Happy & Healthy: Cooking, Veganism, and Love with Belen Hernandez

What’s the first thing you think of when you think of vegan cuisine? Beans, rice, sprouts, tempeh, and tofu, right? You don’t think of rich cacio e pepe or creamy queso, do you? Or unctuous fettuccini alfredo or birria tacos that burst with umami.
You should.

Belen Hernandez, seasoned restauranteur and the genius behind Belenty’s Love Vegan Mexican Food on Bluebonnet Circle, has set her sights on conquering Italy. She opened Vida Café, which features indulgent vegan takes on Italian-American classics in August, and she’s intent on spreading the word that vegan cuisine is delicious. Trust me, this is not your weird aunt’s vegan nut loaf from the 1970s!

Recently, I sat down with Belen at Vida Café to talk about cooking, veganism, and love.

photo credit: Andre Le

Born in Tamaulipas, Belen went to college in Ciudad Victoria to study public relations, photography, and television and radio marketing and administration. After she graduated in 2002, finding a job in Mexico was difficult. “It was hard to find an opportunity for employment in Mexico,” Belen said. “So I came to the U.S.”

Belen didn’t speak a word of English when she first moved to Texas with family. But one of the first things you learn about Belen when you meet her is that she throws her whole self into any venture. Whether it’s learning English, running a restaurant empire, or going vegan, she’s all in.

In 2007, Belen opened her first restaurant in Granbury. Business flourished, and soon, she had 13 restaurants serving classic Tex-Mex in Granbury, Hillsboro, Whitley, and Godly. “My college degree helped me a lot,” said Belen. “All that administration work to keep [the restaurants] going!”

And then in 2010, her son came home crying.

“My oldest was 10 when he saw a nasty video about how they killed chickens,” Belen remembered. “He was crying that he wanted to stop eating meat.”

Like most mothers would, Belen thought it was a phase; something that would be forgotten within a couple of weeks. But 10-year-old Sammy Garcia was made of the same stern stuff as his mother – in almost 14 years, he has never wavered from his commitment to veganism.

“I realized after a little while that he wasn’t going to change his mind,” Belen said. “So I started doing the research. I watched the video he had seen. It’s HORRIBLE. You can pull it up on YouTube, but don’t do it after you have eaten anything!”

Growing up, Belen never really liked red meat. “My family loved red meat – or really meat of any kind – but I was the one kid who said, ‘I don’t like that.’ And my family was very good about it and didn’t make me eat it… I love seafood. We lived only about an hour away from the ocean, and we were always at the beach!”

After watching the video, Belen’s distaste for meat intensified. She started researching veganism from both an ethical standpoint (“I love animals!”) and an environmental one. “You can go vegan because you love the cute animals. You can go vegan because your doctor said that if you don’t, you’re going to die. You can go vegan because you want to save the planet. It doesn’t matter why. I just want to feed you!”

And like her son, Belen was all in. She jumped into a vegan lifestyle without a single look back. But she still had all those Tex-Mex restaurants.

Image courtesy of Belen Hernandez

Vegan Mexican restaurants started becoming popular in Dallas in the late 2010s. Chefs experimented with Mexican seasonings and ingredients to create vegan versions of traditional Mexican cuisine. Mexican, not Tex-Mex. “In my culture in Mexico, a lot of people can’t afford meat; if they buy it, they buy only a little, and it’s used more like a side dish. And we eat a lot of fish and seafood, too.”

The first Belenty’s Love opened in Granbury in 2018. Surprisingly, the small Texas town embraced vegan Mexican food. “I was so shocked! This is Texas! Meat! People love meat here.” Belen smiled. “People told me I was a crazy woman! Mexican food isn’t vegan! But I told people, ‘Come in. Try it. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to pay.’ And they found they liked it.”

Ninety percent of Belen’s customers aren’t vegan. They just like good food made with love by hand. In fact, one gentleman got upset with his wife when she revealed that he had just enjoyed a vegan meal at Belenty’s Love. “He couldn’t tell the difference!” Belen laughed.

“The word ‘vegan’ still scares a lot of people. They don’t understand it. We live in Cowtown! People like steaks! And that’s okay, but if you open your mind a little bit and try new things, you might like it.”

Running 13 restaurants takes a lot of energy, and while Belen is the very definition of the word “energetic,” she finally had enough. “I said, ‘No more.’ I couldn’t go to my restaurants to try the food to make sure it was good. When I changed my life, I wanted to be proud of what I put in front of my customers. So I sold [all but the Granbury Belenty’s Love].”

The original Belenty’s Love was so popular that Belen set her sights on the big city. People in Fort Worth had heard about this vegan Mexican place in Granbury and would venture to the wilds of Hood County. They encouraged Belen to open an outpost in Fort Worth.

