Plant City Providence Food Hall

Everyone loves a good food hall/court, right? I know I do with all the options of tasty food to pick from. Most food halls don’t offer loads of vegan options, so it can be difficult to find something to eat, or there are only one or two things to pick from. Thankfully, Plant City Providence has all that and more. If you live in the Providence, Rhode Island area, the dreamiest food court in the land is in your reach. The real estate spot they landed is incredible and they did a wonderful job with lighting, decorating, and use of space throughout the building. The lighting is a photographer’s dream inside with bright white walls and tables downstairs, and lots of windows to help bring in loads of natural light. If inside is packed, sit in the patio area at one of their many tables, or you can sit in their oversized basket chairs that are so cozy to sit in. Honestly, there isn’t a bad seat in the house. Parking can be tricky, and they are extremely popular, especially on the weekends or before a seminar. You can park in the neighborhood in some areas, but I have spent 15 minutes trying to find parking before, so plan ahead for that, if it’s a busy time.

Chef Matthew Kenney is a master vegan chef who has created restaurants all over the world with some of the best food you will ever eat. He worked with Kim and Frohman Anderson to create the first fully vegan food hall in the world and it’s in absolutely worth a road trip to see it. I’ve been twice and was living in New Hampshire at the time. I would make the day trip down to not only eat a plethora of food and drinks from any of their four restaurants, three bars, coffee bar, or bakery, but to also shop in the mini vegan marketplace, and go to seminars with famous vegan speakers and doctors.

The first time I went I got tickets to see Dr. Michael Greger who wrote one of my favorite books/cookbooks, “How Not to Die”. Not only is he a best selling author, but also a general practitioner specializing in clinical nutrition. He has an incredible way of explaining how animal products effect your body, and all the benefits of eating an all plant based diet. A founding member and Fellow of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, Dr. Greger was also honored with the ACLM Lifestyle Medicine Trailblazer Award and became a diplomat of the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine. I couldn’t believe I was going to see him live considering his books were one of the first I read when I was thinking of becoming vegan. We were lucky enough to meet him after his informative, yet entertaining presentation, and he was so kind! He seemed genuinely interested in me and was nice enough to share his info with me if I needed anything. How cool is that?

That trip was great too because I got to go with my friend Rachel, aka The Planet Riot, and her husband.  Depending on where I am living in the country, I don’t always have vegan friends to do fun vegan things with. It was so cool to experience the awesomeness of Plant City with someone I knew would appreciate it too. This isn’t to say I wouldn’t ask a non-vegan friend to go with me to these things, but it’s hard to convince people sometimes to try new things. Not only that, but this was like a four hour round trip for me, so that’s a lot to ask of someone.

We ate so much food and I ended up taking some home with me in a cooler so I could try as much as possible. I started with a fresh made buttered croissant with a golden milk latte before we went to Dr. Greger’s seminar. I also got a maple pecan pop tart and chocolate croissant to bring home because I wanted to try everything. I dream of their raw heirloom tomato and zucchini lasagne and want to work on making my own version for this blog one day. It was a recommendation I got from their owner Kim, and I am so glad I took her up on it. It’s anything but your traditional lasagna, hence the use of the lasagne instead, but to me its better. Loads of flavor and super filling to eat, yet you don’t feel weighted down and heavy like you would after eating a meat and cheese filled lasagna. I ended up taking this home with me since it was served cold, and it’s how I ended up with the picture of the plated food in my backyard. We also had pizza from the Double Zero restaurant, the same place I got the lasagne. We split their truffle pizza because I am a sucker for anything truffle, and their potato pizza, which were both amazing.  

They also have a cool mini grocery store in the lobby area on the main floor when you walk in. They have a great variety of all your favorite vegan go-to’s, and I stocked up on things I loved, and things I can’t find other places. It’s a vegan’s dream.

The second time I had the pleasure of going there, I went to a seminar with Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr. Dr. Esselstyn has been a surgeon, researcher, and clinician at the Cleveland Clinic for more than 35 years and is the first recipient of the Benjamin Spock Award for Compassion in Medicine. He has received many awards and is widely recognized as a key contributor to finding ways to reverse heart disease and other aliments using a plant based diet.  He currently directs the cardiovascular prevention and reversal program at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute and has written a book called, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease that summarizes his findings over the years. You may have seen him on the documentary, The Game Changers that came out in 2018. This was a great doc about vegan athletes and Olympians and debunks common misconceptions about being vegan as an athlete. Like Dr. Greger, his seminar was highly informative and just reconfirmed why I am vegan every day. When top medical professionals are showing you the scientific proof that a certain diet/lifestyle can not only stop but reverse various diseases and ailments, its hard not to get on board. I was lucky enough to meet him afterwards and I’m so thankful I got to be apart of his seminar.

This time I had to try all new food from the first trip. I did bring that raw lasagne with me though, because it was too good to not buy it when given the chance. I ended up getting the truffle burger from New Burger. It was delicious and the beet ketchup they paired with the fries would have been Dwight Schrute approved. Took an apple pie pop tart for the road, and a gluten-free chocolate orange donut for my bestie which were both great.

Overall, this vegan food hall concept is a genius one and it needs to be done everywhere. Imagine how many people would be willing to eat more plant based foods if they had one place with dozens of options. There is literally something for everyone here and it’s all delicious. They are also great environmentally with what they use for all their packaging. Not only because they are making all plant based food, but they are huge on zero waste packaging and reducing their carbon footprint. Every package they hand you over the counter is compostable including straws, utensils, napkins, take-out containers and tops, coffee cups, plastic cups, lids, and sleeves. How amazing is that?  They have a recycle bin for any metal or glass, and trash for anything you might have on you. There is something about the fact that you can eat a meal and leave no waste afterwards, that makes the meal taste better in my opinion.  

Plant City Providence Food Hall should be on every vegan’s bucket list of places to visit here in the US and non-vegans alike honestly. The owner’s are friendly and welcoming, the location is beautiful inside and out, and the food is reason enough to keep coming back here. Pair all that with cool seminars with smart, educated, plant based doctor’s and speakers, and a fully stocked mini grocery store and you have the perfect way to spend the day. I can’t wait to go back there after the pandemic lightens up. Have you ever been here? Is it somewhere you would make the trip for? What speakers would you like to see? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading,

Jessica