A long long long time ago in BCE, (Before the Common Era) Chinese philosopher Confucius did something he was known for which was dropping some wisdom.
He famously said, “We all have two lives, and the second one begins when we realize we only have one.”
A thousand or so years has passed since Confucius said that famous quote, but it still holds relevance today. Francesca Avitto realized what Confucius meant when she was in an emergency room in New York City.
“I was 24 years old when I was diagnosed with my first auto-immune disease,” remembers Avitto. “I was at work when I found out because I had to get bloodwork done for bruising, and I was called and sent into the emergency room by my doctor when I realized what was happening. At that point I only had three days to live.”
“It was twenty years ago, and to hear ‘you would have bled out if you didn’t come here and get treatment’ was a big eye opener for me. I realized that I needed to make major changes because I need to live a healthy lifestyle.”
Avitto has made those changes in life, and we are all better off that she’s still around. With clearer eyes & a healthier lifestyle Avitto & her wife Kate Wnek opened up Lady & the Shallot, a vegan eatery in the Trenton Farmers Market.
Health is a huge reason why Lady & the Shallot exists today, Avitto has her own struggles with health while Wnek got interested in eating healthy when her late mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
“My mom was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s when I was in my early 20’s,” explains Wnek. “I watched her deteriorate and I really thought about what she was putting into her body, and I started looking at how to live a better life.”
Wnek eventually realized that what you eat plays a huge role in our daily lives, and how our minds work. Wnuk who worked at restaurants since she was a teenager has always had an attachment to cooking.
“It’s always been there for me,” says Wnek about cooking. “It’s very therapeutic and kinesthetic, and you can give the food to people, and they will eat it.”
Seeing health struggles up close and personal made the duo dig in more to eating healthy and being vegan. They started Lady & the Shallot as a catering company, and eventually turned it into a restaurant.
While the food certainly stands out, and will leave you returning to Lawrence Township, the location stands out even more and sets Lady & the Shallot apart from other vegan eateries.
Lady & the Shallot is located in the Trenton Farmers Market next to the crown jewel of farmers market which is the Amish market.
The duo also took advantage another thing farmers markets are known for which is fresh food. The Garden State makes, Trenton Takes.
“We know they care about what is in our food,” says Avitto about farmers. “Some of these farmers have worked here since they were kids, or they inherited it from their parents.”
“They know so much about vegetables and other things they put out,” says Wnek. “I remember the first time I worked here during apple season that there’s twenty types of apples.”
Being in close proximity to farmers creates a true farm to table experience for the customers. While Lady and the Shallot doesn’t serve Skittles, you can certainly taste the rainbow in their foods. That’s intentional and a way to introduce new customers to vegan foods.
“Our food is very visual” explains Avitto. “If someone walks by and sees our food, they want in on it. If you every heard the term ‘eat the rainbow and you’ll live forever,’ we’ll feed you the rainbow, and it’s so visually aesthetic that it’s kind of hard to pass up.”
And the food at Lady and the Shallot is hard to pass up as well. The cilanto chimichurri tacos is as flavorful as it is colorful, and it’s still spicy like regular tacos.
While visual and taste are important in judging food, it’s also important to realize how food made you feel. Something might look good or taste good, but in an hour or so you might need a nap. Lady & the Shallot passed the tired test, and they have food that’ll keep you awake.
Lady & the Shallot offers breakfast all day, and there’s a little bit of everything on it. The breakfast menu is where you’ll find Avitto’s favorite dish which is the Lady Rancheros.
“My favorite dish on the menu is a breakfast item,” says Avitto. “It’s the Lady Rancheros and it’s our take on the Huevos rancheros. So, it’s tofu scramble, topped with three meat chili. It comes with a side salad it’s got avocado, jalapeño, aioli fresh jalapenos, fresh onion, and comes with the side of soft corn tortillas which are grilled so you can kind of make your own tacos.”
In addition to the all-day breakfast menu, they have a street spuds menu which has air-fried potatoes with toppings. You can have your pick of rainbow, truffle, chili, or curry.
No meal is complete without dessert, and that’s where baker Ashley Brown comes into play. Brown is the brains behind the vegan desserts at Lady & the Shallot such as tarts, cookies, and recently cupcakes.
Brown has been with Lady & the Shallot for two years now and was a frequent customer before getting the job.
Vegan & non-gluten dessert items taste as good if not better than their generic counterparts. But there is a process that is different for making vegan sweets.
“I would say it’s the milk and the eggs and finding substitutions for them,” says Brown about the differences on making vegan treats. “I always make everything vegan, but making things gluten-free is where things get tricky. Sometimes you have to add in rice flour or oat flour, and there’s a ton of flour, and it comes down to texture early.”
For the upcoming Tauras season Lady & the Shallot turns six on May 17th. Throughout the year there will be additions to the menu, but Lady & the Shallot mainly wants to continue having fun at the Trenton Farmers Market.
“I don’t think many of us here are cutthroat business owners,” explains Avitto. I think we’re just people with passion. When we come across an issue it’s really cool to be in a market like this because we can consult with our friends and be like ‘This is going on how would you handle it?’, and then we have friends here who have become mentors to us.”
For more information on Lady & the Shallot visit their website Home | Lady and the Shallot or visit their Instagram account @ladyandtheshallot
