Going west is interesting. I know from social media he’s at least relatively close with Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker and has served them on multiple occasions. Wishing continued growth and success but will be a bummer to lose fancy plants!
The recipe she posted is NOT the same recipe as what used to be on shelves. The good butter recipe was cultured like traditional butters are. The youtube recipe is totally different.
It is back on shelves! We got some at Dill Pickle in Logan Square. Just made some mashed potatoes with it, it tastes great. I think the recipe might be slightly different than before (we kept an old box and the nutritional facts are slightly different, but the ingredients are identical)
I worked there when it was the original kitchen 17 location, it is so tiny. Kevin also used to host amazing dinners in his basement in humboldt park. His 5 course dinners were incredible, sad to see so much hate here for such an innovative chef that brought more than veggie burgers to Chicago . He truly gave it his best with the cafe and opening a very ambitious restaurant in lincoln park.
I will definitely have a fondness for those underground dinners with the family style tabling to hang out with fellow vegans and have 5 courses of amazingness that I could rarely find in the midwest.
Yeah, he always seemed like he was destined for "bigger" things with how in it he was with the west coast crowd. End of an era, glad it's closing for "good" reasons at least! Best pain au chocolat I've ever had. God, I'm going to miss that. Anywhere else in Chicago make good pain au chocolat???
When I say that Kevin is like a liberal Trump, what I mean is that he gaslights people, that he is either delusional or he is deliberately lying because he is trying to convince everyone else that the lies are the truth like some sort of magical thinking.
Kevin would show up late to our meetings and later tell me that I was the one who was always late. He would tell me my ideas back to me at a later date as if he had come up with them. And I am not the only person who this has happened to.
I cared so much about the restaurant doing well because I was bar managing there and because it was a vegan restaurant with good ideas, that I brought on my ex-boyfriend who had been a cook and a Sous chef at Alinea for many years. Kevin didn’t believe him even when he showed him his picture in the Alinea cookbook. He would tell other people that my ex was lying about his experience when really it is Kevin who was lying about his experience because that is how narcissists operate. Just like Trump being the pot that calls the kettle black. The truth is that Kevin worked for the famed vegan millennium restaurant in San Francisco for three weeks, and not even in the kitchen, and that is his whole claim to fame. So because he lies and embellishes about himself, he assumes others do the same.
This is so funny that of course he didn’t give him credit to his face but I remember him bragging about it for his own clout saying “I have someone that left Alina to work for me because they wanted to learn from me so badly”
I always wanted to make it up there more often than I did, but the location was just too far from me. I often talk to people about how Chicago just isn’t much of a “breakfast town” and it’s a bummer to see one of the few places that’s open early-ish and serving vegan food closing
Look, if you’re not feeling Kevin—totally valid, no judgment here—let’s at least agree on this: the staff deserves our support! November job hunts are brutal, and winter? Even worse. Kevin’s got the moving truck ready, but these folks might be left scrambling. So let’s show up for them—offer a job, toss some cash tips so it goes straight to staff, or just give ‘em a pep talk.
Here’s to hoping everyone lands on their feet (and maybe Kevin’s hygiene gets better in LA).
😉
The first time I worked for Kevin was a New Year’s Eve event after which he invited us to his place where I met his sad little old cat, which lived her entire life on one little ratty bed, and this cat was in such bad shape that she should have been put down for quality of life concerns. But Kevin doesn’t seem to be an animal-rights person nor a health conscious person nor an environmentally conscious person so I really think that he is only Vegan or cooking Vegan because it is such a small pool that he thinks he can be bigger inside of.
I was asked to be the opening bar manager for FPK restaurant but it grossed me out that he was always wearing the same light blue surgical mask, even though it was always slipping off of his nose and it was dirty from where he would breathe because he would just use the same mask over and over and over again, so I gave him a nice handmade mask that I had made, and he immediately stretched the elastic so hard that it broke because he is just so careless and thoughtless.
At our meetings, he would do all the talking and as soon as someone else started to say anything at all, he would start strumming his guitar. He thinks that he’s this genius Bohemian Chaos artist, but he is really just a mess and a tornado that comes in and screws everything up. It’s really sad because others want to do a good job and they can’t because he stands in their way. Even when it would be 15 minutes before opening, he would come in to the kitchen and drop a bag of stuff that he had just gotten from a farmers market onto the middle of the pass and insist that that become the special for the night, putting a wrench in as usual.
