This vegan cook is opening her new business inside Towne West’s nearly empty food court
There’s not much left at the Towne West Square food court. In fact, the only food options inside the mall these days come from Auntie Anne’s Pretzels and Caffe Americana, a coffee shop that also serves pastries.
But that doesn’t worry Cheyenne Bullock, who plans in April to launch her new vegan restaurant Shea’s Sol Kitchen out of one of the many empty spaces in the food court.
She’s not concerned, she says, because she’s already built a big following among Wichita’s vegan community.
“And as a vegan, I can attest to the fact that when there’s good vegan food, we will go anywhere in the city of Wichita to find it,” she said.
Shea’s Sol Kitchen will serve Bullock’s take on classic soul food dishes like fried chicken, fried cauliflower, collard greens, mac and cheese, bourbon glazed yams and black eyed peas. (Bullock said she uses jackfruit as a chicken substitute.)
On Saturdays, she’ll switch up the menu and offer other types of vegan fare she’s become known for, including her homemade pizza and her Asian specialties like fried rice, lo mein and vegan crab Rangoon.
Bullock said she decided to adopt a vegetarian lifestyle years ago but had trouble finding things she wanted to eat. She started watching YouTube videos and finding creative ways to make plant-based versions of the soul food recipes she’d grown up eating. She eventually went full vegan.
“I started giving it to my friends and family, and they’d say, ‘This is good. This can’t be vegan,’” she said.
Her supporters told her she should go into business for herself, and she started in October 2020 making vegan fare out of the kitchen at Brint’s Diner, 4834 E. Lincoln. Her creations would be served as part of “Sol Food Sundays” at the diner, and she’d also sell food to-go on Mondays, when Brint’s was closed.
Bullock stayed at Brint’s Diner until February of 2021, then started cooking and serving her food out of a spare food truck that Southeast Carryout owner Perry Hayden wasn’t using. Her following grew even larger, but early last year, Hayden decided to launch his food truck business, and Bullock was without a kitchen again.
She gave up cooking while she had a baby, she said, but now, she’s ready to get back in the kitchen and give her business a real try.
While she was working at Brint’s, Bullock said, she met Lance Nelson, a member of the large family that ran the diner. Now, they’re engaged, and he’s become a vegan. He’ll be her partner in the new venture. Both of Bullock and Nelson enrolled in the culinary program at Butler Community College before deciding to go forward with their plans, Bullock said, and they credit the program’s director, Chef Luis Pena, with encouraging them to follow their dreams.
So far, she said, mall walkers have been telling her how happy they are that Towne West is about to get something new in the food court, and she’s also excited about the possibility of increased traffic once the new five-screen Boulevard Theaters opens where the Movie Machine once operated.
Bullock hopes to have the restaurant open by April 1, she said. Her hours will be 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursdays through Mondays.
This story was originally published March 8, 2022 at 3:26 PM.
.jpg)