Gorilla Food returns with a new East Vancouver location

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      A beacon for vegan diners is back in business.

      Gorilla Food has announced a new location at 637 East Hastings Street.

      Aaron Ash founded the company in 2005 as a takeout joint for vegans.

      In 2007, he opened his first Gorilla Food restaurant in the 400 block of Richards Street and later launched a Powell Street location.

      In between, he wrote a cookbook, Gorilla Food: Living and Eating Organic, Vegan, and Raw.

      But in early 2015, he shut down both outlets.

      “Many factors have been considered in this tough decision,” Ash said at the time in an online statement. “There have been so many beautiful experiences in these spaces! The Gorilla Food mission and dreams are still moving forward. Keep watching!”

      Gorilla Food's new location retains the sign that's familiar to local vegans.
      Gorilla Food

      In an email sent out today, Gorilla Food declared that the new location with its holistic, plant-based cuisine "will be certified and ready for action this week".

      In 2013, Ash told the Straight that he became a vegetarian as a teenager growing up in Regina. He revealed to journalist Michelle da Silva at the time that he later stopped consuming all animal products, even banishing the use of leather shoes.

      “Fresh, raw, ripe fruits and vegetables are highest in nutritional value, and the longer they’re off the tree, then they’re depleting in nutrition,” Ash said. “The more they’re cooked, the more we’re destroying certain nutrients.”

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