CrowdFunding promotion Eat These Donuts, Be Healthy

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CrowdFunding promotion Eat These Donuts, Be Healthy

posted Apr 21, 2015, 1:22 AM by J Shaw [ updated Apr 21, 2015, 1:23 AM ]

Opening soon! extraVEGANza will raise the [organic juice] bar with vegan, gluten-free food options

A different kind of bar on the South Side to serve organic raw juices, breakfast, lunch & dinner

I'm a 98-pound chef who makes much-dreaded super clean and healthy eating tempting and addictive...in a good way. I believe that indulging and comforting everyday food can be tastefully healthy with careful preparation and ingredients nature gives us. I'm excited to announce the launch of my new venture: extraVEGANza Pgh.

For the past two years since I began my solo entrepreneurial journey to do something different, I have transformed and improved the lives of many clients and customers. I now have like-minded people helping me along the way. With their continued support, I'm now able to grow my business and take it to the next level. I'm the chef behind the monthly 14-item vegan brunch series that has received press write-ups (like this recent one linked to two more) and loyal following of customers who pay in advance for 12 months. The brunch gets discovered by out-of-towners from as far as Austin, Texas. No worries...this is not the end of the (brunch) as I understand my brunch is life changing and equals the world to some of you. It will still be served on the second Saturday of every month as always. Breakfast, lunch and dinner will be served five days a week Tuesday through Saturday. If you read this far already, I feel your love and know that this campaign will reach its goal in 21 days.

Examples of Menu Items To Expect

All plant-based, wholesome, gluten-free, some raw

Black rice-buckwheat donuts lightly cooked in virgin coconut oil, dipped in cashew-coconut-maple glaze, sprinkled with coconut dust [Stone-ground organic buckwheat is sourced from Weatherbury Farm.]

Teapuccino: Brewed Assam tea infused with fresh coconut milk

Grease-less, steam cooker fried brown rice with carrots, peas, turmeric, light tamari, ginger, garlic, onion, celery. Side of Lacto -fermented vegetables, Cashew-ginger-parsley-scallion pesto and Cold-pressed sesame-hot chili paste

Raw, cold-pressed juices

Hyper-local organic romaine salad with nori-avocado Caesar dressing [I recently got this recipe published on a blog], with pine nut parmesan [Crisp young romaine plants are grown in-house in ceramic bowls]

Cold & hot loose leaf organic teas, ginger tea, house chai tea, herbal teas

Inside-out taco with Swiss Chard leaves and black bean-grain-flex-mushroom meat, topped with mango pico de gallo [Clarion River Organics black beans and corn meal are used in the meat. Mushrooms are soured from Wild Purveyors]

Ever-popular raw zucchini cannelloni with raw cashew ricotta and sun-dried tomato-basil marinara

Smokey slow-roasted parsnip ribs with raisin-apple cider vinegar BBQ sauce, served with broccoli-carrot slaw and creamy ginger-cashew dressing

Raw coconut-banana-berry ice cream

Raw cacao-walnut-date brownies

Why I'm Doing This

I grew up in a less-industrialized Southeast Asian country. I learned how to cook at age 11. Every morning, I rode my bicycle to my neighborhood farmers market to grab vegetables, grains, legumes and wild-caught fish. I helped my parents raise a dozen naturally-fed free-range chickens and ducks. We grew herbs, vegetables and fruits. I picked guavas, mangoes, papayas, cherimoyas and jackfruits ripen on the trees.

In pursuit of a degree in journalism, I came to Pittsburgh. I aspired to be a foreign correspondent, traveling and seeing the world but fell in love with culinary arts. With my cuisine, influenced by many different cultures and countries, I take my guests on a journey across the world. A Pittsburgh Post-Gazette food writer called me a "citizen of the world."

Having worked in several restaurants in the East Coast for more than a decade, I do not imagine my own place to be a stuffy conventional bar/ restaurant type. The food will be refined at extraVEGANza Pgh; the ambiance laid back and unpretentious. I'll let my food speak, not the facade of the place.

So I hail from meat-centric, flour-covered, butter-drowned US restaurant kitchens. This was me... unhappy, depressed in 145-pound body in 2008, working at an upscale casual Italian bistro and making a 21-inch pizza loaded with carbs.

But I turned my life around. By incorporating more plant-based foods in my diet, I reversed my own health problems resulted from eating whatever was available in restaurant kitchens. I'd like to inspire and help others.

Ways You Can Help

By pre-paying for my products and services, you assure me that everything I plan will fall in place. Goals to achieve in the next two years include: finishing a memoir/ cookbook and getting it published: certifying kosher, green and organic; composting organic fruit and vegetable scraps; continuing to grow some ingredients, like scallions, celery and romaine in re-purposed glass bottles and jars; providing bicyclist discounts and bike racks, continuing to educate the public by offering free/ low-cost cooking demos and workshops, completing my diploma in nutritional therapy. So grab your perks on the right side of this page. Or simply contribute any amount.

Refer backers to this campaign and earn from a free donut to 2 free passes to menu pre-view launch dinner party and a gift basket filled with artisan condiments, sauces, fresh buckwheat pasta, teas, spices and nuts.

IMPORTANT: You must be logged into your Indiegogo account and use Indiegogo’s share tools for our analytics to track your referrals. You will be able to check your referrals through your Indiegogo profile.

If your referral claims $30 or $40 perk, you will get a free donut.
If your referral contributes $98 or more but under $500, you are invited to menu pre-view launch dinner party.
If your referral contributes $500 or more, you and a friend are invited to menu pre-view launch dinner party. Plus you'll get a gift basket.

EXTRAS: Call for voting...send me your free love!

I have entered extraVEGANza Pgh in the second annual SMB Marketing Makeover Contest to win free marketing services.

Two new domain names associated with extraVEGANaa are in another contest to win up to $35,000 and need votes to move up to the next phase to get judged.
The first one, http://www.98PoundChef-Pgh.com will be used as domain that points to extraVEGANza Pgh website.
The second one, http://www.RockUrRawRecipes.com is for blogging my raw recipes that rock your world.

Please send your love that doesn't cost a penny through these voting links:
http://woobox.com/8yid8a/vote/for/6758037
https://verisign.promo.eprize.com/domain/?entry_id=2770
https://verisign.promo.eprize.com/domain/?entry_id=2772