AUGUSTA, Ga. (WFXG) - Soca Vegan Kitchen is located at 630 Crane Creek in Augusta, in the same plaza as the Sprouts. 

Owner, Georgia Alexander says, “Soca Vegan Kitchen came out of my absolute love of food and becoming vegan."

Alexander was born and  raised in Trinidad. While her Trinidadian roots and vegan lifestyle set the foundation for the restaurant, the real root of it is family.

She says, “My mom is really the inspiration when it comes to cooking great tasting food...She has a God-given talent. I can cook but she’s just there’s something that mother‘s put into food, that love that you just can’t get anywhere else.”

Alexander’s mother, Diane Francis, says she’s just got experience.

Francis says, “First of all I must say I’ve been cooking since the age of eight years old.” She continues, ”Ever since my cooking my daughter she keep asking, telling me why don’t you go further with this? She keep throwing this in my face, mom, let’s do something with this cooking...let’s do something with this cooking.' But nothing happened before it’s time.”

She says it took a lot to make their dream a reality. “We did try but it wasn’t the right time. And now with this Soca Vegan Kitchen I don’t know what to say, it’s a blessing,” says Francis. 

Now that their restaurant is here, Francis says, "So much I want to do for the people out there. I want to give them the best, give them the best and the taste of Soca Vegan Kitchen, of my food."

Speaking of her food, Alexander says, “She can pretty much cook anything. I just had to get her to modify a few of the ingredients and items in her foods and veganize it.”

Alexander says it was pretty easy to make Trinidadian food vegan and create their menu. Their most popular menu item so far is their doubles. 

Alexander explains, “What doubles is, it's a turmeric spiced flat bread and it is two of those flat breads and we put chickpeas, stewed chickpeas inside and you make a snack sandwich and you serve it with pepper sauce if you like but most times it’s with a tamron chutney or mango chutney.”

Francis explains how they're made, “I don’t use curry or anything like that so now they know the secret."

But there’s one ingredient she says no one can do quite like her, "Cooking from the heart…from the heart."

Soca Vegan Kitchen says supply chain, labor shortages and inflation are impacting them, just like many other businesses right now, but they’re asking you to be patient.

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