STEVE LAURENCE, 63, of Bella Vista, is founding partner and chief operating officer of Vegan Commissary, on 11th Street near Morris in South Philadelphia. The biz includes a restaurant that uses only plant-based ingredients, sells wholesale to other restaurants, and caters and hosts special events. The eatery opened in December 2013.

Q: Where'd the idea for Vegan Commissary come from?

A: I managed MilkBoy [at 11th and Chestnut] and left to do consulting. Some friends who rented space in Comcast Center asked me to make prepared foods. It grew out of that.

Q: Startup money?

A: We opened this place for $35,000 cash and [sweat equity]. It was all from money contributed by the five original partners.

Q: The biz model?

A: When we opened the restaurant, we already had a wholesale business. Chefs like immediate feedback from serving hot food prepared fresh. The brunch business took off. At first, we stopped doing dinner and tried lunch and then we stopped doing lunch and the wholesale business fluctuated. We do some events and have struck a balance.

Q: Insofar as retail goes, it's just brunch for now?

A: That's our regular retail experience, but we also do weddings, baby showers and cater off-premise events, in addition to in-house special events.

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Vegan eatery with wholesale biz is a whole other animal