Beyond Erewhon: Inside the LA grocery store where all the cool vegans are flocking
LOS ANGELES -- On a rainy Saturday afternoon in late March, a block of East Hollywood is unusually quiet but for the corner of Fountain Avenue and North Edgemont Street. There, a line snakes halfway around the perimeter of a little vegan grocery store that's sparking with activity.
Inside, grime music blasts as a pop-up vendor doles out vegan banh mi to shoppers who clutch bamboo toilet paper and vegan lox. Even a Siberian husky named Chaka gets in on the action, scarfing up a vegan dog treat — every canine who comes through the door gets one.
"Welcome!" yells Matt Fontana, the store's tattoo-sleeved co-founder.
"Hey Paul, hi!" Fontana bellows in his New York accent, while filling a cup with the store's vegan soft serve ice cream for another customer. Then, waving his free arm: "Everyone, you guys — come on in!"
It's a typical day at Besties Vegan Paradise. Since opening in 2019, the grocery store has become a hub for a particular type of cool vegan in Los Angeles. The clientele is culturally diverse, spanning age, gender and style. But it coalesces around especially trendy aesthetics and a staunch desire to live responsibly.
Environmentally conscious, animal-loving DJs, chefs, writers, filmmakers, graphic designers and other creatives mingle there over free natural wine and
