegetarian in school
What inspired transitioning from vegetarian to fully vegan
How giving up cheese can be the hardest for new vegans and prevent vegetarians from going vegan
Being vegan in the South and finding vegan food in grocery stores
Folami’s parents’ restaurants and entrepreneurship and how that influenced her own career
How renovating the restaurant taking 2 years turned into a huge business opportunity
Purchasing a food truck and how food trucks increase brand awareness for restaurants
A Peace of Soul’s rotating menu and the why behind it
Work life balance as a entrepreneur and the constant attempt to get more of it
Visit A Peace of Soul Vegan Kitchen:
Resources mentioned:
HappyCow app
Soul Vegetarian in Atlanta, GA
