Go Vegan at "Go Lightly"

When Jen Chaky debuted at her shop Go Lightly, last spring, plans were already in the works for a full vegan menu—a menu that has finally come to fruition. “Customers were always asking for vegan food so it was a natural progression," she explained.

After rearranging her tiny shop and procuring a talented, like-minded chef, Chaky was ready to provide folks with the type of food she not only eats and cooks herself, but wants to share with the public, “After all, a vegan, plant-based diet is the best for the planet and our bodies," she said.

Chaky feels confident her new savory offerings and smoothies will be as popular as her vegan ice cream, particularly due to her chef Denise White.

“Denise’s food is simple and fresh, yet tastes magical and exquisite. I am continually impressed not only by her creativity but by her awareness about why certain foods are good for you and how they function in the body," she said. "She truly loves food and it shows. It is easy to catch her wonderment and excitement over a new found vegetable in the Asian market and our customers will be the lucky beneficiaries from her explorations.”

Chaky, along with White, showcased some of their new menu items on Saturday at the Sound for the Hounds concert, a puppy mill awareness event at Brookdale Park.

Folks feasted on “Save the Tuna Wrap” (a pun, you guessed it, on tuna salad), a bright kale salad with nuts and apples, a “Veggie Love Medley” sandwich with mango sauce on gluten-free, high protein raw, gluten-free bread, (this, I promise you, is addictive despite its semi-scary healthy name), cantaloupe-watermelon juice, and raw, gluten-free cacao chip cookies. 

This reporter already asked Chaky to sell the raw, gluten free bread in loaves (I am neither vegan nor gluten intolerant) and another customer requested the mango sauce be bottled.

Although the store is still a bit in a physical transition, Chaky will be serving the new foods starting Tuesday, September 13. “Our menu will be creative and healthy, featuring sandwiches, salads, juices, smoothies, soups, stews, and desserts, some raw, all vegan," she said.

In addition to the dishes mentioned above at the concert, other menu items will include mock raw salmon salad, marinated raw veggie sandwich with cilantro pesto, Portobello with mango salsa, fermented salads and cashew stone fruit pie. Chaky also promises that the vegan ice cream will remain on the menu throughout the year. 

“We will make things according to what is seasonal and available. We will keep some staples on the menu, but also have feature items," she added.

Diners will be able to eat in or take out and there will be seating for around 10 customers at a time, including some outdoor seating. Chaky also gave the shop a mini-makeover, painting the walls a bright turquoise and commissioning a graffiti-style mural along the left wall, emblazoned with the words “eating plants saves lives.”

“My friend Henry Ng did the mural and the only thing I asked him to include were those words; he surprised me by adding a halo over the word 'plants' and that is exactly how I feel, that plants are heaven sent,” Chaky explained.

If you already love Go Lightly for its selection of eco friendly and cruelty-free retail goods, Chaky will still stock those items. “I will continue to offer waste-free options such as water bottles, lunch items, straws, compost bins, produce bags, shopping bags; eco cleaning products; baby essentials; vegan supplements; recycled bags; and other gifts such as recycled jewelry and other fun stuff—especially around holidays,” Chaky said.

Go lightly is located at 4 S. Fullerton Ave, in Montclair; the hours are Tuesday-Wednesday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday–Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.