I started switching to a vegan diet in the year 2000. In 2001 my sister emailed me a recipe for vegan cheesecake. I was never a huge fan of cheesecake. I didn’t dislike cheesecake, but I wouldn’t call it my favorite dessert (that would have to be mint chocolate chip ice cream). I had never tried to bake a cheesecake. It was time to try something new.

So I baked a vegan cheesecake for the holiday gathering that year–and just kept on doing it for future holiday gatherings. I experimented with the recipe and made it my own. I invented a pumpkin flavor and a peppermint flavor. The nice thing about baking cheesecakes in November or December is there are always plenty of coworkers and family members to help me eat them. I didn’t usually tell people the cheesecake was vegan, because most people in my world don’t care about that. Eventually I also started making them gluten-free. And because I care about putting only the healthiest food in my own body (no chemicals), I made them with no trans fats, no artificial colors, and no artificial flavors, in addition to keeping the high fructose corn syrup out.

In 2011 it dawned on me: I bet other people would appreciate having a healthier dessert option. At the end of September I baked a sample and took it to Open Harvest. I asked to speak with the deli manager. (Didn’t know yet I was supposed to be asking for the bakery manager). Turns out neither manager was in that day, so I gave a sample to the staff person I did talk to. Then I gave samples to all the other staff walking by. They were all very enthusiastic; one person said it would be nice to have a local source of vegan cheesecake. One customer came by and said, “This is really good. Are you going to be selling this here?”

“Well, that’s what I came to find out today.”

“You should contact Jim Larson. He just opened a new restaurant. What is the name of his place?” She turned to see if anyone nearby knew the name of the restaurant.