Rogelio Sanchez beat his dependancy to capsules and alcohol 9 years in the past. Within the ethical reckoning that adopted, he determined his love of animals required him to change into vegan, consuming no meat or animal merchandise of any variety.
Along with his brother Michael, who can be vegan and sober, he opened Hash Vegan Eats in October 2020. They determined to find it on the South Facet, the place they grew up, as a result of so few locations within the space cater to vegans. Although San Antonio is dwelling to greater than a dozen vegan eating places, most are downtown or on the North Facet.
“You possibly can’t discover that down right here,” Rogelio Sanchez stated. “It’s very heartbreaking as a result of I like this facet of city, however in case you go up and down Southwest Navy, it’s a meals desert: Pizza Patron, Burger King, McDonald’s.”
The brothers’ restaurant has a protracted and various menu with dishes resembling BBQ Chick-N, Phish tacos and a tackle the normal Mexican dish of pozole utilizing jackfruit as an alternative of pork. It additionally provides espresso drinks and artfully made mocktails, or non-alcoholic cocktails, in addition to teas and sweets suffused with CBD, or cannabidiol.
They grew up in poverty, Sanchez stated: “We didn’t know what comforter sheets have been. I imply, electrical energy was lower off each different day — it was a extremely exhausting option to develop up.” Above the restaurant’s doorway is a portrait of their mom, who died 14 years in the past because of alcohol and drug abuse.
“In her reminiscence, we do that,” he stated. “As a result of if this have been accessible again then, when she was struggling, when she was looking for a approach out, issues may have been totally different. With that in thoughts, I wish to assist folks.”
Sanchez is open about his historical past as an addict, posting an image of himself handed out subsequent to a can of Bud Gentle on the restaurant’s Instagram web page. The time he spent as a bartender on the River Stroll helped gas the abuse, he stated. For a time, he was homeless.
That previous helps him relate to these present process comparable struggles, Sanchez stated, and he needs to make use of the restaurant to assist them. Inside, there’s a small meals pantry for the homeless, whom he refers to as “houseless.” Actually, Hash is an acronym for “heal and unfold therapeutic.”
Earlier this 12 months, the restaurant stumbled after the February snowstorm lower into its income, main the Texas Comptroller’s workplace to threaten to close it down for delinquent tax funds. The brothers stayed in enterprise due to the help of San Antonio’s vegan group and a GoFundMe campaign that raised greater than $5,000. They now wish to open a vegan meals truck on the St. Mary’s Strip.
Rogelio and Michael not too long ago sat for an interview to debate the sober life-style, San Antonio’s vegan scene and make a very good vegan dish. The next has been edited for brevity and readability.
Q: How did you change into vegan?
Rogelio: About 9 years in the past I received sober, my brother and I. What occurs is, whenever you’re an individual who’s struggling by way of dependancy, it has to occur whenever you’re finished. You need to be like, “I don’t wish to do that anymore. That is ruining my life.”
With that got here plenty of self-love, plenty of me attempting to determine who I used to be and my place on this planet, and aligning what I did in my life — whether or not it’s what I ate, or what I drank — with my morals. I at all times had a powerful connection to animals — till they got here to my dinner plate. That assertion of, “Do you care about animals, or do you simply care about pets?” actually began to mess with me.
Q: It looks as if San Antonio has a powerful vegan scene. Is that your expertise?
Rogelio:
Now we have seen the vegan group rising in San Antonio inside the final 5 years, even. One of many huge causes that we began that is due to our mentors. There are folks within the vegan group in San Antonio who’re simply nice buddies of ours who gave us some good mentorship.
Again within the day, in Austin, there was a restaurant referred to as Veggie Heaven and every part was utterly vegan. Every single day that they had this part by the register that was both meals that didn’t get picked up or that was mistakenly made and so they put it there and the houseless group would go in and get it. Turning into new enterprise homeowners, we have been like, “I wish to do this. I would like to have the ability to assist these folks.”
Michael: It’s a tight-knit group. We do kitchen takeovers for individuals who have a vegan pop-up however don’t essentially have a kitchen. We’ll supply them our kitchen for a day that we’re closed. The entire level is to create a platform for different folks to construct the group and strengthen that group, as a result of that’s the one purpose we’re in a position to exist.
Q: You don’t see many vegan eating places on the South Facet, do you?
