When SLM last checked in with Chris Bertke, following a successful fast-food sendup called Taco Hell, the 47-year-old vegan chef had parted ways with the business that housed his Vegan Deli & Butcher concept on Main Street in St. Charles. Since then, the free-wheeling, free-spirited chef has been far from idle.
With his products (especially his vegan pizzas) continuing to be in high demand, he’s been hosting a series of pop-ups while planning a more permanent move. For the pizza pop-ups, he would prepare 400 pizzas, which he could pre-sell in six to eight minutes. His final pizza pop-up is slated for May 23. (Pre-sale is Tuesday, April 27; details are available here.)
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Bertke’s three “vegan BBQ” events sold out quickly as well, as did the “vegan Chinese fast food” event on May 30. “We sold all 600 tickets in eight minutes,” he says. “The whole thing is just crazy. There’s a busload of 30 to 40 people who drive down from Chicago for every event.”
There are several chefs and companies who make vegan “meats,” but Bertke has carved out a particularly noteworthy niche. He creates meat-like products that taste good (“so many of them don’t,” he says), many of which resemble meat. For example, his vegan peppered beef (pictured at right) has “fat” made from agar.
At Vegan Deli & Butcher, the idea was to take a universally familiar concept (fast food and pizza) and put a vegan spin on them. The response was immediate and overwhelming, and it forced him to rethink how he could restructure the business. There’s no good option for vegan junk food in the city, says Bertke, but he figured out a way to do it.
Phase 1: Open a ghost kitchen that operates out of Strange Donuts in Maplewood. “When Jason [owner Jason Bockman] supplied donuts for Taco Hell, we hit it off and started talking,” Bertke says. “Realizing I needed more space, he offered me the kitchen at Strange since he was producing all those donuts at a commissary kitchen.”
The two decided that a pickup and delivery-only ghost kitchen would be the best route for throttling out Bertke’s line of vegan sandwiches. “That way, when we’re out, we’re out,” he says. “It’s the perfect solution to a limited production concept like mine. There’s only so much we can produce in a day.”
The inaugural menu consists of several vegan burgers, roast beef n’ cheddar, a Philly cheesesteak, Cr*ck Tacos and chicken nuggets (pictured above), and a deep-fried vegan dog with all the fixins’, along with an option for a combo meal, which the oft-irreverent Bertke calls the “Happier Than A Pig In Sh*t” meal. To maintain peak quality, all garnishes are offered on the side, and the fries are the lightly battered variety, known for their ability to travel well. Bertke hopes to introduce the ghost kitchen in late June or early July.
Phase 2 will involve taking the vegan pizza idea one step further. Instead of scheduling random pop-ups, Bertke plans to offer pizzas at World’s Fair Donuts, which Bockman also owns. “There’s usable kitchen space there, too,” Bertke says. “He knew I needed help, and he helped me.”
Phase 3 would either be the expansion of the other phases, getting into the wholesale vegan meat business, or something completely different. “A woman recently called me from Cork, Ireland, asking if I would do a pop-up there and maybe take over her vegan restaurant,” he says. “I’d really like to do that, too.”
