In 2025, I was living in the Bay Area and missing New York. Somewhere in that stretch, I started paying closer attention to what I ate and how I felt afterward.
I went completely vegan in my 20s, then later modified my diet to pescatarianism. Later in life, I took out wheat and noticed I felt better. Over time I added back eggs, then meat. Where I have landed for the past few years is a gluten-free and dairy-free diet (with a few caveats) — and it sticks.
Homesickness makes you crave comfort food. While in Cali, I found recipes on NYT Cooking and reimagined them gluten-free and dairy-free with my own replacements, testing them until they tasted like the real thing. I remembered the kind of places I used to go to in New York (one of the world’s most inspiring foodie capitals) back in the day — late-night bistros and diners, gastropubs, karaoke bars, biergartens. I recreated dishes from those memories, one by one, until my kitchen in California started to taste like the places I used to dine in.
That kitchen became Souci.
What Souci is
Souci is a comfort food restaurant concept with a passport. The menu is the kind you find in New York’s best cozy neighborhood spots: a little whimsical and a little wandering. The center of gravity is Europe, with French, Spanish, German, Eastern European, and British influences, along with Asian, Latin, and Canadian inflection points.
Here’s a taste of what I’ve been cooking:
- Tofu schnitzel: crisp, golden, and every bit as satisfying as the classic.
- Ratatouille: a French bistro staple, slow-cooked until the vegetables give up.
- Poutine: fries, gravy, and cashew-tapioca “curds” that actually squeak.
- Pierogies: the dumpling that’s hardest to make without wheat, served with sauerkraut.
- Grilled cheese and tomato soup: the childhood classic, with a creamy vegan cheese that melts and pulls like the real thing.
Spanish omelettes, shishito peppers, and homemade pickles round out the menu. Plant-based and meat dishes sit side by side, with no workarounds, with no sad side salad.
Two kinds of diners, one table
Some people eat gluten-free and dairy-free because they have to. Others come to it out of curiosity, because they’re experimenting, cutting back, or just interested in what happens when you cook without wheat and dairy. I started as the second kind. My own path from vegan to gluten-free and dairy-free was exploration, not a diagnosis.
Souci is built for both, with one rule: the food has to be good enough that nobody is there out of obligation. Additionally, Souci is meant to be a 100% gluten-free and dairy-free kitchen. No shared prep, no shared fryer, and no cross-contact.
And if you want help reading menus elsewhere, take a look at kye, an educational app I’m building for allergen-aware diners.
This post was edited on 10/17/26.