South African Vegan Café Expands to North Carolina

This month, South African vegan restaurant Oh My Soul will open in the North Davidson (NoDa) neighborhood of Charlotte, NC. Founded by Tallulah and Richard Duffin, the café will offer Southern-inspired dishes, such as vegan fried chicken and waffles, along with customer favorites from South Africa, such as vegan ribs, fish and chips, burgers, and dessert waffles. The Duffins decided to set up shop in Charlotte after Tallulah’s brother convinced them to move to the city. “After numerous visits to him, and also experiencing the Southern hospitality, we fell in love with this beautiful city,” Tallulah told VegNews. “We have felt so welcomed from the beginning. NoDa is so eclectic, community-driven, and has an amazing energy, which we knew was a perfect match for Oh My Soul.” The warm welcome is much needed after the Duffins have fought to keep the Oh My Soul name in numerous court battles ever since the first café debuted in Durban in 2018. Oh My Soul was sued by South African fast-food giant Chicken Licken over the use of the word “soul.” The café was accused of being “confusing and deceptively similar” to the chicken company and diluting their brand identity. Earlier this week, the Duffins won their third and final battle in the Supreme Court. “We hope this is closure to a very challenging chapter of our story,” Tallulah said. “This is the first time [Chicken Licken] has been defeated. Never in our wildest dreams did we think that by opening a vegan, purpose-driven restaurant we would have such a mountain to climb within the first few months of opening, but we chose to be a voice for the voiceless and promised ourselves to follow through with it.”