Silver Truck Goes for Gold as New Vegan Restaurant

The Gold Leaf Collective opened last month as the first sit-down vegan restaurant in Fort Collins, CO. Owner Taylor Smith opened the brick-and-mortar restaurant after operating his vegan food truck The Silver Seed for four years—which will remain in operation and use the new location as a prep kitchen. Gold Leaf Collective features rotating menu items made in collaboration with five local farmers and includes dishes such as English muffin melts loaded with seitan bacon for breakfast, daily soups and salads for lunch, and a small plate (or multi-course) menu for dinner. “We have magicians back in the kitchen,” Smith said. “If we didn’t tell you it was vegan, you wouldn’t even know.” The new restaurant is located across the street from Colorado State University where students are currently protesting the construction of a controversial on-campus slaughterhouse funded by the world’s largest meat producer JBS.