A sushi restaurant that specializes in plant-based vegan options is making the move to 1990 Central Avenue, across the street from the Imagine Museum in St. Petersburg’s Grand Central District. Jenna Malowany of KW Commercial represented the landlord and Danielle Cash of Somerday Group represented the tenant in the lease transaction.

House of Vegano is currently located at 655 31st Street South, where it shared space with The Body Electric Athletic Company, which shut its doors at the end of 2022. The current location will continue to serve diners until the new Central Avenue spot debuts at the end of the year.

Owner Thalia Tatham opened the sushi bar’s first brick-and-mortar location in March 2022 after initially selling food exclusively at markets and festivals and even delivering orders directly to customers’ homes.

Her hand-rolled sushi developed a following in The Burg thanks to events such as VegFeast, an all-vegan food festival. Tatham’s creations are also available at Black Radish Vegan Grocer.

“I'm so thankful to Body Electric for giving us the opportunity to share their space,” Tatham says, “to open my first brick and mortar. In my mind, getting on Central was the goal, visibility and location are vital for a businesses successs.’ When the opportunity came, we jumped.”

Tatham says the new 2,300-square-foot location will have a “different vibe” than House of Vegano’s current space but will still have a welcoming energy. For starters, it will serve alcohol, and Tatham plans to add more appetizers, including miso soup, edamame, seaweed salad, and additional types of dumplings, four types of ramen broth and expand on the ever growing sushi menu. 

“The new location will have a larger kitchen, which is going to be helpful,” she says.

Tatham says the new location will have more of a “lounge-y feel … people are going to want to sit down and hangout. There’s going to be sofas and couches and have a higher end feel.”

House of Vegano’s menu includes specialty items such as the best-selling Volcano Roll, which is made with, avocado, cucumber, topped with spicy vegan seafood dynamite, made from Lion’s Mane mushroom, that is locally sourced from Cactus Hat Mushrooms, vegan caviar, spicy mayo, sriracha, vegan eel sauce, and green onions; and classic sushi rolls such as Spicy Krab, made with king oyster mushroom, carrots, cucumber, and avocado.

The classic rolls are priced between $8.50 and $17.50, while the specialty rolls range in price from $20 to $24. The menu also includes ramen for $14 and dumplings for $10.

“We don't currently offer any fried items, but there are some rolls that can be made with tempura that we're going to have at the new location.”

Tatham, whose culinary skills are entirely self-taught, she has created 86 different sushi rolls but has been limited to serving just 20 because of limited space at the Body Electric.

“There are a lot more rolls that I have in my arsenal that we're going to start debuting and putting out,” she says. “People always ask me, ‘Hey, what's your favorite roll on the menu?’ And I’m like, ‘The one I haven’t created yet.’ It’s fun.”

Tatham’s love for plant-based food stems from health challenges she faced a few years ago when she was battling lupus.

“Lupus is an autoimmune disorder and affects each person differently. essentially it’s like your body turning on you and attacking you. The way it affected me, it would attack my joints,” she says. “I’d have all-over body arthritis, and I would get painful flares and I’d be shut down for a week.” 

Tatham also suffered from pleurisy, a condition that causes inflammation in the lungs and chest cavity. “It was really bad, almost like there’s a pole in my chest and it hurt to breathe,” she says.

Wanting to avoid having to go on medication, Tatham watched a Netflix special called “The Game Changers” after that decided she would “heal my body through food” and she quit eating meat, cold turkey (no pun intended).

“Six months later,” she says, “I went to my rheumatologist, they did all my bloodwork and it came back that I had no inflammation in my body and no markers for lupus. So, essentially, I don't have lupus anymore. I told him I’d gone six months without a flare. And they're like, ‘That’s amazing.’ And I told him, ‘I’m plant-based now. I don’t eat any animal products at all.’”

House of Vegano hopes to make the move to 1990 Central Avenue by the end of the year. In the meantime, go check them out at 655 31st Street South. Also, be sure to follow them on Instagram for more updates about the new location and menu.