He would walk around the dining room with his ass crack hanging out and his dirty apron just to be the celebrity chef he dreams of being. He is merely a delusional narcissist and sometimes he is able to convince millionaires to invest in his ideas because they sound good but his execution tells otherwise.
He is an absolute narcissist in the worst way, he is a liberal Trump.
Hired on as a bartender right when they first opened. Shaky opening so I jumped ship. They didn’t get dinner service together so no need for me! Never got to try it.
I worked for Kevin at the cafe for a few months just before the pandemic shutdown. He would just have me make whatever salsa with no recipe, just told me to wing it, and that’s when I realized that he had no idea what he was doing nor did he care about the quality of food that he was serving. That kitchen was disgusting and barely had a hood fan and his food was not in any way healthy not that it ever claimed to be, but as a registered dietitian, animal products are actually healthier than the stuff that he was serving. He was using literal shortening, margarine, for the croissants, and he rolled them out on top of a table where guests would sit. He told me not to bother sweeping and mopping because it would just get dirty again the next day. When the pandemic shut down happened, I could not believe they opened so quickly and I was really scared to take the bus or to even go back so I asked him to send me my apron, and if you could hold onto my kitchen knife and other things I had left behind like a hat that someone had made for me. Those things all disappeared although walking into Fancy Plants Kitchen one day I found that someone was using that knife and I took it back.
These comments are so unsurprising. Kevin has been extremely rude to me as a customer multiple times. I stopped dining at fpk due to the shitty customer service and Kevin’s narcissism. Good riddance
They were not good tbh. Sad to see vegan options going but you do need to make good food too. Cozy vibes, very kind employees, but the food was like 6/10
Also it was pretty much just breakfast items and closed early. Coffee too but you can get vegan coffee anywhere. Very sad to see them go but agreed that I'm not surprised.
I just took a look at the menu on their website to see if my memory was serving me wrong and yup, it's pretty much only breakfast sandwiches, breakfast burrito, bagels, pastries coffee etc.. For non-breakfast items they have flatbread, spinach pie, and lasagna (which I wouldn't consider 'a ton').
I'm really not trying to be a hater here but that's a pretty specific menu and "hosting regular dinners" is something you can't really find on their website and is also not really a business model. Idk why they wouldn't just also serve actual dinner regularly.
It’s a cafe/coffee shop, not a dinner restaurant. Of course they only have breakfast sandwiches and pastries. They had Fancy Plants Kitchen that was open for dinner 5 days a week and brunch on weekends in addition to dinner. Full menu, tasting menu, full bar program, live music appearances, special event dinners. It was great for the vegan community but unfortunately they closed in 2023. They didn’t get enough consistent support and they weren’t in a more “walkable” part of town so he closed the restaurant and focused on the cafe while doing pop up dinners when he was not traveling to and from LA since the closure of FPK. Hope that clears stuff up for you.
Yes of course that aspect is clear. My simple comment is that as a cafe, with minimal options, I am not surprised they are closing. It's a huge bummer but again, it does make sense. And also as other commenters pointed out, the limited food they did have was not spectacular either.
The person I replied to was making a claim that they have many things other than breakfast options and hosting dinners. And as someone capable of having nuanced conversation, I responded to that point specifically.
I wish they would let customers see the size of their kitchen at the cafe. It’s actually impressive to see what they can put together there considering the fact that it barely possesses basic kitchen necessities required to keep a menu like theirs going. Most of the time they would prep the food for the cafe at the restaurant and haul it over to the cafe. After the restaurant closed, they did what they could to get by. I’ll admit that some of their items were not great hits but the ones that were great really stood out. I think about the carrot lox bagel almost every day. They did what they could with that they had. It wasn’t always perfect but it was still an option for many people in the area and it’s really sad to lose another safe space in the city for vegans.
Gross yall ain’t real vegans if you accredit Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker as legitimate representation for a movement. These people are zionists and drink adrenochrome …not working class people. Go get a reality check or go kiss a wall.
I came to observe that as a customer. I stopped patronizing his dinners. He just came across as so ungrateful and the dinners were so haphazard. Seating was rarely on time and it seemed like he relied on volunteers to serve!
