EASTHAMPTON — The owners of a popular vegan pizza shop that opened last year are now making their presence felt in the breakfast realm with a grab-and-go concept perfect for the economic vitality that surrounds them.
Will Meyer, Kate Nadel and Mike Cook, all co-owners of Vegan Pizza Land, just opened a new grab-and-go “Coffee Counter” in Easthampton’s Keystone Mill Building to sell some of their scratch-made signature customer favorites as well as other vegan delectables.
“We wanted to create a place where people could grab a breakfast biscuit and a coffee without having to order ahead or wait,” Meyer said. “And while there’s great coffee in other parts of Easthampton, there are no daytime options in the Pleasant Street mill buildings, despite it being an economic hub, where hundreds of people work and visit every day.”
The menu features Broadstreet Bulletin hot coffee from Cambridge and many ready-to-go breakfast items including their chocolate chip tahini cookie, ginger scone, lemon pistachio loaf, double chocolate buckwheat cookie, cashew cheddar and scallion biscuit and double chocolate buckwheat cookie.
The counter’s current menu also features an aloo gobi patty and a Vegan Pizza Land breakfast sandwich with chickpea tofu, house sausage, cashew cheddar and pickled red onion on a miso biscuit.
“Most of the items on the menu are permanent, but we will be switching flavors from time to time,” said Meyer.
For instance, Meyer said they might change their ginger scone to a blueberry or a cranberry scone once in a while, and their aloo gobi patty to a lentil patty that mimics ground beef.
Some of the items on the menu, like the chocolate chip tahini cookies, were also available on the Vegan Pizza Land menu when the trio operated their pizza trailer in the summer. Because of the item’s popularity, the owners decided to add the cookies to the coffee counter’s menu.
No pizza is currently being served at the counter, however.
According to a release, Vegan Pizza Land started in 2021 out of Meyer’s Easthampton apartment with sourdough crust, homemade cashew cheese and toppings from his farm share. As the customer base grew, the operation hosted pop ups at breweries and restaurants, where a lot of their items sold out quickly.
Meyer, Cook and Nadel purchased a vintage Airstream trailer with a wood-fired oven in 2023 where they sold personal pizzas with New York and Neapolitan influences along with signature sides, pies and sweets during the warmer months of the year.
With the pizza trailer closed for the season, Cook and Meyer said they want to use the coffee counter in the Keystone Building as a revenue boost in the winter months.
“We were already paying for rent, insurance, city permits and other overhead while the trailer doesn’t bring in any revenue during the winter, why not try to break even at least,” Meyer said.
When Meyer, Cook and Nadel signed the lease for Keystone Mill Building kitchen back in September, their original goal was to just utilize the space to mix dough for their popups, but Meyer said people would consistently pop their head in and asking them to sell coffee and food, so the trio decided to go that route.
“This is like a workday kind of thing where people stop in and grab something on their way to work,” Meyer said, of the coffee counter.
While their menu only features vegan items, they hope people who are not vegan will also come by and give the food a try.
“We want omnivores to come here and give it a chance,” said Cook, who added that they make their own butter. “It’s not like typical Vegan fare; it’s very savory and you’ll get full off it. It’s seasoned properly and everything too.”
Even though it is winter, the owners said they will continue to do their fair share of pop-ups. Recently, Meyer said they have done pop-ups at Daily Operation, where they offered Korean fried tofu sandwiches.
Meyer said the plan is to see how busy the coffee counter gets before deciding how long they want to keep it open. Their plan right now is to reopen the pizza trailer in the spring when the weather gets warmer.
The Coffee Counter is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Readers can follow signs and directions for Go with the Float to get to the counter inside.