Plant

When it comes down to it, health coach Emma Ryan has a straightforward mission: helping people feel their best. Plant, which opened last August, is her latest venture in carrying out that vocation.

“We’re not here just to be a restaurant,” she says. “We’re here to educate people and make sure that when they leave our door they feel better than they did when they came in. If we’re not doing that, then there’s no point being here.”

The 950 square-foot corner space Plant occupies in midtown is a cozy, sun-filled sanctuary that’s proved popular with those in search of a meal—or just a snack or a latte—that is nourishing in every sense. As its name suggests, the cuisine at Plant is plant-based. In addition to being vegan, the restaurant’s kitchen is free of gluten, corn, soy, dairy, and peanuts, ensuring that people on restricted diets or suffering from auto-immune and inflammatory issues can dine here without concern. These culinary caveats, however, do not in any way subdue the creativity and variety of the menu. Ryan, a certified raw food chef who honed her skills at Oklahoma City’s former raw foods bastion Matthew Kenney and in kitchens in Amsterdam and Turkey, plus her staff know how to make those fruits and veggies sing.

The most popular dish, a quinoa pesto bowl, combines tender roasted sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, and quinoa with a fresh-made pesto. One of Ryan’s favorite dishes is the southwest bowl, a medley of black beans, kale, carrot, cabbage, red onion, cilantro, and crunchy pumpkin seeds drizzled in creamy, spicy cashew dressing. Spring will bring several new additions to the lineup, including the sesame noodle bowl—raw spirals of kelp, zucchini, and carrot “noodles,” red cabbage, cilantro, and herbs tossed with a roasted sesame oil and ground cashew dressing.

Ice-free, nutrition-packed smoothies are another point of pride at Plant. The restaurant makes eight to ten gallons of almond milk on site every day, which is used in nearly every smoothie on the menu.

While Plant works with more than twenty vendors to maintain its rigorous commitment to using high-quality ingredients, it buys the majority of its produce from Indigo Acres in Edmond. In turn, the all-organic farm also uses Plant’s compost to grow its new crops.

Along with its focus on local and sustainable, Ryan wants Plant to be a resource for people who want to live a healthier lifestyle without sacrificing taste or time. As she says, “No one can spend three hours a day making homemade almond milk for the rest of their lives.”

1120 North Walker Avenue, Oklahoma City