Good news, G-Zen fans! You can now find your favorite vegan food at G-Monkey in West Hartford
When Branford’s G-Zen gourmet plant-based restaurant closed in April, area vegans and flexitarians grieved. Where would they go for ttheir black bean-based Zen burgers, their Reubens made of marinated tempeh or the chili-cheese fries with sweet potato and coconut-based “Not Yo Cheese”?
Now they have their answer. G-Monkey Plant-Fueled Fast Food opened June 30 at 625 New Park Ave. in West Hartford. Co-owner Ami Beach said the new restaurant is an “evolution” from G-Zen to a more concentrated menu, a focus on takeout and a quick-service model.
However, Beach said, G-Monkey is flipping the script on the fast-food paradigm in the service of the freshest food possible.
“When you think of fast food you think of styrofoam packaging, everything pre-made and sitting under a heat lamp, a lot of processed ingredients, all the free ketchup you want, everything fast and put in a bag together,” Beach said.
“We do things in a quick manner but everything is made to order in-house daily from scratch. We even make the ketchup from scratch. We are trying to turn people over in 15 minutes, but really it’s anywhere from 10 minutes to a half hour. What we do is labor-intensive. Good things come to those who wait,” she said.
The menu includes items from G-Zen, whittled down to the most popular and most adaptable to the takeout model. Many items are gluten-free. All meat-like ingredients are made in house. “No Impossible, no Beyond,” Beach said.
The burgers are the popular Zen ($12) with “Nay-yo” mayonnaise-like dressing, the Epic Cheeseburger ($14) with that “Not Yo Cheese,” the Colossal Smoked Bacon Cheeseburger ($16) with the coconut bacon and The Brava Burger ($17) with pineapple and sriracha Nay-yo.
Handhelds include the Veganlicious Grilled Cheese ($15), a second grilled cheese with kimchi ($17), the Downward Dog Bean Burrito ($14), that tempeh Reuben ($15), avocado toast ($16) and romaine-walnut pate tacos ($16).
Bowls are Naked Burger Bowl with a Zen patty ($16), Colossal Burger Bowl ($17), Buddha Bowl with cashew-based “Parmesan” dust ($16), Pure Radiance Bowl with dates and raisins ($16), the Feisty Monkey Bowl ($14) with pasta and peanut-cilantro sauce” and the tuna-tasting Chickpea of the Sea Poke Bowl ($17) with kimchi, pumpkin seeds and brown rice.
The popular G-Fries made with hand-cut sweet potatoes are served with house-made hickory-smoked ketchup and come in regular ($7 to $10), chili-cheese ($14), disco with Not Yo Cheese and vegetable gravy ($14) and cinnamon-maple for $12.
Soups are $8 and salads range from $10 to $15. Desserts range from $7 for truffles to $12 for lemon-lavender cheesecake. Kids’ meals are $7 to $8. Drinks range from $3 for tea to $12 for herb-and-fruit elixirs.
All of the utensils and dishes are compostable, made with vegetable fibers. “It may look like just a cup, but in three weeks, it will go back to the earth,” Beach said.
G-Monkey had a challenging soft opening over the July 4 holiday weekend. That was due to the novel concept, which was unfamiliar to many diners: fast food that wasn’t as fast as they expected it to be. It also was due to the huge crowd that showed up to greet Beach and her husband and co-owner Mark Shadle.
“People came from all over, Rhode Island, New York City, to come to G-Zen. They’re coming here, too. We’re hitting a new market as well as the people geeking out on vegan food,” Beach said. “We thought we could sneak in here quietly, but it was insanity, every seat was taken. It was like a concert.”
Shadle is the chef at G-Monkey, as well as the G-Monkey food truck that has made the rounds of the Hartford area since 2009 and still goes out on Sundays. He got his start as owner of It’s Only Natural in Middletown.
Since then, Shadle has made his mark on a nationwide scale, with medals in the Culinary Olympics, an invitation from Michelle Obama to cook at the White House and a nomination of Chef of the Year by the Connecticut Restaurant Association.
His history is illustrated with a wall of rolling pins in the store.
“They signify all his cooking over the years, from his grandmother, to his mother, to him. He hand-rolls buns every day,” Beach said, showing off a bun branded with the restaurant’s cute monkey logo.
The wall next to the rolling pins soon will be decorated in honor of Culebra, Puerto Rico, where the couple also has a home.
Beach, who grew up in West Hartford, is an herbalist and nutritionist, who formerly worked as a colon hydrotherapist and a seller of holistic health and body products. Setting up shop in West Hartford was a return home for her. “I wanted to come back,” she said.
The produce used to make the foods come from many local organic farms, including Shadle and Beach’s own Shadle Solar Farm in Durham. Other farms are Leaning Oak in Durham, Forest City in Middletown and KNOX in Hartford.
The restaurant sells a variety of monkey-logo branded merchandise. Sales of the merch help fund the couple’s favorite charitable causes, such as animal rescue, helping the homeless, addiction recovery, food banks and children’s organizations, especially in Culebra.
“It’s important to us that people who put their dollars here, in addition to getting organic and GMO free food, also are donating money to help people,” Beach said.
G-Monkey Plant-Fueled Fast Food, at 625 New Park Ave., in West Hartford, is open from noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday. Diners can order online through the ToastTab app or on site. No delivery or phone orders. gmonkeyfastfood.com.
Susan Dunne can be reached at sdunne@courant.com.
