Those of you who are my friends on Facebook already know of my latest obsession.

Ever since visiting the Temple of Hackney in London, I’ve been consumed with the idea of bringing Vegan Comfort Food to Portland, as it is most definitely the future.

Little did I know that there already was a lot of Vegan restaurants and bakeries in Portland, including some that serves Vegan Comfort Food. Although no one really does fried chicken the “proper” (read: Temple of Hackney) way, there are limited choices for vegan fried chicken at some restaurants. Almost all are soy-based, so there would be a market for really good, Seitan-based Fried Chick’n here in PDX.

Cornbread Cafe down in Eugene is more along the lines of what I want to do in the long run with Southern Comfort Food, but there’s nothing really like it in Portland aside from vegan BBQ.

My second idea, which might be even better received, is a place to get proper (vegan) English pub food, like pies and pasties. Now I’m not talking about sweet pies or even pot pies. I mean proper, hand-raised posh pies! (Like the one pictured above from Royal Bank of England Pub’s Mrs. Lovett’s Garden.

I’m in the idea/research/experiement phase of the venture, but I have met with some business mentors and I’m starting to cobble together a business plan.

I’ve spoken with a few lovely women who might become business partners, both like the idea of the pub food better.

Although there were many more votes for Creature-Free Comforts and Bubble & Squeak, I think I’ll go with Cobblestones with Creature-Free Comforts as a sub-line.

Cobblestones is just so cute!

I’ve gotten some domains and started the blog sites, since I haven’t officially decided between the three.

I’d go in stages, with the first stage being what they call “pop-ups” here in PDX. It’s a way to get started without too much risk to see if people respond. You either host a private dinner and sell tickets or “pop up” in a bar or cafe after hours to serve.

The next would be a market stall at the Saturday Market or Farmer’s Market. Both of those stages are planned for Spring 2018.

If all goes well, I’d be looking at doing a food cart and/or restaurant after that in late 2018 / 2019.

I’ve spent many hours testing recipes, and I’m off to a tasty start! Today I’m delving into hand-raised posh pies with mixed results. I’ve already learned you can’t put liquid in without it compromising the dough!

What a mess!

The other one (liquid-less) looks quite nice going into the oven.

It will be so much better with a proper springform. I’ll invest in those once I’m back in CA.

For the first time in over five years, I’m excited about the future.

My future.