POP-UP PAIR
PHOTOS BY CLEBER BONATO
Some people are natural-born chefs, working wonders with whatever three or four ingredients are at hand. The rest of us require an arsenal of ingredients even to imagine the most basic dishes. Therein perhaps lies the real fear of a vegetarian or vegan diet: not the loss of meat or cheese, but the loss of the possibility, the loss of convenience.
But according to Phillip Horn, vice president of sales and service for the Sacramento Kings, and wife, Danea Horn, veganism really isn’t that difficult.
The Horns kept a vegetarian diet for 12 years, then a vegan one for nearly six, but they admit the two-year transition between the two required some planning.
“I said, ‘OK, I’ll do this, but I need to recreate all our favorite meals,’” Danea says. “So I just started dabbling in the kitchen, and I figured out a macaroni and cheese and tacos so that we still had a diet that was nostalgic and comforting but also healthy and in line with the move we wanted to make.”
She’s even been able to recreate her grandmother’s Thanksgiving meal, “and it’s pretty close,” she says with a laugh.
A DELICIOUS LIE
The Horns gave up meat and dairy, but thanks to an evolving industry, they say it’s difficult to tell.
“[Companies] have created [vegan] butter, cream cheese, things like that, so that it’s much easier to recreate flavors,” Danea says. “I‘ve certainly become a more creative chef.”
Phillip adds that vegan products are far more common than they were even two or three years ago.
“And now meat or dairy replacements you can buy today are so close that I don’t really miss anything, and we’ve worked to combine the right flavors and sauces and ingredients to make it even closer,” he says.
The couple laughs at many people thinking they’re strictly living off salads.
“We’re making pizzas, lasagnas, ranch chicken salads with biscuits, tacos, and burritos,” Danea says.
The truth is, it’s easier to create a vegan burger than to dispel the stereotypes about meatless diets. People often say of vegan diets, “You can’t get enough protein,” or “The diet isn’t healthy,” but Danea, who lives with chronic kidney disease, says even her doctor endorsed her diet.
“It’s not only for hippies, people living this bohemian lifestyle,” Phillip says. “People think it’s slow and complicated, difficult to produce, expensive. But those are all things we’re trying to remedy.”
“We’re not doctors,” he continues, “but for us it’s been incredibly healthy, and the myth about not getting enough protein isn’t substantiated. We can eat as much protein as if we were on a meat diet. That’s one reason we wanted to start Burger Patch. We wanted to open up people’s eyes to that.”
FROM KITCHEN TO QUICK-SERVE
Phillip used to eat two or three burgers a day, and while he doesn’t miss the meat, he does miss the convenience.
“And I started thinking, it’s too bad there aren’t more places where I could just drive through that offer the type of diet we’re looking for,” he says.
After six years’ experience recreating vegan comfort food recipes at home, the Horns decided to bring vegan quick-serve to others. They opened Burger Patch, a pop-up eatery serving vegan burgers, fries, and even shakes.
“We think of it as a gateway product, and for those who are veg curious, they’ll come in and have a burger and realize, ‘Wow, I can totally do this, and I don’t have to sacrifice anything,” Phillip says.
“People think going vegan means, ‘Oh, I’m going to go plant based so I’ll just have to eat salads,’” Danea adds. “No! If you want to eat burgers, fries, and shakes, you can.”
Burger Patch currently operates as a pop-up eatery, but the Horns hope to open a permanent brick-and-mortar location by the end of the year, proving to others the comfort, convenience, and flavors of a vegan diet they discovered at home.
