The newly opened ZoJu Foods in Hartford, with its fully vegan menu options, brings plant-based and locally sourced ingredients aimed at offering up a nutritious alternative for an affordable price in the Capital City.
The restaurant, which opened in September, is the brainchild of actor-turned-chef Anthony Solano. The actor, who spent nearly a decade working in the New York City movie scene, played minor roles in several hit TV shows. Solano said he came back to Hartford after having his twins, Zoe and Jacoby.
“The restaurant is named after them,” Solano said. “It’s a beautiful thing to come back to where I’m from, be a father to my beautiful kids, and provide the city with healthy food options.”
Solano, who has eaten plant-based foods for the last six years, said he found it frustrating that there are not more of what he considers healthful options for his children in the city. The actor, who was raised by a single mother, dealt with housing and food insecurity while growing up in Hartford and the surrounding area.
“I grew up on Wethersfield Avenue, but I also was in five or six shelters,” Solano said. “I was in a shelter on Main Street, South Park Inn, and South Marshall Street. I have experience around homelessness, projects, and soup kitchens at the salvation army. It’s a beautiful thing to have grown up here and be able to be in this position. I’m a mile away from where I grew up in the projects and shelters.”
In between casting roles in New York, Solano said he would work in restaurants to earn money. What he initially thought of as survival work to pay the bills turned into a passion for food and fitness. Solano, who also is a certified personal fitness trainer with Equinox Luxury Fitness Club, said this passion for fitness and nutrition spills into his restaurant.
“It kept me alive,” Solano said. “I worked in Michelin star restaurants, dive bars, I worked in the hood, up on West Village and some high end places. I just got a lot of experience. Just because you see me on TV doesn’t mean I’m a millionaire. But all that diversity is reflected in my food.”
Hartford has other vegan and vegetarian options, such as Fire-N-Spice Vegan Restaurant, Bakery and Juices on Capitol Avenue, Head Over Berries inside Parkville Market and with a brand new location on Blue Hills Avenue also aims to bring food options to the city with acai bowls, juices, and vegan desserts.
Afro-Latino Plant Based Cuisine
Solano’s ZoJu Foods has several different breakfast and entrée options, including soups, sides, and starters all for under $16. All of the food is inspired around Afro-Latino ingredients from Latin America and the Caribbean. Solano, who has a Puerto Rican and Italian mother and a Black father, wanted to fuse all of that heritage and culture into a rich texture of spice and flavor. Afro-Latino cuisine tends to represent a mixture of African, Indigenous, and European culinary influences, according to Solano.
One of the signature offerings includes a pulled BBQ jackfruit in a homemade sauce served alongside roasted garlic broccoli and baked ‘mac & cheez.’ Jackfruit comes from a tree cultivated in several tropical countries in Asia including the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The texture, which has a resemblance to pulled pork, is often used as a plant-based alternative.
“BBQ jackfruit is fun and exciting because I’m bringing in a marinade and I’m making a house made BBQ sauce,” Solano said. “So we’re talking brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, and a little bit of spice on the back side with some crushed red pepper flake and garlic in there. We marinade it and roast it. The texture comes out awesome. Everyone has loved it so far.”
Other popular options include a sofrito and adobo roasted garbanzo with fresh made sofrito and adobo tossed garbanzo beans, roasted in aquafaba over arroz con gandules or Puerto Rican rice and cabbage slaw. Aquafaba is made from whipping chickpea water to closely resemble egg whites.
“This is among our most popular dishes,” Solano said. “The sofrito we make from scratch with fresh pepper, cilantro and we marinate it with minced garlic. Aquafaba is the liquid from chickpeas when they are canned. A lot of people want to waste that or rinse it away. But the whole essence of our restaurant is about creating accessibility and limiting waste. How do we do that full circle in the restaurant? We infuse flavor in the marinade with the aquafaba.”
Sides like jacketed sweet potatoes, candied yams, collard and kale blend, chickpeas, and extra crispy ZoJu fries are also served. Breakfast options include a tofu scramble with kale, peppers, onions, and mushrooms topped with shredded cheddar with a side of extra crispy home fries. More sweet options include pancakes and French toast made with fresh bakery bread dipped in a blend with cinnamon and nutmeg. Toppings include walnuts, pecans, whip cream, berry compote, and coconut flakes. Traditional offerings like bagels, English muffins and overnight oats are also on the menu.
“This is the capital of the state and I can’t stray away from the fact that we are equal distance between New York and Boston. We should be the most important city in the country due to our location,” Solano said. “And yet we are treated like a pit stop and a speed bump. So bringing food that reflects my diverse experiences in the region at an affordable price is what it’s all about. It’s that ethnic, cultural, and financial diversity that has defined my life that goes into everything we do at ZoJu.”
ZoJu Foods is located at 111 Charter Oak Avenue with some of its ingredients, including seasonal carnival squash, sourced from local Fair Weather Growers. The restaurant is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and does catering only on weekends. The location, primarily a dining space that can seat up to 46 people, also does takeout.
Stephen Underwood can be reached at [email protected]