The City of Las Vegas issued E The Vegan Spot a cease and desist order on the restaurant’s opening day, Feb. 22. Here it can be seen next to a notice posted by the restaurant’s owners saying “legal fictions” are barred from entry.
A much-anticipated vegan restaurant opened on Feb. 22 in Las Vegas, only to be closed until further notice on March 2.
E The Vegan Spot, located briefly at 1210 National Ave., was off to a rocky start when, on its opening day, the City of Las Vegas Code Enforcement Division cited the business as being in violation of the city’s ordinances and codes and issued the business an order of cease and desist.
The signing code enforcement officer wrote on the notice that the eatery was operating “without a business license and/or fire inspection done on building to operate.”
A post made March 2 on a Facebook page for Eme’s Plant Based Asian Food Truck states that the restaurant is no longer open. The writer of the post says that the page is run by one of Kaufman’s friends. The post states that it is uncertain when the restaurant will open again.
When The Optic reached out to Kaufman via telephone on March 4, Kaufman responded via a text message, stating that changes are being made to the restaurant and plans are not yet solidified.
The current friction with the City of Las Vegas echoes the issues that E The Vegan Spot owner and operator Eme Kaufman had with the city last year, when she operated Eme’s Plant Based Food Truck. At that time, Kaufman and her then business partner Scott Paterson operated the food truck near their home on the corner of Independence and South Pacific streets.
At that time, former mayor Louie Trujillo said in a telephone interview that the food truck blocked the right of way, the sidewalk and the view of traffic. Former chief of police Antonio Salazar said at the time that Paterson had been asked by the city to move the truck. He explained that Paterson had driven holes into the city’s portion of the concrete for the sake of the truck.
After discussing his options for the food truck with Salazar, Paterson chose to move the food truck closer to his building; an option, Salazar said, they had not discussed. He said that having the food truck that close to the building and its awning posed a risk.
When the city threatened to tow the food truck, Kaufman and Paterson chose to shut down the business instead. The threat of being towed sparked a small protest on July 19, attended by several people in the community who had come not only to love Kaufman’s flavorful vegan dishes, but also her serene and welcoming personality.
“I just took it in a positive way,” Kaufman said of the situation during an interview with The Optic on Feb. 23. “There’s always a reason why things happen.”
Since the food truck’s closure, many in the community have been anticipating Kaufman’s return as a vegan cook that makes dishes so enticing most do not miss the meat.
A view of the inside of E The Vegan Spot on Feb. 23.It was shut down on March 2.
“When I closed my food truck, everybody was so generous,” Kaufman said, describing how she was approached by several people who offered her their own land as a place where she could park the food truck.
“I didn’t feel it,” Kaufman said. “It didn’t resonate with me. I just took my time, and then all of a sudden this came up unexpectedly.”
Kaufman said on Feb. 23 that the universe had brought her to what was briefly the eatery’s locale near Bridge Street. She called the move to an actual building an expansion from having to make and sell her dishes from a food truck, allowing her to ferment ingredients and develop a recipe for her own vegan cheese.
Her new business partner, Baba Tupelu, introduced the idea of smoking vegetables the same way one smokes meat. The result is vegetables that taste like barbecue.
Despite her efforts, Kaufman’s business has again drawn negative attention from the city. This time, however, Kaufman and now Tupelu claim they are not subject to the city’s rules as they are not United States citizens.
Kaufman explained that she and Tupelu are American state nationals.
“Another term would also be (American) non-citizen national,” Tupelu said.
Non-citizen nationals operate under American common law, Kaufman said. As such, Kaufman said, E The Vegan Spot is a private, unincorporated business. She said the business was filed as such with San Miguel County, not the city.
Kaufman and Tupelu said E The Vegan Spot is not subject to city rules, including having to have a business license, a fire inspection or a health inspection.
Tupelu said it is both legal and lawful to operate the business in that manner.
“We’re doing this business in the private sector,” Tupelu said. “Everybody else, as well as the assumption of the people who put that sign on the door, is that we are doing it in the public fashion.”
Tupelu referred to the cease and desist notice taped to the restaurant’s glass door.
“In America, this is supposed to be the land of the free,” Tupelu continued. “When you do (business in) the incorporated fashion, your freedoms turn into privileges, and privileges can be taken away from you.”
A notice posted inside the restaurant states that only “living, lawful men/women” will be served “in the act of private trade.”
The notice goes on to state that “legal fictions are barred from entry and refused service without prejudice.” It goes on to state that those who are citizens of the United States “most definitely are a legal fiction.”
The notice states that if the reader would like to correct their political status and “unburden yourself from over-regulation (and most taxes) we can help with that.”
During a subsequent interview on March 1, Kaufman acknowledged the uniqueness of the situation.
“We were told that we were the very first to do this type of business (in Las Vegas),” Kaufman said. “It’s confusing everybody, because they don’t know what to do with us now. I guess we’ve shaken up the system.”
City Manager Tim Montgomery briefly spoke with The Optic about the issue on Feb. 28 in a telephone interview. He too said E The Vegan Spot posed a new situation for the city that is still in discussion.
“This is all new,” he said about the situation. “I would have to pull a team together and get the details.”
Montgomery said he could not speak on whether or not the city was taking measures to shut down E The Vegan Spot. He said he would have more information after speaking to a team and reviewing city ordinances.
Attempts made by The Optic to reach Montgomery this week were unsuccessful.