Checking In With Rad.ish

Rad.ish, a vegan eatery with a lean towards Mexican-American cuisine and local sourcing, made the list when it came to essential Traverse City eats. From burgers to burritos, the menu complimented the beer on-site at Stonehound Brewing Co. and was the perfect solution for satisfying meat-free meals. They’ve since closed their doors at their current location, but we checked in with owner, Lisa Moberly, on her journey to Rad.ish, and what she has cooking now.

What was your vision for Rad.ish when you first opened? What are some of your main reasons for bringing vegan cooking to the restaurant space? How did you choose the name?

I think I’ve always wanted a restaurant, since I was young. My grandfather always talked about it and my good friend Yolanda, her parents had a little Mexican restaurant in Whittier (where I grew up), and I always wanted something like that. A small but mighty place that families can enjoy and knew the food was made with tradition and love.

When I grew up, the vision of a restaurant changed and I was a young single mother that needed to take care of business. When my daughter, Izabela, passed away, my life just flipped, everything that was together was now just everywhere in fragments.

I knew I just had to do what was going to bring me the most peace. I always found joy in cooking. Both of my grandparents loved to cook and did it exceptionally well. I am 1/2 Hispanic and 1/2 Caucasian both cooking very traditional foods, one is very East Coast, hearty comfort foods and baked goods, the other is very traditional Mexican food with that LA flair. Growing up I loved learning to cook with them in the kitchen but I was also the black sheep and didn’t eat meat.

From being in the kitchen and cooking meat, I was able to take on my own type of cooking through the years. I passed this tradition down to my daughter, we loved cooking together and that brought me happiness. After her passing, I wanted to still feel close to her and kept this tradition in my everyday life and now share it with my husband Ryan, we cook and learn and grow together.

Rad.ish came from a joke where it goes something like, “What vegetable is only kinda cool? A radish.” And that’s exactly how we see ourselves.

You are incredibly open about your personal story on social media. What has been the impact of being an open book in a public space?

It’s definitely been a big part of healing. I’m not usually one to want to draw attention but the loss of my daughter was so devastating and severe that I had to talk about it and get options from everyone that was willing to reach out. I also found that it has also helped others feel less alone in their grief, that you don’t have to be alone in something that is so lonely, everyone’s grief is different and it is a wound that you carry but no one can see. I wanted people to see this wound, this missing piece of me, and bring Izabela’s memory to the forefront.

Your business had to make a large number of pivots throughout the pandemic. What were some of the biggest changes to the original ‘plan’ and how did they impact what Rad.ish became?

We didn’t know what was going to become of Rad.ish, it really just started as picking a fun name for the Sara Hardy Farmers Market and seeing what would happen from there. We were having so much fun and selling out every time we were there, so we decided to get a food truck and see what happens… well the pandemic happened and we were stuck. Luckily, Scott from the Coin Slot reached out and offered us his kitchen space so we could do to-go orders. That went over really well, so we wanted to eventually have a space of our own.

Your food is admired by vegans and meat-eaters alike! Do you have any good memories of turning a carnivore into an omnivore?

Thank you so much! It’s so flattering to hear when people actually like what we make. My favorite is when my uncles (who are more like older brothers because of our age difference) would always give me such a hard time about not eating meat and when they had my papas, cheese, homemade salsa, and chorizo burritos, not knowing there wasn’t any meat, they loved my burritos. I feel like they gave me a new kind of respect.

They still don’t understand it but they will still eat it. I feel like that’s how most people feel when they are traditionally meat eaters and they happen to like our food. It’s all the same just with a few tweaks.

What’s next for you and/or your team – personally or professionally? How will this impact your work-life balance?

We’re all just taking a step back and assessing. Some things happened too much too fast and things were going in a direction that felt led by other opinions and not our own.

Our team is excited about this break but can’t wait to see what we do next and they are very much a part of this new transition.

We do have a little one on the way, but it’s all the more reason to get started again. I loved growing up in my friend’s restaurant and I can’t wait for our little one to have the same experience! We are for sure a ‘to be continued.’