Woman follows her heart, opens vegan restaurant

MYSTIC, Conn. (WTNH) -- A woman who is now running her own small business, was first laid off from her job at a big pharmaceutical company.

During a time which could have been devastating for her, she instead saw it as an opportunity and followed her heart.

And they're not cooking up sirloin burgers and bacon in the kitchen. It's more likely a smoked chick pea burger with veggies.

Kate's Cafe opened in Mystic last week, and it's the only vegan restaurant in the area.

"Before we even opened I had people coming in saying 'when are you going to open,'" said Kate Straub, Kate's Cafe, "'we can't find anything, we have to go here, we have to go there."

Two years ago Kate Straub converted to vegan-ism and in May she lost her job at Pfizer where she was in data management for 18 years.

"Could it be any different than this," asked News 8's Tina Detelj.

"No," Straub replied laughing.

Instead of taking time off or feeling sorry for herself, she's sharing the lifestyle she's embraced. No meat, no eggs, no dairy, but Straub says one of the freshest cups of coffee you may ever have. A day after it's ordered Blue Bottle roasts and ships it to the Mystic cafe.

"All different flavors of coffee, not like flavored coffee," said Straub.

It's not a BLT, but you don't have to be a vegetarian or vegan to drop by. You may just want to try something different.

Like one couple did.

"I had a chick pea wrap and it was very good," the man said. "It's not my usual diet."

"I hope they do well because they need a store like this," the woman said.

It goes without saying that Straub is also trying something different.

"This for me, it's my own," Straub said. "It's something that I own. It's something I believe in and it's something I wanted to share."

She's now a small business owner and is hoping the restaurant risk pays off.