The Angry Vegan Organic Juice Bar at 4125 Skaha Lake Road was quirky, fun, all-vegan, and popular enough considering its location. And that last bit was the problem. Tucked away on a busy thoroughfare, past even the airport, it was isolated, walkable only for beach bums, and drivable only for those who didn't mind leaving town for their plant-based fix.
And then, in September of last year, it disappeared entirely.
But in just a few days, in a brand new and far more accessible location - indeed, right in the heart of what looks to be Penticton's new entertainment district - the Angry Vegan will rise again.
"We're reopening hopefully this weekend," said Angry Vegan owner Darren McWhinney when we chatted this afternoon at his new digs at 248 Westminster Ave West. "It depends on permits and the like, but we're pushing to get open for Canada Day."
McWhinney, who seems nice enough and says he's only angry "because there's so many unhealthy people out there," admits the move was all about three things: Location, location, location.
"This is a better location for sure. More people, more exposure, and better sustainability," he said of his new cafe, less than a two-minute walk from two hopping breweries (Bad Tattoo, Slackwater), a movie theatre, the new Black Antler restaurant, the new Wayne & Freda cafe, and at least a couple more on-the-go projects.
McWhinney had chosen his spot — the former site of the Rush In and Finish Cafe — before he recognized what appears to be an area renaissance.
"We came in before we thought about it. It was for lease and I said we should grab it. It just seemed like an epiphany. We signed the contract and threw the money at him and now we're here. And now I can see that this area's going to be like that cool urban walking thing."
McWhinney, who laughingly advised us that, "You can't eat dead food and expect to be alive," said that Version 2 of the Angry Vegan won't stray far from the menu of the original.
"We're going to have the same menu as last year to start with. I'm working with a lady, and I hope she's coming back, from Austria, who's a food chemist. She has healing soup, it's a mono food filled with seeds. She'll bring that to the table with a few seminars."
But the big draw at the Angry Vegan will undoubtedly be the juices. And they'll have a lot of them, all stuffed with ingredients any heart doctor would love. It'll serve food too - in the form of vegan wraps, vegan pizzas, vegan burgers, and vegan "Buddha Bowls" - and even vegan-style "bulletproof" coffee.
Need we remind you that everything is 100 percent vegan?
Patrons have the option to eat in or take out, and the cafe's take-out window will mean you don't even need to enter the place for the latter.
And there'll be a "juice program" too.
"If you want, you can get shots to take home for the morning, or if you want to take home juices, that's fine too. I have guys come in and say they want a six-pack of "Steady Eddies," then they just put them in their fridge and grab then when they need them."
McWhinney's also talking "Friday night disco parties," and he already has the disco ball on the property for just such an occasion.
"There are a lot of people out there partying who want vegan. Everyone else is eating on a burger or a sausage, and they can come over here and get a vegan burger."
To help facilitate the disco parties and the late-night food hunters, McWhinney plans to keep his new eatery open to midnight. And, he says, he'll remain open seven days a week, at least through the summer.
The space is still a bit of a construction zone at present, and McWhinney has some ways to go for a Canada Day weekend opening. But he says he's pretty sure he's got the energy to do it.
Must be all those veggies.
