BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT:Don’t fear the alternative

When the first Native Foods opened in Palm Springs, founder Tanya Petrovna wondered if the all-vegetarian and vegan restaurant would draw any crowds.

But the restaurant’s chief of operations, Lynda Sheklow, said she knew that the combination of Petrovna’s passion for animals and the environment, plus her flair for cooking, would be unstoppable.

And 14 years later, the restaurant has four successful locations, including at The Camp in Costa Mesa, where Sheklow said Native Foods’ alternative menu items intrigue carnivores and herbivores alike.

More than three years ago, Petrovna took notice of the blossoming Camp shopping center and thought her business model would work well in a place where it’s situated next to a yoga studio, a scuba diving certification shop, an adventure and outdoor apparel store and a clothing store that carries only animal-friendly threads.

The Camp’s proximity to Orange Coast College and the developer’s use of native Californian plants made it that much more attractive.

“It just seemed like a nice place for Native Foods to be,” said Sheklow, who also manages the Costa Mesa location. “We’ve been here three years now … and we’re doing really well; it really surprised us.”

The eatery’s success has spawned new ideas for Sheklow and Petrovna. They’re getting ready to open two new stores in Southern California, which will serve as the prototypes for future franchising opportunities.

The real draw is the food, items like the Newport Reuben, the Philly peppersteak, ensalada Azteca, their pizzas and other delectable veggie-only options.

Many of the menu items are vegan, which means they are void of any animal products, including eggs and dairy products. Almost all of the restaurant’s ingredients are also organic.

The kitchen staff uses tempeh, seitan and soy products to replace meat in its dishes. All the tempeh and seitan is freshly made, and the restaurant’s some 300 daily visitors can go through about 450 pounds of seitan and 300 pounds of tempeh every month.

Tempeh is made from the actual bean of a soybean. It’s mixed with grain, millet and it’s cultured — a process that takes about 24 hours. Seitan is made from wheat gluten, which is made when all the starch is separated from wheat.

The restaurant’s staff welcomes vegetarians and vegans, people who just want to try something different and those who are forced to go and look nervous about eating cheese made from nuts. On each menu, certain dishes are marked as something for the veggie newbies, and the wait staff is always happy to make recommendations.

“It’s nice to get people who aren’t familiar,” said shift leader Angela Weaver, who’s worked at the Costa Mesa restaurant since it opened. “We get a lot of businessmen in the day, and you can tell some of them really don’t want to come here, but they do and they get something and end up loving it.”

Weaver estimated her customers as 60% vegetarian or vegan and 40% who aren’t.

The restaurant is now taking Thanksgiving reservations and orders for people who want to save a turkey from the oven or are just looking for something that may not put them to sleep at the end of the night.

Native Foods is located in The Camp at 2937 Bristol St., in Costa Mesa. For more information, call (714) 751-2151 or visit www.nativefoods.com.