The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
WELCOME TO VEGAN COUNTRY
The Firefly Café Outpost sign hangs outside the all-vegan grocery store located in Boyertown. across the country for its customers.
Quality is a top priority when she chooses ingredients to use in menu items as well as what to sell at the store. Many items are sourced locally. The breads come from Frecon Farms which is right down the street from the café and the greens come from Butter Valley Harvest of Bally.
Wade said she has a great list of products that are used at the café but some of those items can be hard to find especially the artisan vegan meat and cheeses.
She explained that people may find it frustrating when trying to find quality vegan products in a non-vegan grocery store. With that in mind, Wade and her husband revamped the space right next to the café and established Pennsylvania’s first all-vegan grocery store.
“A lot of people come for the whole experience. They want to grab something to eat, then shop,” she said.
Tammy Stamm of Reading is vegan and said she doesn’t mind traveling 40 minutes to enjoy the plant-based restaurant and store.
“I still have family and friends that live in the area so it’s really nice to come and have a place to eat,” she said.
Stamm said she will meet friends for a meal at the café then afterwards will do some shopping at the outpost. She likes being able to find items that aren’t easily accessible otherwise such as a vegan miso dressing and jackfruit pulled pork that’s sold at the outpost.
Louisa Heck of Boyertown has been a customer of the all-vegan grocery store since it first opened about a year ago. Heck isn’t a vegan but said she shops at the outpost because it’s a good motivator for eating healthy.
“Everything is fresh and taste great,” she said.
Heck said her daughter had a dairy and egg allergy, so it was nice to have the Firefly café and outpost available to them. She was able to eat and shop knowing for certain that nothing contained dairy or eggs.
Wade said the grocery store is stocked with a lot of the items and condiments that customers taste at the café such as the chipotle mayo and jalapeno ketchup. She said the top seller is their vegan cheeses.
“A lot of the vegan cheeses that are more widely available are not always so good,” Wade said. “I really pride myself on our cheese selection because I’m very, very picky with vegan cheeses.”
In addition to food, the outpost also stocks plant-based cleaning material and beauty products. The store has natural lotions and creams as well as chemical-free and cruelty-free nail polishes.
For those that visit the area and need a place to stay, they can rent the room above the café. The apartment space has stained glass and historic elements.
“It’s a totally vegan kitchen. No animal products of any kind are ever used up there,” Wade said.
She said the Firefly café, outpost and room isn’t just a vegan destination but a destination for those that want to experience the historic, beautiful Boyertown.
“It really feels like now we have the whole package,” Wade said.
The Firefly Café and Outpost are located at 12 N. Reading Ave. in Boyertown. For more information such as operating hours, visit the website fireflycafeboyertown.com or visit the Facebook page www.facebook.com/fireflycafeboyertown.