EMILY VARGA
Key Points:
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A new restaurant is opening up on the Ithaca Commons.
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The restaurant will carry vegan food.
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Nikki Green will open within the first few weeks of November.
Since Jackie Falkenberg was young, she knew she wanted to work in the restaurant business. In what capacity? She had no idea. But it was once she got into Cornell School of Hotel Administration that the picture really began to develop.
Falkenberg knew she loved food, that was a given. “I knew that I wanted to start a restaurant over eight years ago, I didn’t know why it was my passion.”
She worked in kitchens for all different types of restaurants: fast casual, fine dining, even fast food. She tailored her high school education to ensure that it would lead her to Cornell. With a team of advisors, she set her sights high, with the prospect of opening a restaurant shortly after graduation.
Falkenberg, a California native, graduated from Cornell in May of 2017, only five months ago. But within the next few weeks, she will be the owner of a restaurant. “Obviously doing this right out of college is a big commitment,” she said.
Throughout her journey at Cornell, Falkenberg decided to become a vegan. She said she began cooking for her sister, Nikki, in an effort to show her that vegan food could be just as, or even more delicious than meat, eggs and dairy.
“She’s not vegan, but when I first went vegan, I would cook for her and if she really liked the food then she wouldn’t eat, you know, the steak that my dad had prepared for both of them that night. So that was kind of my motivation to make a really good tasting food.
“So the restaurant is called Nikki Green, because it’s to get people like Nikki to eat more greens.”
Falkenberg said she initially wanted to open a fine dining restaurant, but realized fine dining did not necessarily mean better food.
When she decided to become vegan, she found it especially difficult to handle the way people reacted to the word “vegan.” She said her father often dismissed the notion that vegan food could be flavorful and fulfilling.
“I hope that when people come in they’ll see it’s a lot of vibrant food.”
Falkenberg plans to market the restaurant as delicious health food, but not necessarily vegan food. She wants people like her father to give the restaurant a chance, and give vegan food a chance.
Nikki Green will be opening just down the street from Viva Taqueria. Falkenberg said that she came up with the majority of the menu on her own but will not be cooking herself. “I’m going to be managing, I’ll be in the front, I’ll be there everyday.”
When asked about the effect on the Ithaca Commons as a whole, Falkenberg recalled how much she loves the Commons, especially when she was a college student, but that she thinks it needs more attention.
“I think Ithaca is putting so much money and effort and love into the community, but I feel like not a lot of people go downtown.”
Falkenberg hopes her restaurant will bring even more people to the commons.
Nikki Green is set to open within the coming weeks.
Photo courtesy of makenikkigreen.com