Actor and comedian Nick Cannon just opened a vegan soul food restaurant in Los Angeles.
In collaboration with plant-based chef Chef Velvet, the television host opened The VTree Hollywood inside Yamashiro, a Japanese restaurant located in the Hollywood Hills.
The VTree Hollywood opened on April 30 and has been serving “soulFULL plant-based cuisine” for takeout and delivery due to the coronavirus outbreak. Cannon plans to open the restaurant for dine-in once lockdown restrictions have been lifted.
Cannon and Chef Velvet founded the restaurant in order to give Hollywood more plant-based soul food options. The restaurant’s rotating menu features classic, southern-inspired dishes made with organic ingredients, such as BBQ Ribz, Cajun Shrimp, Original Fried Drumsticks, and Chic’n and Waffles.
Shortly after opening, the restaurant sold out completely.
“LA, thank you! Thank you for completely selling us out. Thank you for your [patience], thank you for your encouraging words, and thank you for your support,” the restaurant wrote on Instagram following its opening.
The VTree continued: “We do not take it for granted that you choose to support our business…. again, thank you!”
Nick Cannon Enjoys Vegan Food
Cannon adopted a healthier diet in 2012 after he was diagnosed with lupus, a long-term autoimmune disease. He started drinking more water and stopped eating certain meats.
“Once I got out of that, I knew I wanted to keep a healthy lifestyle, but I didn’t want to be that confined. I wanted to enjoy food. So now it’s just eating clean. I don’t eat pork or processed foods,” he told GQ.
In May of last year, Cannon visited the Charlotte, North Carolina-based vegan soul food eatery Veltree—which is also owned by Chef Velvet. The rapper raved about the eatery’s plant-based chicken in a video posted to Facebook.
“This is, uh, chicken, well… or something like it! It tastes better than chicken! It feels better than chicken,” Cannon said.
He continued: “Veltree—they’re doing it. I haven’t had chicken in I don’t know how long. I’ve got it now.”
