term diet choice. There is a lot of unhealthy vegan food
Please tell us something about your clientele. What
available nowadays, which I know was born out of the
type of people come to WAVE? Do you have any idea
need to combat the notion that vegan food was all rab-
of the ratio of vegans, vegetarians, and people who
bit leaves and grass. I fear we are going too far in the
are neither?
opposite direction though, and we as restaurants need to provide more balance in the dishes we are creating.
I would say with us, more so than other vegan restaurants, our clientele is 50/50 in terms of who is vegan and who isn’t. We are well known as the place to bring
We are well known as the place to bring your non vegan friends and family in order to change their mind
your non-vegan friends and family in order to change their mind. We get so many customers that say they aren’t vegan but trying to cut down on meat, or they’ve heard such great things that they just wanted to try. Please tell us something about how the current coronavirus crisis has affected your business, and any measures you have taken or are considering taking to deal with the situation. Well we have been completely shut down now for two weeks, which is the longest our business has been closed since we first opened. Norwich is pretty much like a ghost town now which is surreal. We initially toyed with the idea of offering delivery, but we
You serve a great range of drinks including local
feel a responsibility to our staff to help them to remain
beers, cocktails and wines. Please tell us something
at home and stay safe as much as possible. As vegan
about your selection process and how important a
food is so readily accessible at supermarkets I don’t
part it is of creating the type of atmosphere you want
see it as a necessity to open. At this time we need to
for The Tipsy Vegan. Is it fairly easy to find good veg-
prioritise health over money and we will just have
an beers and wines in Britain these days?
to weather the storm as much as we can.
As with the food, we just wanted to create a bar that
Please tell us about your hopes for the fu-
offered creativity and uniqueness to complement
ture of The Tipsy Vegan.
the dining experience. Its all about the whole experience for us and if we can show that swapping egg
My only genuine hope at the mo-
for aqua faba makes a banging sour, or adding some
ment is that we can reopen!
vegan chocolate to your espresso martini takes it to the next level, then we have all the more chance of
Lastly, do you have any partic-
convincing people that choosing a vegan lifestyle
ular links to Japan or interest in
doesn’t have to be restrictive or boring. We have a
Japanese food and culture?
great selection of local beers and Norwich is known as the vegan capital of the Uk, so our brewers are
I absolutely adore Japanese food
very on trend with marketing the fact that they are
and culture. We are very lucky
vegan. Wine companies are still a little behind in la-
to have two amazing Japanese
belling, and when we first opened we used a wine
restaurants in Norwich - Shiki and
supplier that was based miles away to ensure our list
Ciscoes Pan Asian - which we eat
was always fully vegan. However, other distributors
at whenever we get the chance. It
are now savvy to the fact that vegan drinks are a big
genuinely has been on top of our
business and it is much easier to get full lists from
list to visit, so am looking forward to
suppliers on what is and isn’t vegan even without the
immersing myself in the culture some
labelling telling us so.
time soon! 67