The Veg Head Loveland, Ohio

Awards & Reviews

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Business Courier of Cincinnati
- by Rob Daumeyer Editor

Veg Head’s mission: Fill bellies, not landfills

Mark Metcalfe would love to chat longer, but a group of hungry customers just walked in, and he has to whip up a few black bean veggie burgers. So Metcalfe excuses himself from one of the half-dozen tables in his small Loveland restaurant and heads back to his smaller kitchen. If you’ve tasted one of these bean burgers – get the hummus on top for an extra 75 cents – you’re OK with that. Go right ahead, Mark, keep on cooking. Metcalfe owns and runs the Veg Head, a nondescript restaurant in a mostly empty strip center in Loveland. (Put it this way: If you don’t know where it is, you probably aren’t going to find it.) Low-impact food operation No frills. Also, basically no garbage. Metcalfe sets out, on average, exactly three normal garbage bags a week. Sure, he’s not nearly as busy as the Taco Bell down the street on Loveland-Madeira Road, but three bags? For a restaurant? “We’re a full-cycle recycling place,” Metcalfe said. “The bottles go to Loveland. Farmers pick up the compost. “And you haven’t seen anything yet,” he said. He calls the Veg Head a “low-impact, ecological food service carryout.” He gets much of his produce right across the street from Granny’s Garden, a Loveland School District project that teaches elementary school students about how to grow flowers and vegetables. “I walk over and pick my own lettuce,” he said. “Then I go back over and teach the kids how to cook it.” Metcalfe also gets vegetables from those same farmers who come to pick up the compost. That’s the “full cycle” part. When diners are finished eating their meal of, say, lemon ginger chicken salad, or a garlic and herb tofu spread sandwich with sauteed red cabbage on the side, they dispose of their trash in five separate bins. An extra 10 seconds for you, maybe an extra 10 seconds for planet Earth. There’s a bin for flatware, which is composted. Metcalfe shares the work at the Veg Head with his son, Zachary, and his wife, Jessica. The trio lost 150 pounds a few years ago when they began eating the kinds of foods he now makes. “This is very, very good food,” Zachary said. “I’m proud to serve it.” And that was one of the reasons Metcalfe, who’s worked in the restaurant and food service world his entire adult life, decided to open the Veg Head. “Look over there,” he said, pointing toward a fast-food burger joint across Loveland-Madeira Road. “That is no way to eat. I’m trying to serve food that’s inexpensive, tasty – and good for you.” Metcalfe worked at the nearby Grailville spiritual retreat center in Loveland, and before that at hotels and country clubs, always cooking. “This is a hard life,” he said. “But I’ve never been afraid of hard work.” Now with the Veg Head, he has plans to expand. He’s turning a small profit with the restaurant and hopes to open other locations around Greater Cincinnati, eventually starting a commissary to supply them. “People want to eat healthier,” Metcalfe said. “But with today’s hectic lifestyle, that’s hard. I understand that. I’m hoping to make it easier.” Read more: Veg Head’s mission: Fill bellies, not landfills - Business Courier of Cincinnati

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Loveland Herald
- By Patrick McHugh Contributor

Cooking with garbage in Loveland

The Veg Head of Loveland will offer their monthly vegetarian cooking class from 1pm to 4pm Sunday April 26th, using spring vegetables and fruits fertilized by the composted garbage produced by the kitchen and customers of the restaurant.
Chef and owner Mark Metcalfe will demonstrate his full circle approach to food service: That all waste doesn't have to be.
Metcalfe and his employees are dedicated to the little-used (at least in the restaurant industry) method of composting: Mixing degradable objects like paper plates, napkins and special corn based cutlery with kitchen scraps to produce (after a breakdown period) and extremely rich fertilizer.
Currently Jason Neumann of Neumann's Someday Farm in Loveland composts and grows for The Veg Head, but Metcalfe's goal is to use land behind the establishment for this task.
The vegetables and fruits grown in this manner that will be used in Sunday's class include spring asparagus, rhubarb to compliment an orange marmalade sauce over grilled tofu strips, gooseberries for a bread pudding and butter rum sauce topping, and black stem peppermint iced tea to drink.
Cost of the class is $50 per person, with a six person limit per class.
Attendees receive recipes, beverages and the prepared food, and, most importantly, get to listen to and watch a chef with more than 30 years experience - Glendale's Gourmet on Wheels catering, Guenther's, O'Bannon Creek Country Club, The Tea Room of Glendale, and most recently, Grailville in Loveland - deliver tips, methods and anecdotes not found in cookbooks.
The Veg Head is at 920 B Loveland-Madeira Road. Call 697-7090 to reserve.

