I have pretty much an entire friendship based on Fire-N-Spice. We text each other when we go — not as an invitation. More like to make the other jealous, or maybe it’s to share excitement over stopping there. Considering this is a no effort, five-minute walk from my house, I’m amused still at how much each visit feels like a special occasion.

And in a way, it is. If you’re someone who goes back, you remember when store-bought veggie burgers were pathetic in texture and taste. Convenience vegetarian food had a reputation for being bland, and for good reason, but that has changed. That seemed to coincide with people talking more openly about how what makes meat taste good isn’t the meat but the seasoning. It wasn’t the barbecue chicken I missed, just the sauces. There are now desirable vegan and vegetarian options in most grocery stores — at least in Connecticut.

That doesn’t mean I’m reaching for plastic-wrapped faux meats often at the supermarket. If I want something different, I opt for a local restaurant.

At Fire & Spice, there is seating at a counter looking out to Capitol Avenue or into the parking lot, but this is mostly a take-out place for when you are not in a hurry. That’s fine. We could all be reminded to slow down with our personal lives, whether that’s how we approach eating or how we travel.

After years of always ordering the same five entree/combo items from this restaurant, I finally looked around and noticed that do have other things: lentil patties and potato samosas among them. Not that there was anything broken with the other options, which include tofu scramble, jerk tofu, and African potatoes. Everything has flavor, and in my experience if it is spicy, they will warn you. That means I still get it, but have a glass of water ready. There are fresh juices and smoothies that I may get around to trying one day. There’s vegan ice cream. Occasionally, I’ve seen cupcakes and whoopie pies. It’s a small space and items sell fast.

For all the talk of how restaurants have struggled since 2020, any time I walk by or enter, there are customers. Only once have I not needed to wait in a line — and that’s because I accidentally walked in before they were officially open.

What I’ve come to appreciate about this cozy and reliable breakfast/lunch/early dinner spot is that while other places have waffled behind the “plant-based” label, and even converted from that to a standard American meat-filled menu when the going got tough, Fire & Spice has remained an unapologetically, resolutely, and proudly vegan restaurant. Their first nine years were on Sisson Avenue, and they have been at their current location (491 Capitol Avenue) since 2018.

The other good news?
Hartford has a growing number of vegetarian and vegan restaurants. Currently among them:

  • Lion’s Den Restaurant: Jamaican vegetarian restaurant at 3347 Main Street
  • RastaRant: Caribbean vegan restaurant in the Swift Factory at 60 Love Lane
  • ZoJu: Afrolatino vegan food in the CREC building at 111 Charter Oak Avenue

There are also pop-ups by GRDN KTCHN at Semilla Cafe and in season, the Soulfully Vegan food truck is a regular at the West End Farmers’ Market.

Climate Possibilities is a new series about climate mitigation, along with resilience, resistance, and restoration. It’s about human habitat preservation. It’s about loving nature and planet Earth, and demanding the kind of change that gives future generations the opportunity for vibrant lives. Doomers will be eaten alive, figuratively. All photographs are taken in Hartford, Connecticut unless stated otherwise.