KOKOMO || Summer is a State of Mind
Here, the sun shines year round.
Kokomo opened its first location in Chinatown in June last year, and soon became a local favourite. Buoyed by customer support, its second location in Kitsilano opened in June. Katie Ruddell, Founder of Kokomo, had been a vegetarian all her life, and she didn’t have any luck finding innovative vegetarian food she wanted to eat all the time, so when she left her brand strategy role at Lululemon, she poured all her energy into starting Kokomo; Katie did what a true entrepreneur would do, come up with a solution to solve a consumer pain point.
Kokomo is based on a simple concept - to bring year round sunshine to their customers with their plant-based meals. A visit to either one of their locations will leave you feeling just peachy.
Clean, white interiors with punchy orange accents.
The interior aesthetic is clean and punchy, with a orange and white colour palette integrated with lush greenery spilling over the counters. The new location in Kitsilano is inspired by the beach, both because of its proximity to Kitsilano Beach and also Katie’s past experience residing in Australia and Singapore, where the sun is always shining. Now, who wouldn’t want the warm, summer feeling all year round?
Surely by this point you are all wondering how the food tie in with the summer theme and offers innovation in vegetarian food? One look at the vibrant bowls will have you salivating.
The Coastal Bowl, which has been on the menu since the beginning, is a customer favourite. It’s got brown rice layered with greens, marinated tempeh, roasted squash, cucumber, ginger pickled cabbage, edamame hummus and is served with Thai ginger dressing. Trust us when we say it’s the most satisfying vegetarian bowl you will ever have. Not only is it rich in flavour, there are many different ‘layers' of flavour within the one bowl for your to experience, tangy, sweet, earthy, the taste surprises with each bite.
The Coastal Bowl.
The Breaky Bowl is a new item for fall, and Katie says the Breaky Bowl was inspired by people returning from vacation and wanting something a bit heartier to ground them and get things going, versus other bowls offering fresher, lighter ingredients. The Breaky Bowl is packed with tasty ingredients such as tofu scramble, roasted squash, spicy tempeh crumble, cumin pickled cauliflower, fresh tomato, greens, and brown rice. It is topped with cilantro crema, hemp hearts, fresh cilantro and green onion.
The Breaky Bowl.
For those looking for something sweet and light, the Kokomo Acai Bowl would be a guilt-free indulgence, with delicious frozen acai layered with berries, banana, house-made raw granola and topped with toasted coconut and mint.
The Kokomo Acai Bowl.
Feeling hungry yet?
With the characteristic rainy and Vancouver winter season ahead of us, we can’t think of a better getaway than a breakfast or lunch escape to Kokomo, where the sun is always shining with their hearty and healthy vegetarian bowls.