It was a quiet Wednesday afternoon at Ras Plant Based’s new location on Sullivan and Bleecker, and despite the kind of dripping late-July weather that puts the city on standstill, Ras had an energy that prefaced how the food would taste. Ethiopian-inspired graffiti, painted by James Mong, electrified the walls. A field of philodendrons dangled from the ceiling, and lush living vines cradled corner high-tops by the bar. The dishes were a remix of traditional Ethiopian platters and innovative spins. None of them contained meat, but all of them had heart.

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Romeo and Milka Regalli opened the restaurant just a few weeks earlier, on June 15, as NYU students went home for the summer and West Villagers headed to the Hamptons and other coastal escapes. The newly-opened second location is the husband-and-wife duo’s first Manhattan outpost; the original is in Crown Heights.

Despite the well-executed, plants-only menu, Romeo Regalli wasn’t always devoted to vegetarianism. Growing up in the capital of Ethiopia until a move in his teens to Paris, and later New York, it was typical to enjoy traditional dishes like Minchet-Abish Alicha, a ground beef stew, and the richly spiced chicken stew, Doro wat. And though the James Beard Award Best Chef finalist lived in New York through the ever-evolving fascination in the 2010s with farm-forward fare, his mastery of plant-based cooking came from something much purer: love.

Of course, Regalli, like many great chefs, always possessed a love for food—pouring creativity and Ethiopian spices into his exploration of new plates. But this journey was ignited by the kind of love that emerges like an indescribable force when a family member is faced with death.

In 2017, a year after Regalli married his wife and business partner, Milka, in a ceremony in Saint Lucia, his father fell ill. Months of doctor visits resulted in a terminal pancreatic........

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