Shannon Martinez - Smith & deli-cious: food from our deli (that happens to be vegan)

Our Deli was born out of necessity. 1. We had outgrown our restaurant. And 2. Shannon was going creatively stir crazy (but well come back to that).

We had outgrown Smith & Daughters, our plant-based Latin restaurant on Brunswick Street in Fitzroy, Melbourne. We knew we needed a bigger space and we needed it yesterday. Less than a year after opening the restaurant, we were toasting all our current staff (who didnt know what they were getting into) and the signing of the lease on Smith & Deli. However, it was a much, much more ambitious build. The restaurant had previously functioned as a restaurant, while the Deli was an IT office, complete with a meeting room and a floor of open-plan cubicles. Everything had to go. Transformation is an understatement.

Running a shop is so different from running a restaurant, especially when you commit to a made-to-order sandwich bar with thirty-two varieties, rotating sweets, salads, dips, pies, sausage rolls, scrolls, pizzas, ready-meals, cheeses, meats and groceries. We had a booming trade, queues around the block and an ever-changing landscape of problem-solving to get our space sorted. And then, just like that, the place became more than a place; we had created a community. We created somewhere for people to come every day, on their way to work, on their lunch breaks, while walking their dog. We became their Saturday place and their happy place. The park next to the Deli became unofficially known as Smith & Park, where on any given day our signature bandana-print sandwich paper can be spotted at picnics across the lawn.

Our Eat Vegan iron sign out the front has been affectionately called the Leaning Tower of Veganism. If you didnt take a photo of it, did you really go? And we are a destination spot for food lovers and vegans across the world. How did this happen? We like to think it was born out of hard work and innovation, creating the first vegan deli in the world, making sure our products are always good, and creating the best customer service team to match. Were committed to creating so much more than a meal its an experience.

This is what we want to translate for you in this book. We want you to feel the sentiments we hear daily: that people are in heaven, or feel at home, or they cant believe theyre eating something they havent had in ten years. We want you to feel the warmth of our team and the care they put into every pie and every tiny hand-cut potato; theres so much love in every single bite. We have customers that, to this day, say their partners have no idea theyre eating vegan food, and thats definitely still one of our favourite compliments. Others say that our sausage rolls convinced someone in their life that vegan food isnt complete garbage. Its all about changing minds and empowering our staff and customers.

The other reason we created the Deli was to give Shannon a place to create something new every single day. Smith & Daughters small kitchen, along with a menu that only changed seasonally, made it impossible for Shannon to try new things and challenge herself. Now, Shannon refers to the Deli as her little science lab: her place to play. The Deli has changed everything for her. It has given her the freedom to make exciting things happen all the time, and there are new victories daily. She even gets to talk about how to mimic blood when shes creating the worlds best burgers or sausages. And she is still committed to making dishes that create food memories and make people emotional: those dishes that are purely for the people. Our goal is to expand, always; to show people that vegan food has moved beyond the trend, the joke or the dirty word it once was, and to get in the faces of the naysayers.

The Deli is also the place where no one has to think. If youre vegan, weve done the work for you. Finally, a corner store where you can pick up your basics as well as a ready-meal and have no doubts. Meat eaters have that luxury; they can go into any shop and get anything they want. Our Deli, like the recipes in this book, provides a place where any vegan can go and be spoiled for choice, and we can look after them. Its a comfortable food haven and, most importantly, its convenient.

One of the roadblocks to vegan cooking is efficiency and convenience. You cant just go and grab a jar or box of something and, if youre making a meal, its often a lengthy, all-day process. This book aims to stop all this nonsense. Weve given you basic staples: doughs, pastries and sauces to keep in the fridge so you can set yourself up to make meals in about twenty minutes. Cook smart, not hard.

We wish all of you readers could take a stroll in our tiny store, be greeted by our effervescent staff, pat a cute dog and gaze at the dozens of rotating sweets, meals and salads in our cases. But we know thats impossible, so we created this book. Our goal is to connect with as many people as possible and show them that vegan food is so much more than what they think, and this is it. This is for you.

Theres one thing, and one thing only, that stops the Deli from operating: dogs. When theres a dog in the shop, all the staff are out the front causing a scene, oohing and aahing and patting and taking photos. Sorry, customers, there will be a brief interruption in your service; theres a dog in the shop.

(Oh, and we serve puppacinos for those hounds who brave the lines.)

Staff

We know were the most fortunate business owners in the world, and it all comes down to the solid-gold-inhuman-form we employ. We truly have the best staff in the world: people who are genuine, warm, fun to be around, hardworking and simply incredible.

Lara (epitome of relentless love) is our front of house manager. Her enthusiasm and excitement is incomparable. Sandwich press broken? Theres an hour wait in line? You instantly feel better with one short Lara announcement: words that feel like a hug from your best friend. When asked what the Deli means to her, Lara said, It means working with some of the greatest people I've ever met. It means making up songs about inanimate objects, it means laughing until my belly hurts. It means dancing every day, it means working our guts out every day and still smiling at the end of it, ready to do it all again. And she does.

All good managers need their support. The team is brilliant, but theres one soul most across it all our assistant manager, Emma. Rain or shine, she is there for us, she ensures the shop runs without flaws, is stocked to the gills, and is perfectly perfect. Shes the Timon as Lara is the Pumba. We may all have PMA (positive mental attitude) but they have what you call HMA: hakuna matata attitude. We couldnt do it without them.