Belenty’s Love Fort Worth opened in the former R Taco location on Bluebonnet Circle just as the global pandemic was starting. It was a hard time for Fort Worth restaurants, but COVID-19 actually worked in the fledgling restaurant’s favor.

“So many people wanted warm, yummy, comfort food, but they also wanted to eat healthier,” Belen remembered. What’s more comforting than chips and queso? The queso at Belenty’s Love is creamy and comforting, and I promise you won’t miss the cheese. Vegan Mexican no longer seemed quite so crazy.

Belen closed the original Belenty’s Love in 2021. Her family had moved from Granbury to Benbrook, before moving to Fort Worth about two and a half years ago, and the commute simply had become too much.

Now Belen’s whole family is involved in the restaurants. Her husband, Demarcus Hicks, came in and worked on the air conditioning while Belen and I were talking. Sammy, the 10 year old who started this vegan journey, is now 24 and is Belen’s co-chef at Vida Café. Daughter Mia graduated from Benbrook High School in the spring and has taken over the running of Belenty’s Love. Belen smiled proudly. “She’s not interested in college. She grew up in my restaurants, and she’s ready to take over.” Demarcus Junior is five, but like his siblings, he’s a restaurant kid through and through.

Image courtesy of Belen Hernandez

Belen and Sammy had been thinking about a vegan Italian restaurant for a while. “Mexican food is our favorite,” Belen said, “But Italian is definitely number two!” Their landlord approached her when the former Lettuce Cook location became available in July, and Belen jumped at the chance. Within one month, Vida Café opened. They didn’t have a sign or even all the kitchen equipment, but they were up and serving delicious, healthy food to their customers.

I asked how Belen makes vegan taste so good. After all, much of what we think of as Italian food and Mexican food relies on meats and dairy products. Belen grinned.

“Love,” she said.

But seriously, she and Sammy have put a lot of work into finding vegan products that work in the recipes that they have tested over and over. And while it seems a little flippant to put it all down to love, after meeting Belen and talking with her for a little while, I believe it. She exudes love.

For Belen, veganism is about respect. She respects her customers. She respects the animals she doesn’t serve in her restaurants. (“Hey, the animals deserve respect!”). She respects the environment. She’s a vegan evangelical. But she’s not fanatical about her evangelism. She doesn’t expect her customers to become vegan overnight, if they do at all.

“It’s all about balance,” she said. “You have to have balance in your life. You can’t overdo one thing and stay healthy. And if you do the research and decide to go vegan, don’t rush into it. Take your time, or you’re going to get tired and overwhelmed, and you’re going to quit.”

The people who dine at Belenty’s Love and at Vida Café are more than customers to Belen. They are members of her extended family. She cooks for them. She shares her recipes. She wants them to be healthy and will do what she can to help them become so.

“I have a customer from Granbury who still comes up to Fort Worth to Belenty’s every week,” Belen said. “He went vegan after he had 12 heart surgeries. Twelve! He asked me for help him get healthier, so I sat down with him, and we made out menus for him. I gave him my recipes, free of charge. I just want him to be happy and healthy!”

My Take on Vida Café’s Cacio e Pepe

Cacio e pepe is a classic Roman dish. With only four ingredients, this dish is deceptively simple and can be made from what you have on hand. Much depends on the cheese used, and Vida Café’s version is 100% vegan and 100% delicious. After some taste testing, I found that both VioLife and Follow Your Heart make good vegan Parmesans that work well in this recipe.

Ingredients

Salt
1 pound pasta (Belen uses spaghetti at Vida Café; I used bucatini because that’s what I had in my pantry.)
5 ounces vegan Parmesan, grated*
-OR-
4 ounces Pecorino Romano (if not going vegan)
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
And Belen’s super-secret ingredient: LOVE

*Belen’s recipe calls for “a loveable amount of cheese;” after some testing, I found that 5 ounces of vegan Parmesan or 4 ounces of Pecorino Romano seems to be perfectly loveable.

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Once it’s boiling, add salt. How much? Enough for you to taste it. A friend’s Italian grandmother told me that pasta water should taste only a little less salty than the ocean.

While the water is coming to the boil, heat a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add in the whole peppercorns and toast until they’re fragrant, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the peppercorns to a mortar and pestle or a blender and crush. You want the pieces to be fairly large.

Cook the pasta according to package directions until it is al dente. While the pasta is cooking, grate the cheese. Once the pasta is done, drain it in a colander, reserving 2 cups of the pasta water. THIS IS KEY. DO NOT THROW AWAY THE PASTA WATER!

Return the pasta to the pot and add about a ½ cup of the pasta water. Place the pot on a very low burner and add about a 1/3 of the cheese and half the cracked peppercorns. Stir VIGOROUSLY. Add a splash more of the pasta water and another bit of cheese and continue to stir. Continue this method until the sauce is smooth and creamy. You may not use all the pasta water. Garnish with a little additional cheese and a little more cracked pepper and enjoy! Serves 4 to 6.