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Cincy Vibe Magazine

Earth Day Everyday

I think Earth Month is just a joke. It’s only used to float meaningless buzz terms across the sea of media to sell products that don’t help the environment whatsoever. Green has become a meaningless term to be applied liberally to marketing promotions seeking to cash in on it’s notion of value. At least that’s what I see.
Mark at The Veg Head thinks people do care, they may not be educated about the resources we have or how to use them. He believes if everyone understood their role and their local resources they would indeed make the effort to do their part. I hope he’s right, but I’m not betting any of my green on that just yet.
At The Veg Head green is apparent. They not only offer quality organic food at cheap prices. They also focus on putting little in the dumpster and much in the recycling bins & compost pile. They’re open 6 days a week yet average only 3 bags of “trash” every two weeks. The rest is 100% recycled. The Veg Head uses biodegradable plates, napkins, forks and knives. They even import food waste from a local school to balance the ratios needed for good composting of the bio-pac food service products. It goes to a local farm to grow tea. That tea is served at The Veg Head. They have a great thing going.
A Marco’s Pizza opened next door. No problem for the Veg Head, they were glad to have a new sign in the plaza to increase traffic. The problem is, after opening Marco’s true impact became apparent. The Veg Head’s little dumpster sits right next to Marco’s big one. Marco’s not only overflows their own dumpster, they fill the Veg Head’s as well! The sad part is that Marco’s trash is mostly new cardboard. It’s industry standard to have a cardboard only dumpster in applicable businesses today. Not using one is just pure stupidity.
When I took this photo Mark couldn’t even put his lone bag of trash in his own dumpster. That’s just a big bowl of wrong. The good thing is he’s thinking of getting rid of the bastard altogether. After all since Marco’s moved in Mark can’t really use it anyway. He’s resorted to taking the trash home in his truck. Ridiculous.
Mark thinks it’s because people don’t truly understand about how many resources they are wasting. He thinks it’s just a matter of educating people to help them learn how to reduce their carbon footprint by using the resources available to us here and now (like cardboard dumpsters). But you have to remember, Mark is from the 60’s generation. He’s been environmentally active for 30 years. He was going green when that term only meant one of two things, money or pot. He’s from the peace, love, organic food, save the planet era. You know the type, damn good people, but far less likely to heave a honker in the face of a corporate jerkoff than I. He’s too respectful for that. Maybe Mark is right. Maybe I’m wrong to say Marco’s sucks, maybe they just don’t know any better (even though 3rd grade Girl Scouts know better, see page 19).
The point is not to say Marco’s sucks. It’s simply to point out what’s really going on during “Earth Month” and what should be going on. It should inspire us to take a hard look at how we can improve our own impact. The Veg Head doesn’t employ any complicated science or technology to achieve their amazing recycling standards. They just genuinely care about the environment. For them, it’s earth day every day and that’s what it takes to make an impact.
So maybe I’m wrong. Maybe Earth Month will actually get people thinking about what efforts they are making to help more waste go to the recycling centers where it belongs. Business owners in particular should seriously examine the way they handle their waste, after all they create more waste than 10 residential households.
If I’m right we’ll drive by The Veg Head next month and see Marco’s dumpster overflowing with nice clean cardboard.
No cardboard only dumpster, no effort whatsoever towards recycling and no respect for their neighboring businesses. Just cheap labor and higher profits in the fore front of their mind.
Readers who do care about environmental responsibility should remember that when choosing which business to support. I doubt that will happen either.

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CIN WEEKLY

The Vegan Burger: Veg Head's Black Bean Burger

A lot of places offer vegetarian burgers, but not as many offer black bean ones that are strictly vegan. But Veg Head's vegan black bean burger made fresh to order and seasoned with cumin and garlic, is packed with a collection of vegetables and organic oats to help bind it together. Served with kettle chips and sauteed red cabbage, the dish is as healthy as it is tasty. At least that's what everyone who tries it tells Veg Head owner and chef Mark Metcalfe. "That and our wraps are the top two selling items on the menu, so it's a very popular item," Metcalfe says. "All I can say is what the customers say to me-and they say it's the best vegetable burger they've eaten, and a couple of them even come in and say it stomps the competition."