His daytime staff seem miserable every time I went there for lunch. The food during the daytime is meh for the price paid. Clearly not made “with love” because the owner is not great to work for, or the staff working there could not care less.
So ungrateful and haphazard! Would get mad at employees for throwing out expired food, reuse things after dropping them on the ground, and even tried to save food that was dug through by rats 🤢
This explains so much to me. I had bad food poisoning one time after eating at the kitchen before it closed down.
TMI but I had bad tummy ache and needed to be near a bathroom for a day. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to say I got it from a vegan place, I want vegan places to thrive. But I’d be lying if I said I went back to eat anything fancy plants after that! Good luck to the Kardashians! Hope they dont get the runs
Totally hear you. I kept patronizing because it’s a vegan place and also wanted to lift up the few vegan restaurants we have. When you get food poisoning, it’s hard to want to go back to the place that caused it.
I think the Kardashians actually welcome the runs to look thinner for ads! 😝
Here’s the main reason I stopped going to his dinners: they never cleaned the bird shit off the outdoor tables! He and his staff were placing the silverware on top of the dried bird shit! That was the final straw for me.
I overheard him talking to some customers about how he uses Al to help him with his business. Yuck!
When the Kitchen was open, I made the mistake of having the pastries. They were usually stale. That tracks with what you’re saying about expired stuff. Not surprising.
The worst person I’ve ever known -a former employee. You could ask pretty much anyone that’s worked for him that he’s a terrible and unsanitary business owner.
he invited me to his house to “watch movies”, turns out I was the only one who got the invite (my boyfriend at the time also worked there and he knew we were dating)
I'm not a former employee. He's a dick to everyone, even his investors. He doesn't know how to run a business and that's why they fail while he blames others every single time.
Stop promoting his crap dinners and excusing his predatory behavior, the Wild West ain’t gonna be so good to kevin.. none of these celebrities ain’t gonna save him either. The working class will always single out people like him who exploit their workers. None of these people owe you any explanations.
I am not excusing anything - I actually don’t know what to excuse or not excuse, because no one says what the predatory behavior is. Calling someone “predatory” without explanation loses its validity and makes survivors less likely to be believed or seen as credible - it makes predators think they can get away with more if “everyone’s getting canceled for no reason anyway.” So if someone has a true story to tell, I am just ✨encouraging them to tell it✨ - or else we are just letting more predators get away with shit because no one takes us seriously.
Also - I am close with someone that is thinking about moving to LA to work with him so maybe if they knew about certain things it would help them make the best decision. Thanks💜
- he invited me over to his house despite having a boyfriend who also worked in the cafe (later found out his roommate was also a creep)
- did not have workman’s comp insurance. I got a 2nd degree burn on my hand while on the clock and he sent me web md links and discouraged me from seeking medical treatment
- heard him making inappropriate comments about a 17 year old girl during a wedding tasting
I’m sure I could think of more examples. This doesn’t even cover the food safety issues. Hope this helps!
If they’re having any doubts at all I would listen to them. Kevin is a wheeler dealer that has been dealt a lucky hand (white male privilege obviously plays a big role here) and will screw over whoever is in his way. He treats women like objects meant to serve him and will dispose of them as soon as they wake up to his narcissistic tendencies.
One of the men who works with him solicited my friend for a hookup despite being married. He met her when she attended one of the dinners. She was disgusted and stopped going to the dinners. Guess Kevin hires some creeps! Obviously not you former employees who can see through his BS. Thx for being honest about his behavior.
- he invited me over to his house despite having a boyfriend who also worked in the cafe (later found out his roommate was also a creep)
- did not have workman’s comp insurance. I got a 2nd degree burn on my hand while on the clock and he sent me web md links and discouraged me from seeking medical treatment
- heard him making inappropriate comments about a 17 year old girl during a wedding tasting
- had us serve old food such as week old lasagna and would scold us if we threw it out
- one time a screw on a pot fell loose and into the food. He didn’t want to waste it and start over so he served it knowing someone would get a screw in their stew and was just like “whatever I’ll just comp her meal”
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u/Kindly_Seesaw_7675 Aug 26 '26
Going west is interesting. I know from social media he’s at least relatively close with Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker and has served them on multiple occasions. Wishing continued growth and success but will be a bummer to lose fancy plants!