Robert Perry is the founder of Tattooed Mom, a restaurant and bar in Philadelphia that serves both creative and plant-based communities. Beginning organically from the interest of staff members and continuing to be supported by its customers and community, Tattooed Mom successfully integrated plant-based dishes into their offerings. The menu format offers omnivore and plant-based options to customers with the goal of being inclusive and encouraging curiosity. They regularly offer all their meatless sandwiches on Mondays at a discounted price for customers to sample.
The restaurant is committed to serving their diverse customer base and experimenting with new foods. For example, Perry wanted to make vegan Spam. He had heard about Omni, a company from Hong Kong that was making such a product, but it wasn’t yet available in the United States. He reached out to the company, which eventually sent him a sample of their vegan Spam. Perry enjoys being able to use products like this in a way that promotes sampling, especially of ingredients customers would not normally eat.
Perry is proud of the support and recognition his business has received from the vegan community, despite it not being a fully vegan restaurant. Highlights include receiving an award from the Humane League and getting to kick off Philly Vegan Restaurant Week at Tattooed Mom. He hopes to continue supporting efforts to get people to eat more plant-based foods, as well as supporting other emerging vegan chefs and businesses.
