Raw Eatery and Market opened its doors during the summer of 2016 in the heart of Kensington Village in Calgary, Alberta.
Together Ali Magee and Megan Pope have explored the varieties of Canadian grown foods and have come to learn the potential of these treasures are unlimited. With abundances of ethically produced nourishment sprouting in the backyards of our cities, they are making it our mission to see that regional farms are given justice against a market saturated with imports.Along with food creations, Raw is excited to employ sustainable initiatives that naturally conjoin with eating locally produced plant based foods. We want to create a community where everyone can feel proud about their day-to-day choices, support one another, and promote positive social change.more...See more text
When they wound up as roommates in Edmonton during university, Megan Pope and Ali Magee never would have thought they’d end up opening their own vegan restaurant. But after an unexpected turn of events, the pair wound up in Calgary opening Raw Eatery & Market.
When they first met, Ali was studying broadcasting at NAIT while Megan was taking nutrition at the University of Alberta. They both had a passion for plant-based eating and often found themselves developing recipes in their kitchen. “Megan was creating really healthy, cool recipes from what she was learning in school and they were all plant-based,” Ali says. The girls undertook a vegan lifestyle at home but found themselves struggling to find options to eat when they went out. “We always felt ripped off eating out vegan with our friends. They’d get a huge meal and we’d get some veggies or a dinky dull salad. That’s not fair," Ali says.
After university, Ali moved to Toronto and started to explore the city’s growing raw and vegan scene. And as much as she loved the variety of options in Toronto, she liked Megan’s creations better. That’s when she had the idea to go into business. “As I was eating things I thought, ‘That tastes like what Megan makes – but hers is better, so she should do it!'" Ali says.
Megan soon moved out to join Ali in Toronto and the pair started developing more recipes. After travelling abroad in Europe to work at an eco-lodge and a vegan food truck, the girls returned to Canada and opened Raw Eatery & Market on July 9, 2016. “We chose Calgary because we thought the market is a lot less saturated here,” Ali says. “We thought we could impact change on a pretty large scale because there wasn’t much going on in terms of the vegan scene,” Megan adds.
Opened in Calgary’s vibrant Kensington business district in 2016 with help from crowdfunding backers, founders Ali Magee and Megan Pope give back to the vegan and vegetarian communities with sustainable food workshops and one-on-one nutrition consultations. Enjoy meat-free imaginings of international cuisine such as lettuce-wrap tacos or rainbow pad thai sourced with ingredients from sustainable local and regional farms.