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Loveland Herald

Yin and yang meet in Loveland

Loveland restaurant owner and chef Mark Metcalfe has taken a new approach to "fast food" located across from McDonalds on Loveland Madeira Road The Veg Head offers a healthy alternative to eating on-dash-run. "Even though we serve our food quickly, I avoid using the term "fast" because of the negative connotations of the phrase" Metcalfe said. The Veg Head, according to Metcalfe, is "fast food for the 20th century," focusing on wholesome ingredients, smaller portions and careful preparation. Contrary to what the name suggests, The Veg Head was established to cater to all types of eaters, whether vegetarian, vegan, or neither of the two. In other words, while vegetarians and vegans probably feel more at home dining at The Veg Head, non vegetarians can eat comfortably as well here, to." It's the yin and the yang of eating out ," Metcalfe said. "The Veg Head is a place where vegetarians or vegans and meat eaters can dine together and both be satisfied." The idea for the restaurant sprang from his daughter, a vegetarian, and her husband,who is not. Unaware of a restaurant dedicated to fulfilling both eaters' needs (and being a professional chef with 35 years of experience), Metcalfe took it upon himself to create and fill the niche. Until putting his efforts towards this new endeavor, Metcalfe was the head chef at Grailville in Loveland for 10 years. While there , he was met with a challenge similar to that of cooking for his family: preparing standard meat dishes and specialty meals for vegetarians and vegans. Many of the specialty dishes he made at Grailville are now on the menu at The Veg Head. From his time at Grailville, Metcalfe adopted not only an alternative approach to cooking (exemplified by The Veg Head's two grills, keeping the vegetarian meals totally separate from there counterparts), but also a dedication to organic food and to the environment. "Our kitchen is usually 60 to 80%, depending on the supply and quality of the shipments. "However, one of the most challenging parts of running this type of restaurant according to Metcalfe, is getting in quality organic foods consistently. For instance, if an organic item does not meet his needs, it simply isn't used, and has to be replaced with a conventional (non organic) alternative. Metcalfe is also conscious
of a restaurants effect on the environment. " We recycle everything we can and our take home boxes are recyclable as well." The latter effort brings in less profit since the "bio pack" cost more than the non recyclable alternative. He also points out that all of the cleaning products used in the kitchen, dining area and bathroom are all friendly to the environment. What really distinguishes the Veg Head from other restaurant is the friendly, casual service and "home town" appeal. "The Veg Head is definitely a family oriented business. "Metcalfe's wife, sons, and daughters all work there, be it at the counter, serving, or in the kitchen. Metcalfe himself, though, is still the main chef. While Metcalfe knows that his customers aren't as numerous as an established "fast" food restaurants, he believes that people want an alternative, and the Veg Head, it seems, is it

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CIN WEEKLY

2 for $20
Two people, one restaurant, twenty bucks

Katie Kelley CIN WEEKLY

Newly opened, The Veg Head in Loveland is a little tricky to find (turn when you see the movie gallery and you'll find the small restaurant immediately behind it in the same strip mall). And contrary to the name, the Veg Head has vegetarian as well as chicken, beef and pork items. so even if you're a carnivore, you'll, find something to enjoy at this cute - and surprisingly quaint - spot.

THE MOOD

On the late Saturday evening that we visited, my boyfriend and I found the Veg Head quite and relaxing. There are a handful of table and chairs and a hut - like structure with a counter where you place and pick up your order. The walls are covered with antique looking tools and decorations, We received excellent service and suggestions from the owner, Mark Metcalfe, and his daughter, Jessica, who took our order. They even offered samples of granola and soup.

THE FOOD

Ever on the lookout of a tasty vegetarian burger, I enjoyed the handmade veggie burger ($5.95), served with chips (which I would have liked more of). My boyfriend decided on a curry hummus wrap ($5.95), which was served with chips and a garnish of cooked red cabbage with carrots and onions. He ate every bite of his wrap. He also took up the Metcalfes on the soup sample and enjoyed the vegetarian cream of cauliflower soup. The Veg Head also offers a few shelves of organic gods, and I couldn't resist a packet of organic chocolate covered almonds ($1.75), which I shared with my boyfriend.

THE DRINKS

I had a bottle water ($!) and my boyfriend chose Tradewinds bottled Mango Green Tea ($1.50). Several other healthy drinks are available in the refrigerated display case.

THE DAMAGE: $17.09.

Our meal was quite the bargain. Next time we go, I want to sample one of those dinners-maybe lemon, mushroom and tomato chicken breast ($8.95)