Actor Danny Glover didn’t mince words when it came to his favorite vegan barbecue and soul food spot in Oakland. In an impromptu video plug in 2020 for the city’s much-buzzed-about Vegan Mob walk-up shop, Glover telephones the chef and former rapper Toriano Gordon and asks, incredulously, “You sure you didn’t put any meat in this sh-t?” as he licks his fingers.

“I know what vegan is,” Gordon responds in the ad. And his fans agree. Named one of the Top 10 vegan barbecue spots by USA Today (yes, meatless barbecue is a thing, and it’s growing) and celebrated by Food & Wine magazine, Gordon’s East Bay shop will soon expand north, to Santa Rosa.

“We have a lot of Santa Rosa fans — I call them Mob Members — who used to drive to Oakland. They’re excited we’re setting up shop,” said Gordon, who plans to welcome a new crowd of Mobsters to his west Third Street location in late September. The former garden supply store at 13 W. Third St., he said, is being transformed into a family-friendly place with indoor and outdoor seating, a movie screen, art gallery and arcade.

The menu looks comfortingly familiar if you love smoked meat. But — plot twist — there’s no meat or dairy on the menu. Brisket, fried chicken, shrimp gumbo, burgers and cheese steaks all substitute plant-based ingredients for meat.

The result is an unlikely mashup of traditional meat-based barbecue culture and Gordon’s lifestyle transition to a meatless diet five years ago. Missing the saucy, soulful food of his youth, Gordon created his own versions of ribs, brisket, links and burgers that satisfied his cravings, leading to a food truck and the Oakland outpost. Gordon also plans to sell ready-to-eat versions of his barbecue at Whole Foods and other grocery outlets. veganmob.biz

A Moroccan Julep, made with the North African country’s beloved mint tea, cinnamon, lime and whiskey, sets the mood for Spoonbar’s weekly Moroccan night.

The three-course prix-fixe meal ($39, Thursdays only) at the Healdsburg restaurant is a culinary journey to the spice-laden land of clay tagines, preserved lemons and perfumed couscous. Inspired by Healdsburg Hotel General Manager Aziz Zhari’s homeland, the menu is executed beautifully with a summery first course of red and yellow peppers, strips of zucchini and eggplant topped with Provençal herbs, crisp croutons and nibs of goat cheese.

A thigh and breast of crispy-skin chicken is a rare example of poultry perfection, seasoned with piquant herbs and bits of preserved lemon atop piles of savory couscous. Typical of Moroccan cuisine, the dish has a mix of sweet and savory, with cherry tomatoes, almonds and golden raisins studding Middle Eastern semolina pasta.

The star, however, is a tagine (a domed clay pot) filled with duck leg, apricots and soft chickpeas in a turmeric and ginger bath. It’s stomp-your-feet-and-lift-a-hand-to-heaven good. Meskouta cake, a Moroccan orange cake, is almost too generous in its serving (take some home for breakfast). To end the meal, you get a soothing cup of mint tea as fragrant as a sultan’s garden.

219 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg, 707-433-7222, spooonbar.com. Reservations recommended.

Plant-based bakery Magdelena’s Savories and Sweets in Petaluma is closing after 18 months in business.

Greta Canton said a trifecta of issues forced her to shutter the north Petaluma shop, including the effect of ongoing roadwork in front of her site, a lack of foot traffic and financial pressures she couldn’t overcome.

“It’s heartbreaking, but it’s just been a tough summer,” she said, noting a 15% decrease in sales from last year and skyrocketing ingredient prices.

Like many restaurants, she tried raising prices to counter costs and invested her own limited capital, but ultimately couldn’t make the numbers pencil out. Running the kitchen, serving customers and managing finances was more than she could do without a business partner.

“I was unable to support the business and extract my living expenses. I wish it were different. I wish there was more time to let the seed of Magdelena’s grow,” Canton said to fans on social media.

Though sticky cinnamon rolls, crispy pizza and even “burgers” made without animal products, including butter, eggs, milk and meat, were confusing to some customers, Canton is passionate about stretching the boundaries of what plant-based comfort food could look, and more importantly, taste like.

Canton said she still believes vegan and vegetarian restaurants have a bright future.

“Eating with sustainability and passion is possible, but for me, it wasn’t the right time,” she said. Canton noted Healdsburg’s Second Story at Little Saint, an entirely vegan restaurant helmed by Chef Stu Stalker of the acclaimed Noma restaurant in Denmark.

Like many restaurateurs, she faced ongoing increases in raw materials and slower summer business this year, something that’s been a common complaint in the industry.

“Many companies looked at their performance from (2022) in a year that was above average, and that was an anomaly,” said Tim Zahner, executive director of the Sonoma Valley Visitors Bureau. Though he couldn’t speak directly to Canton’s closure, he said that many in the hospitality industry faced an economically challenging summer after pent-up demand for travel and tourism to Sonoma County last year boosted the economy.

Other Sonoma County restaurants that have closed in 2023 include Tips Roadside in Kenwood, Sebastopol’s Flavor Bistro, Seafood & Eat in Windsor, Down to Earth Cafe in Cotati, Bodega Bay’s Lucas Wharf, Toad in the Hole in Santa Rosa and Amy’s Wicked Slush in Healdsburg.

“Even though we can’t make it financially, I am gratified that we were loved,” Canton said. The cafe will close permanently on Sept. 29.

Correction: A previous version of this article said that Magdelena’s Savories and Sweets in Petaluma is the only exclusively plant-based bakery in Sonoma County. Muir’s Tea Room in Sebastopol also offers plant-based baked goods and multiple bakeries throughout the county sell both conventional and plant-based food.