Vegan Bar Donates Profits to Causes Defunded by Trump

Vegan mission-driven cocktail bar Coup opens today in New York City’s East Village neighborhood. Owner and restaurateur Ravi DeRossi opened the cocktail bar—which will donate all profits to causes defunded by the Trump administration, including Planned Parenthood and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)—as an act of protest in the current political climate. “A coup is generally defined as the violent seizure of the government by its people,” Coup’s mission statement reads. “But what does one call it when the people are violently seized by its government? We call it an opportunity for revolution.” DeRossi tells VegNews that the bar—which has a tip-free employment policy—will boast a limited menu of vegan bar snacks, in addition to creative cocktails such as the Fluffy Screw Driver, Hemingway Daiquiri, and a classic whiskey-based Manhattan. The bar will also serve wine, beer, alcohol-free mocktails, and feature guest celebrity bartenders such as Esquire’s food and drinks editor Jeff Gordinier. Last year, DeRossi (who also owns upscale vegan eatery Avant Garden) announced he would veganize as many of his 15 NYC restaurants as possible, and made good on his promise by removing animal products from tiki-bar Mother of Pearl and fondue-turned-vegan-tapas-bar Ladybird (formerly known as Bourgeois Pig).