VEG-U-ARY
Welcoming Fresh Salads to Downtown Eugene
BY WILLIAM KENNEDY
R
Bowl (mixed greens, tofu, edamame succotash, red onion, sweet red pepper, cherry
tomatoes, shredded rainbow carrots), or the Dirty Bird (Chop romaine, chicken, roasted
corn, black beans, avocado, pico de gallo, pepper jack cheese, tortilla strips and Southwest
spice mix.) Or instead of a salad, try the soup.
Step inside Veg, with exposed brick, hardwood floors, a stainless-steel salad bar
designed to make the colors of the produce pop, and you just feel a little cleaner. Pick your
salad topping and watch the Veg staff build your salad for you. Meanwhile on the wall,
video screens silently tell the story of a fifth-generation hazelnut farmer in Junction City.
It’s an urban yet accessible aesthetic. Very Eugene, but also tailor-made to be replicated
across multiple locations in a good-food-fast twist on the fast food formula. “We wanted to
use reclaimed lumber as much as possible,” Roscoe says. “We wanted it to be very sleek
and clean and modern looking.”
Overall, Roscoe wants people to know Veg is a Eugene-grown concept. The reason
they did it in Eugene, he says, is to reflect back health and outdoor-lifestyle focus of the
community. “We are 100 percent Eugene,” he says. ■
ecently at Veg Salad Craft, a new restaurant in downtown Eugene, a woman
exclaimed, “I’m from San Diego and this tzatziki is to die for!”
Whether San Diego is known for its tzatziki remains unclear, but what
is certain is Veg makes its own vibrant tzatziki. Along with other dressings
including jalapeño ranch, wild berry vinaigrette, miso ginger and more.
It all goes on top of Veg’s salads — build your own, or order off the menu. Creations
celebrating what restaurant founder Mike Roscoe calls “the bounty of the Pacific Northwest.
We don’t need to go to Florida or California,” he goes on, “It’s all right here.”
Roscoe partnered with his wife to open Veg last fall in a vacant retail space on
Willamette. The concept is “healthy, local produce in a super sustainable, super nourishing
package,” he says. The bowls in which the salads are served are completely sustainable,
Roscoe explains, down to the glue adhering the Veg logo to the outside of the package. I
try the Cobb salad (chop iceberg, chicken, red beet, egg, avocado, cherry tomatoes, blue
cheese and bacon) with jalapeño ranch. Veg offers tons of vegan and vegetarian options,
but there’s also steak, chicken, smoked salmon, bacon and eggs, Roscoe explains.
In the Cobb salad, the produce is fresh and flavorful, the portion hearty, with a little
savory, bacon-y pop alongside the energetic heat of the jalapeño. There’s also the Buddha
Veg Salad Craft is open 10:30 pm to 7:30 pm Monday through Saturday at 861 Willamette in Eugene. For more information
see vegsaladcraft.com.
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