23-Year-Old Vegan Restaurateur to Open Modern “Dinner and Show” Concept in Brooklyn

The 23-year-old chef behind Brooklyn, NY’s vegan fast-casual cafe Sol Sips plans to open an “experimental” dining venue that combines music, art, and vegan food. First Sunday— which opens in July—will be a full-service restaurant around the corner from Sol Sips, with room for up to 50 diners plus a small performance stage. Owner Francesca Chaney aims to make vegan food accessible to everyone in the Bushwick neighborhood by pricing her meat-free menu items affordably, and she plans to do the same at First Sunday. The new restaurant will likely cater to walk-ins and offer an a-la-carte menu from Monday to Wednesday, and operate as a reservation-only concept involving music and art on weekends when diners choose their dishes before coming to the restaurant and are served together once they arrive. Chaney wants the new restaurant to serve as a platform for emerging artists, especially for people of color. “I’ve always wanted to have a full-service restaurant that would be able to incorporate art, and I knew coming into Sol Sips that that was going to be the plan in the long run,” Chaney told media outlet Eater. “My inspiration is just coming from [the] community [and] honoring the fact that there are so many ideas that are within Bushwick from artists and creatives that are looking for a space. We’re just making it something for the people, by the people.”