NEWS

Cranston, Warwick businesses represented at RI VegtoberFest

By EMMA BARTLETT
Posted 9/6/22

If there’s one bestseller at Cranston’s Blaze Pizza, it’s the company’s cheesy bread. Made with vegan dough and cheese, Assistant Manager Destiny Laoie said she’s had …

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NEWS

Cranston, Warwick businesses represented at RI VegtoberFest

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If there’s one bestseller at Cranston’s Blaze Pizza, it’s the company’s cheesy bread. Made with vegan dough and cheese, Assistant Manager Destiny Laoie said she’s had vegan customers call the store to double check that the cheesy bread is vegan because it looks that good.

Blaze Pizza is among the 34 businesses that will participate in this year’s RI VegtoberFest at Trinity Beer Garden at Biltmore Park in Downtown Providence. On Sept. 17, vendors and exhibitors will provide food and beverage samples, sell vegan products and provide educational information on plant-based living. Individuals will also get to taste a wide array of seasonal beers from different RI-based breweries and beverage producers; full pours will be available for purchase at the bar, along with vegan specialty cocktails.

RI VegFest launched in 2020 and is the state’s only fully vegan festival. The event is meant to build community while supporting vegan/vegan-friendly restaurants and businesses from Rhode Island and beyond.

Laoie said Blaze Pizza will provide samples of their original pizza that is made with vegan dough, vegan cheese and red sauce at the Sept. 17 celebration. The business will also hand out store coupons. Laoie, who has been working at the Cranston location since it opened three and a half years ago, said customers enjoy the assembly line aspect of building their own pizza.

Two businesses from Warwick – Proclamation Ale and Plant City X – will also represent the local area at VegtoberFest.

Plant City, a plant-based vegan food hall and marketplace, will offer a selection of baked goods for guests to test. Plant City was established in 2019 and since its inception, the restaurant has expanded to four restaurants and three bars across the state. Project Manager/Culinary Developer Sydney DiGregorio, who has attended past VegFests, said the company will bring their vegan chocolate chip cookies and brownies.

The brownies are made with black beans, which DiGregorio said adds moisture to the dessert. She pointed out that at first people pause at the idea of black beans being in brownies but said the beans can barely be tasted. In past years, Plant City has featured their chicken sandwich (which has a tofu patty, homemade coleslaw, pickles, chipotle mayo) and nachos (which has queso, cashews, crema, black beans, guacamole, pickled jalapeno, pico de gallo).

DiGregorio said people always come looking for the nachos at VegFest’s event and said those will likely make an appearance this year. She added that not only locals come to the event, but individuals will drive down from Boston to celebrate this plant-based living festival.

DiGregorio’s favorite part of the event is meeting new people and seeing local vendors. She said the local businesses support each other and they all go and eat at each other’s restaurants.

VegtoberFest also has educational learning opportunities about plant-based diets, and DiGregorio mentioned that Plant City houses a program called Plant Docs which is a jumpstart program on plant-based diets. Run by doctors, individuals go through this six week course at Plant City’s Providence location.

Bootstrap Compost, a residential and commercial food scrap pickup service, is sponsoring this year’s celebration of plant-based living; additionally, the event will use compostable trays, cutlery, and sample cups, and Bootstrap Compost will be on site helping ensure that waste is collected for composting and diverted from the landfill.

VegtoberFest will take place Sept. 17 with a Sept. 18 rain date. This year’s line-up includes Thrive Tribe Café, The Donut Shack, Lumpia Bros, Dips Dips, Like No Udder, Plant City, Born from Pain, The Red Door, Amazing Ackee, Blaze Pizza, Basil & Bunny, Hometown Poke, La Pheegan Chef, Oatmiel Café, Pianta, SoCo Vedge, Chair 2 Beer, Narragansett Beer, Moniker Brewery, Trinity Brewhouse, Proclamation Ale, Bully Boy Distillers, Ink Fish Books, Be A Nice Human, Divine Treasures Chocolates, Fieldstone Kombucha, Vine Sanctuary, Sacred Flame Candles, Stay Vocal, Flavorfied, Bear Butter, Barrett’s Garden, Freya Soapworks and Granny Squibb’s Iced Tea.

Tickets are available in advance for all three sessions: 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m., and are available at www.rivegfest.com for $25. Space is limited for each season and tickets are only valid for the purchased session. Each session is two hours long and in-between the dining areas will be sanitized. Pets should be left at home. Children ages four and older require a ticket for entry. Tickets are transferable to other people, but are non-refundable and cannot be exchanged for other time slots.

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