New cafe that’s friendly to vegans, gluten-free crowd has quietly opened in west Wichita
A new business that includes a vegan and gluten-free cafe has just opened in west Wichita.
Sunflour Cafe & Collective, owned by business partners Whitney Feltrop and Nicole Mullen, quietly opened over the weekend at 6120 W. Central. The business has two parts: a sit-down cafe that offers a plant-forward vegetarian menu of coffee, smoothies, boba tea, kombucha, breakfast items, pizzas and sandwiches, as well as a collective market space featuring products from local makers like soap, lotion, jewelry, artwork and more.
Though the business is open, the owners are still doing some unpacking and plan to put on a grand opening event July 16. For now, the hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, though the business will be closed Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the Fourth of July weekend.
So far, Mullen said, customers have been trickling in, though many people don’t realize yet that the business is open. It’s set up in a former tanning salon and doesn’t yet have its outdoor signage.
Customers so far have been sampling from the menu, which includes a long list of espresso drinks, teas and smoothies as well as salads, sandwiches and pizzas, all of which can be served vegan and gluten free. Mullen said among her favorite dishes so far is the Eden sandwich, made with brie cheese, apple slices, candied walnuts and lemon ginger honey, and the Figged Up pizza, topped with fig, pear, honey and goat cheese. She’s also excited about a vegan soft serve ice cream vendor who will set up in the space soon. You can see the menus below.
Mullen and Feltrop have transformed the old tanning salon into a large, open space where people can hang out, use the free Wi-Fi, enjoy coffee or a meal, play games, let their kids draw on tables coated with chalkboard paint or even try out their performance skills on a small stage. The owners also have set up a spot where people can take or leave plant clippings and an area where they take or leave books.
The shopping area in the back section of the business is filled with items from local crafters and entrepreneurs. The owners have also invited kid crafters to set up shop, and they’re selling things like jewelry, slime, henna and more.
Sunflour Cafe & Collective is reminiscent of The Coop, an innovative cooperative that opened in Derby in March 2020 selling food items and meals-to-go produced by its members. In fact, Sunflour Cafe & Collective has a tie to The Coop: Feltrop is the operations manager at The Coop and the co-owner of the coffee shop that operates inside that business. Mullen, the owner of CM Goodies, sells her vegan and gluten-free baked goods there as well.
After the grand-opening event in July, Sunflour Cafe & Collective will expand its hours to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
Sunflour Cafe & Collective menus
This story was originally published June 28, 2022 at 12:53 PM.
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