Hartwell Vegetarian’s Ansel Francis On An Opening Date, Sibling Love & More
Herbivores of Ditmas Park have been pretty excited (some even supa dupa pumped) about the impending opening of Hartwell Vegetarian, located at 1017 Cortelyou Road between Stratford Road and Coney Island Avenue, since we first noticed activity in the space in early December.
We tracked down Hartwell owner, first time restaurateur, and longtime neighbor Ansel Francis, who was nice enough to answer all of our nosy questions. The good news is, they plan to open the first week of February! The (possibly, depending on your personal taste) bad news is, the restaurant won’t be West Indian as we initially thought.
“My partner and I are very passionate about food and eating healthy,” says Ansel. “I have been living in the Ditmas Park community for almost 20 years, and her for almost 3 years. I attended Ditmas Junior High School I.S. 62 in the ’90s.
“Hartwell Vegetarian is my way of giving back to the community by providing a choice for those seeking vegetarian food. The concept behind Harwell Vegetarian is to establish a community-based restaurant that serves a variety of healthy foods and promotes healthy living.”
Curry soy protein slow cooked with potatoes, chickpeas, and carrots via Hartwell Vegetarian
Ansel says he actually debuted his cooking to the neighborhood at the Flatbush Frolic two years ago, but got a great response this year when he decided to keep his stand vegetarian–and soon after, he found a permanent storefront via this post (so everyone who voted for a restaurant in that poll, good going!).
Besides wanting to serve the larger community, Ansel says, he’s opening Hartwell for one particularly special person.
“It’s based on the needs of someone that is very close to me,” he says. “My sister is a single mother who has three children and is vegetarian. She’s shared with me the difficulties she faces with working all day, picking up the children from their after school activities, then having to go home and cook because there are no vegetarian restaurants in the neighborhood.”
Ansel clarifies that the food will not actually be West Indian as previously stated by a contractor at the space (whoops!), but it sounds like our long-neglected local herbivore population should still be pleased with the soy protein dishes, seasonal fruit and veggies, and daily delicious soup options slated for the menu. There will also be sides including salad, corn, beans, and guacamole–oh, and the occasional fish dish.
“Customers will enjoy the convenience of choosing exactly what they want in their meals,” Ansel says.
Once Hartwell Vegetarian is open, hours will be 11am-10pm and credit cards will be accepted. There will be no seating in the space–take out only–with delivery to come in a few months.
In addition, Ansel has been in the process of hiring a general manager, assistant manager, and team members for a few weeks–but if you’re interested in joining the crew, it might still be worth shooting an email to HartwellHire@yahoo.com.
We can’t wait to see the finalized menu and space at Hartwell Vegetarian, welcome Ansel and co to Cortelyou, and try some food for ourselves! If you feel the same, follow the restaurant on Facebook for the latest updates–and let us know if you get some grub before we do.