By Sean Rinn

The average person knows that impossible foods consist of plant-based meat and dairy to mimic traditional omnivore meals, but at Beach’n, Mike Petitte has executed the impossible task of creating hearty vegan comfort food. 

At what was once Beachside Cafe, Beach’n serves plant-based treats for vegans looking to enjoy an appetizing breakfast or brunch with savory and sweet flavors. Items like hashcakes, breakfast burritos, imitation chicken sandwiches, crunchwraps, French toast, macaroni and cheese, and buffalo bites are sure to give the customer the blissful feeling of post-meal drowsiness that is synonymous with standard comfort food.   

Beach’n strives to stay away from processed fake meats by creating its own, but on the rare occasion they cannot, high quality is still the priority. The chicken sandwich is made from Tindle chicken, which is mostly soy proteins, and Beach’n used to have a portobello burger before Petitte took it out of the rotation. 

Currently the highest performers on the menu are the French toast along with the tofu scramble and breakfast burrito; Petitte believes some other dishes deserve more shine.

“I think the things that get totally overlooked are a lot of the lunch menu items we have,” Petitte said. “I think the mac and cheese that we have had since we opened gets overlooked. I think it’s one of the best things on the menu.” 

The creative atmosphere Petitte likes having in his kitchen helped birth the Beach’n cheese sauce, which is “a star in the show” on the menu.  

“I think everybody loves that stuff,” Petitte said. “We kept messing with different kinds of milks, we tried to do something like a roux because we knew we wanted mac and cheese.” 

Petitte got his start in the food industry at Judahlicious where he quickly became manager almost 20 years ago. He has always sought to make vegan food that even meat eaters would enjoy. 

“I’ve always thought that the idea of comfort food, even if it’s vegan, means it’s messy and yummy. Just some delicious food with a richness of flavor,” he said.

Even though the Beach’n staff has figured out complex recipes from scratch to best replicate comfort food in their vegan spin, they still face challenges from the stigma vegan cuisine has among the laymen.

“People come into our shop all the time,” Petitte said. “We have a full coffee bar as well. We will say we don’t have milk or that it’s vegan and people will walk out for sure. And we’re like, just give it a try. Some people have that sort of ‘if it’s not meat, eggs, cheeses and that sort of stuff, we don’t want it. I usually try to convince people to just give it a shot.” 

That is not to say everyone has a closed mind to vegan comfort food. Petitte recalls some compliments he has received from non-vegan customers.

“Some of the biggest compliments we get by customers who come in, it’s like ‘hey, we’re not vegan, but this was awesome.’” he said. 

Beach’n is not the type of place that pressures its consumers to conform to its vegan ideology or lifestyle. They are as chill as a restaurant right on the beach can get about getting people to expand their horizons. 

“We don’t try to shove propaganda down people’s throats,” Petitte said. “We just are what we are. I don’t care personally if you eat meat or not. I just try to encourage people to try it out,” 

Petitte is what he is. He is the manager of Judahlicious and Beach’n, and the choice to change his lifestyle in his early 20s has helped forge his identity.

“It started on the animal rights side at first, but then it was for the environment and all that stuff,” he said. “Now it’s like if I have the ability to do it, to help out my environment as much as I can, I feel like it’s my contribution to the environment in general to sort of stay vegan and serve the public.”

Judahlicious celebrated its 20-year anniversary in December. While the famous vegan staple has grown over two decades, Petitte has grown with it. Approximately 15 years ago, Petitte became manager of Judahlicious while he was still in school, and it is still going strong. 

While Judahlicious has become an important landmark for vegans in San Francisco, Petitte attributes a lot of his success to the neighborhood. 

“The Sunset community is amazing,” he said. “We have a lot of regulars who support the business and people that we see almost every single day. I think it just goes out to the community that supports us,” Petitte said.

If you are someone who enjoys comfort food but wants to try something new, if you want to support a local business that is zero waste, if you’re vegan and haven’t made the trip yet, or if you want to enjoy a hearty meal that does less damage to your arteries than typical comfort food, come to Beach’n for a unique experience that’s impossible not to enjoy. 

Beach’n is located at 4300 Judah St.