Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimberly Harlan.
Hi Kimberly, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am the owner of Modern Shaman, a plant-based comfort food restaurant in Whittier. I had a long career in marketing and the Los Angeles fashion industry. I loved it, but I knew that someday I would own my own business. And I knew it would either be a restaurant (I love to feed people) or in real estate (I’m obsessed with houses). In the meantime, I did the research, scanned commercial real estate sites for restaurant properties, and took every class I could find about restaurant management at UCLA Extension and local community colleges. But ten years passed, and I could never pull together the resources I needed to bring the restaurant to reality. So eventually, I secretly started taking real estate classes and studying to get my real estate license, which I got in 2017.
I loved being a realtor, but it’s a long, expensive process to get established. I had some success, but what I really loved was being my own boss – which also allowed me the freedom to travel for more than a week at a time for the first time since college. My partner (Michael Kachoeff, owner of The 6740) and I planned a trip to South America, and we wandered for almost a month.
We traveled with multiple shamans throughout Peru and Bolivia. We visited sacred sites, did manifestation ceremonies, received initiations & rites, and let go of what no longer served us. We were married by shamans in Cusco, high in the Andes. It was an unexpectedly amazing trip.
The week we returned to LA, a perfect opportunity to buy a restaurant fell on us, totally organically. I did real estate while also working with an architect, builders, plumbers, and electricians to build out the restaurant space. I painted the interior myself, which took two solid weeks to get the effect I wanted. We built the menu, which is basically a listing of all the foods I wanted to eat, haha! I handpicked every detail, including silverware & napkins, tables & chairs, playlists & wine lists. It was a total labor of love and an extension of the spiritual journey that had started with the shamans in South America.
I had been a vegetarian for 20+ years and vegan for about a year at that point. I knew our menu would have to be plant-based, but I didn’t know if the local community would welcome that. It was a huge risk in 2019 to open a vegan restaurant out here in Whittier, but we had faith. And it’s been a crazy hard rollercoaster ride navigating COVID and a global pandemic, but the community has come through, and we are still here! We’ve made it this far as a small, independent business, and we’ll continue to work on growth, sustainablity, and contributing to a more compassionate, healthy planet. There’s nothing I’d rather do. The shamans of South America are mystical healers that work with energy connected to Pachamama (Mother Earth). We aim to provide food that heals as well, and believe that you can feed your body and spirit so that you don’t have to get sick in the first place. In that way, we can all be modern shamans.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Restaurants are never a smooth road. You have to be a certain kind of committed workaholic to own and operate an independent restaurant. Licenses, permits, taxes. Staffing, maintenance, repair. Inventory, orders, balancing accounts payable with sales. And oh yeah, a global pandemic that closed our doors in March 2020, just a year after opening. We had to completely pivot, change our menu and our entire operations. My two awesome kids, Harper and Clay, pitched in and donated their help as we entered survival mode with takeout & delivery orders only, wearing hot, sweaty masks, face shields, and gloves. But we did what we needed to do, and again, the community came through and we’re still here!
The economy and inflation are current challenges. And covid changed restaurants forever I think… the delivery apps like DoorDash and UberEats now account for a large part of our business, but at a commission to me of 28-30% on every order. It’s not sustainable. So many restaurants, including big chains and little guys like us, are closing their doors. I wish lawmakers would take a look at what these huge tech companies are doing to the restaurant landscape with no oversight that I’ve seen. It’s really frustrating.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We make all of our cheeses, sauces, gravies, dressings, and much more from scratch. Our passion is making flavorful, filling, protein-packed food without the use of any animal products.
We’re making super delish food that’s good for your soul and great for the planet. We use only compostable/biodegradable packaging and we constantly strive to reduce our impact on the environment. We’re family-owned & operated, we live in the community we serve, and we’re honored to feed our community well!
Modern Shaman has been named one of Los Angeles’s 23 Essential Vegetarian/Vegan Restaurants for the last four years by Eater LA. We’re allergy-sensitive and have many gluten-free options.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
I am a restaurant owner. I work in the kitchen every day. It’s in my DNA to feed people damn fine plant-based comfort food that’s good for the planet, great for the animals, and excellent for your body+mind+spirit. It feels great to have created a business from scratch that serves a community concerned with making the world a better place through their food choices.
Pricing:
- $11 – $24
Contact Info:
- Website: www.modernshamankitchen.com
- Instagram: @modernshamankitchen
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/modern-shaman-whittier-whittier-2
Image Credits
All photos – credit: K. Harlan
