The Gold Leaf Collective will open as Fort Collins' first completely vegan restaurant at 120 W. Laurel St. on Saturday.(Photo: Jacob Laxen/The Coloradoan)Buy Photo

Taylor Smith became vegan about four years ago.

His passion for food then turned into a food truck called Silver Seed in 2014. And now on Saturday, Smith will open Fort Collins first completely vegan brick and mortar restaurant called Gold Leaf Collective at 120 W. Laurel St. in the old Ras-Ka Ethiopian restaurant.

We have magicians back in the kitchen, Smith said. If we didnt tell you it was vegan, you wouldnt even know.

Gold Leaf will serve separate breakfast lunch and dinner menus, and also plans to eventually sell retail veganbreads.

Porridge, bagels, tacos, English muffin melts and scrambled tofu dishes are among the morning offerings. The restaurant will serve paninis, salads, soups and flatbreads at lunch similar to Silver Seeds standard menu.

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At dinner, Gold Leaf will offer a variety of seasonally rotating small plate dishes available a la carte or as a multi-course meal. Many of the dinner options were tested out at ticketed tasting dinners before the restaurant opened.

Among the initial offerings are a grilled salad, baked beans, pine bark pierogies, baked potato soup and homemade dairy-free ice cream.

It has really been a process developing the menu, Smith said.

Tasty Harmony, Rainbow Restaurant, Avogadros Number are among other Fort Collins restaurants that have long catered to the local vegan community.

They certainly did pave the way, Smith said. Vegan is hard to do.

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Gold Leaf will be one of the few restaurants in town that doesnt source its food through major distributors Sysco and Shamrock. Instead, the establishment is partnering with five local farms for a majority of its ingredients.

We have to think just like a farmer would, Smith said. We have to plan everything meticulously. We will have to be able to preserve food and make it last through the winter.

Silver Seed will continue to operate and is booked throughout the summer. The food truck will use the new restaurant as its commissary kitchen. The entire operation now has 22 employees.

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Gold Leaf will officially debut at 5 p.m. on Saturday with a gold ribbon cutting a grand opening that coincides with Earth Day. The restaurant will also serve brunch on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The restaurant will start its normal hours on Tuesday: 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays; and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sundays.

Follow Jacob Laxen on Twitter and Instagram @jacoblaxen

The Silver Seed food truck will become a brick and mortar restaurant called The Golden Leaf Collective.(Photo: Morgan Spiehs/The Coloradoan)

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Fort Collins' first entirely vegan restaurant to open Saturday - The Coloradoan