Writing was on the wall
Shuttered: Vegan restaurant V Spot gets locked out of Henderson Avenue space
Owner Delia Pisarro claims she sold V Spot to buyers in Destin, Florida.
Lockout letter posted on V Spot's door.
V Spot Cafe, the vegan restaurant on Henderson Avenue, has been shut down by its landlord for nonpayment of rent to the tune of $56,686, with no plans for reopening on the horizon.
The management company posted a notice on V Spot's front door on the night of September 10, at the same time that owner Delia Pisarro insisted that she sold the restaurant to a buyer named Bill Vance.
"I sold it to Bill and Gloria Vance, from Destin, Florida," she said. "My mother has a place there."
Over the course of three days, Pisarro promised that she would share Vance's contact phone number, then claimed she had spoken to him and that he would call "tomorrow" and describe his plans for the restaurant. We sat by the phone and held our breath, but Mystery Man Vance never called. Fooled again!
V Spot opened in November 2011 as Dallas' first serious, high-end vegan restaurant, starring noted vegan chef Tori Villarreal, who'd worked at Spiral Diner. Featuring carefully constructed dishes such as tempura eggplant stacked over layers of rice and vegetables, it earned positive reviews and represented a culinary step up from Bliss, Pisarro's raw-themed restaurant in Preston Center. With virtually no competition, the restaurant enjoyed a brisk business and became a destination for out-of-towners and celebrities such as Sharon Stone.
But Pisarro and Villarreal had a falling out in the spring. In late August, Pisarro called to say that Villareal was no longer involved with the restaurant. Other V Spot staffers say that Villarreal was sick; she did not respond to calls. Pisarro, an enthusiastic meat eater, took control of the restaurant. She sold Bliss in Preston Center to former manager Paula Sepulvado and John Vandelicht, then took over its Facebook page and announced that Bliss had "moved" to Henderson Avenue.
On September 3, she commented on the Bliss page, "I sold Bliss and closed it down. ... I merged it with V Spot but as of a week ago sold it as well."
Sepulvado has since opened Be Raw Food and Juice in the Bliss space, serving vegan food, with no drama on the side.
