Brooklyn’s Newest Bodega Serves Vegan Chopped Cheese Sandwiches

Vegetarian corner store Vodega recently opened in the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. The store and deli—which previously operated as a pop-up—is owned by Jeremy Dean, a chef who draws upon his Salvadoran and Mexican heritage to create his vegan dishes. “We have anything that you’d find at a New York bodega [but] turned vegan,” Dean told Eater. The shop features a curated list of five classic bodega sandwiches that can be ordered vegan, including Chopped Cheese (Impossible meat, onions, lettuce, tomato, veganaise, vegan cheese sauce, served on Caputto’s Italian hoagie); pressed Jack Fruit Cuban (braised jackfruit, vegan provolone cheese and cheese sauce, veganaise, turkey slices, mustard, and pickles); and Vegan Breakfast Sausage Egg and Cheese. Vodega also offers a variety of sides such smoked mac and cheese, curry hummus and veggies, and jeweled grains (a combination of brown rice, quinoa, black rice, millet, mixed nuts and herbs, and dried fruit, all tossed in a citrus vinaigrette). The store also offers a selection of produce and snacks. 

In neighboring Manhattan, vegan corner store Bonberi Mart—which opened in the West Village neighborhood in 2018—sells curated plant-based goods such as coconut flour-based chips, banana bread, muffins, premium olive oils, superfood powders, smoothies, and a selection of beauty products, along with bowls, deli sandwiches, and other prepared foods.