One to change a few. A few to change many. Many to change the world. Starts with one. - Anonymous
Our story begins with a mom and a daughter who had a dream to change the world, a "miniature" piggy called Ziggy and a saved slaughter hen, Suzanne, who turned out to be a Rooster, now called Sebastian. We have always loved animals and after Ziggy came to live with us, we started realizing that there is no such thing as humane slaughter and that all animals deserve to live. We realized that if we argued that it is a personal choice, we would be leaving someone out of the equation. After doing extensive research on the subject, we discovered that we did not need any animal products to be able to live a healthy, happy and completely guilt free life, by simply following a plant based diet. We started off our journey as Pescetarians, finding it difficult to not occasionally indulge in eating sushi. After realizing what happens in the fishing industry and how these awesome beings living under water are killed and maimed, we moved towards a vegetarian diet. We consoled ourselves to the fact that we were lucky to be able to drink milk from a dairy where the calf share in the bounty and stays with the mom for three months until weened and that our eggs were collected on a farm across the road, from free walking foraging hens. After listening to an extremely interesting talk on Veganism by Martin Dingle-Wall, and Australian actor about his journey towards veganism, we both realized that to be true to ourselves and our beliefs, we needed to make the change - And the penny had dropped!! I decided to sell my Ethical Eatery, as I could no longer feel at peace by earning an income that ensured suffering and death to some animals, even sourced from ethical farmers and as humanely as possible. I love to cook and for the past few years, I have created dishes on instinct only, as I couldn't get myself to taste sauces/dishes that contained animal products. I decided that the time was right and the public was ready to accept a plant based restaurant in our little seaside town. We took a leap of faith by opening a 100% plant based restaurant called ELL269. The name stands for Eat Love Life and 269 for the internationally recognized code for veganism, a movement started by animal activist Sasha Boojor. Calf 269 is a male calf (still alive today) who was rescued by anonymous activists, days before his planned slaughter. ELL269 offered deliciously prepared dishes, aimed to please any pallet, win a few followers and change the mindset of needing flesh, milk and eggs to survive. We sourced produce from local farmers that promote organic, hormone free produce. Further we aimed to offer people with allergies like gluten or lactose intolerance, illnesses like diabetes etc a myriad of options to enjoy without feeling like the odd one out. The chapter of ELL269 based in Hermanus at the Carriages building has come to an end and like a true Phoenix rising from the ashes, a beautiful new chapter has been written with ELL on Wheels (thanks Rohan!!!) as the new venture. And so the story about the mother, a daughter, a pig and a chicken goes to a new level where life shall be explored in all it's beauty on wheels, living like the true Gypsy she is in her heart, travelling the countryside exploring new ideas and meeting new people, joining hearts and lives with vegan street food, markets, food and wine pairings and pop-ups.a chapter where we shall experience life on the move exploring interesting locations, and offering education in different towns. It is time to bring out the travelling spirit and take the love for good food and all things nice to the people - we are on the move!!! Look out on our page for interesting events by ELL on Wheels near you! It is said that “World Peace begins in the kitchen.” -Anonymous
Join us on our magical journey of Vegan living, a journey that feeds the soul as well as the body!!
“Vegan food is soul food in its truest form. Soul food means to feed the soul. And to me, your soul is your intent. If your intent is pure, you are pure.” -Erykah Badu