Rogelio: Positively. One of many strongest issues that we attempt to work on, an important factor on the South Facet, is seeing your reflection, proper? I grew up in a really Hispanic barrio. Within the barrio, there are plenty of issues which are very stunning concerning the Hispanic tradition: the household aspect, the group aspect, there’s plenty of small companies that everybody helps. All people sort of is aware of one another, these sorts of issues, proper? Lovely. There’s additionally plenty of actually dangerous issues that nobody talks about like sexism, racism, homophobia. For those who’re an individual who doesn’t relate to these ideologies, and also you’re surrounded by individuals who do, you’re virtually inclined to fall in line and begin to act in that method or you need to depart, proper? And that’s what I did — I needed to dip. I went to the suburbs, I went to Medical Middle, I went to Stone Oak.
Once we received the chance to get this house it was a no brainer as a result of I wish to be the reflection for different younger folks on this space who would possibly establish the identical approach that I did, that don’t see a approach out and don’t see companies round them that they agree with.
Q: Inform me about your choice to make the restaurant alcohol-free.
Michael: If you’re coping with an dependancy it’s very easy to get defeated since you constructed your total life round it. So the factor with sobriety is that plenty of it’s the social side. Lots of people, that’s how they socialize; all their buddies and each interplay they’ve has to do with it.
Veganism and sobriety are issues which have healed ourselves, spiritually, bodily and mentally. (We wish to) create an atmosphere the place folks can come specific their very own selves in their very own journey and see the place that matches. Simply be a secure house for everybody. Within the 12 months that we’ve been right here, it’s created such a powerful group.
Rogelio: We knew that the approach to life of veganism and sobriety are one and the identical to lots of people, and I wished to have the ability to be a minimum of that house for them to come back right here, really feel welcome, really feel seen and heard and understood.
Q: You don’t promote alcohol, however you promote hemp merchandise.
Rogelio: We’re alcohol-free, hemp-forward. I imagine within the hidden energy of vegetation. I feel hemp in itself is a good looking plant. CBD, CBG, CBN, CBDV, these are all stunning parts that react to the physique very well.
Michael: There are authentic medicines which have come out of the marijuana prohibition as a result of they’re attempting to work round these legalities to get right down to the molecule of every hashish possibility. Delta-8 (a pressure of THC that’s authorized in Texas) in itself has helped tons of people that don’t wish to partake in common marijuana. It’s helped folks with PTSD.
Q: Inform me concerning the second location you wish to open.
Rogelio:
Now we have a buddy in Austin, Isaac (Mogannam), he owns Plowburger. He’s sending us a meals truck on a budget homie value, proper? In order that we are able to get it and put it on the St. Mary’s Strip in a approach of manifesting a bodily brick-and-mortar.
When folks get out of the St. Mary’s Strip they’re hammered, and they should eat and drink issues which are going to get them again right into a proper mind-set. The cool factor about non-alcoholic drinks is you may promote them till six within the morning, if you wish to. I can promote non-alcoholic beer to go. So we wish to have the meals truck be capable of present vegan meals day and night time and even non-alcoholic drinks.
Q: How do you give you a very good vegan recipe?
Rogelio:
Truthfully, you may get an everyday meals merchandise after which simply veganize. For those who’re trying to create one thing that you simply’re conversant in, simply get the identical factor they normally do, and simply purchase the vegan variations of it within the recipe and make that right into a dope, an identical model of the quote-unquote “regular” factor.
The concept with our meals and drinks is to not create good non-alcoholic drinks and vegan meals. The concept is to create good meals and good drinks that simply occur to be vegan and simply occur to be non-alcoholic.
Q: Do you attempt to replicate the dishes you had rising up?
Michael:
Yeah. We do a fish-fry field, which is a cultural staple on the South Facet. They do fish bricks with french fries, white bread and tartar sauce. We do our vegan fish, and it occurs to be somewhat rectangle as effectively as a result of we do it from our tofu, and it’s the way in which you marinate and every part and it tastes nice.
Rogelio: We create issues like pozole — it’s one of many issues that we grew up consuming and loving. It has roots in Mayan and indigenous cultures. We do it with jackfruit, utterly vegan. I’ll depart this for the South Facet, they arrive right here and adore it.
Michael: That’s the last word praise once I see somewhat girl come right here, sit down and kill the entire bowl.
