In 2006, while honeymooning in Vienna with his wife (and Ethos co-owner), Laina, chef Kelly Shockley experienced a gastronomic epiphany of sorts. He enjoyed a dish – a vegan pepper steak with red wine sauce he ate at a vegetarian café called Bio Bar – so much that it opened his eyes to how plant-based fare should be prepared. "Vegan food back then was very tame and lacked any sort of flavor or creativity," he recalls, "but this had to be the best vegan food I had ever eaten. The dish knocked it out of the park!"
At the time Ethos Vegan Kitchen was but an unformed dream, but the experience at Bio Bar was such a positive one for the Shockleys, and the vibe so congenial, that it inspired them to open an all-vegan restaurant with the same positive energy as that Viennese café right here in Orlando. Ethos has since become staple stomping grounds for Central Florida vegans and the people who love them.
