On a vibrant afternoon in Brooklyn Heights, stepping into NSV Creative Caribbean Kitchen feels less like walking into a restaurant and more like being welcomed home for a family celebration. The energy is magnetic, the cocktails are stunning, and the food proves that plant-based dining never has to compromise on flavor.
During a recent mommy-and-daughter brunch date, the newly unveiled Vegan Brunch Tower served as the ultimate showstopper. Featuring a decadent truffle mac ’n’ cheese sandwich topped with crispy fried onions on a flaky bun, crispy fried oyster mushrooms, savory mofongitos, and a sweet-and-savory array of Caribbean-inspired bites, the multi-tiered spread instantly elevates the weekend dining experience.
Following the meal, The Source sat down with founder Blenlly Mena to discuss the journey of building NSV, preserving heritage through plant-based sazón, expanding with her partner Javier Saba, and evolving from a humble Bronx meal-prep operation into a premier New York culinary destination.
An Experience Built for Celebration
The launch of the multi-tiered brunch tower represents a deliberate effort to turn weekend dining into a shared event.
“The brunch tower really came from wanting brunch at NSV to feel like more than just sitting down and ordering a plate. I wanted it to feel like an experience—something that arrives at the table and immediately makes everybody smile, take their phones out, and say, ‘Okay, this is special.’
When we selected the food, we wanted that balance between sweet, savory, traditional Caribbean flavors and some of the creativity people expect from NSV. We’re not trying to recreate a traditional American brunch and just make it vegan. We want you to look at that tower and know that you’re having brunch at NSV Creative Caribbean Kitchen.”
— Blenlly Mena
Preserving Sazón in Plant-Based Cooking
For Mena, transitioning to a plant-based lifestyle in no way meant turning her back on her Dominican heritage. The core identity of NSV is rooted in the belief that iconic dishes like mofongo, sancocho, and chimi can be reimagined without losing the nostalgic flavors that define them.
“This is probably one of the most important things to me because I always say that being plant-based should never mean giving up your culture. When I transitioned to eating plant-based food only, I didn’t suddenly stop being Dominican. I still wanted mofongo, sancocho, and chimi. I wanted the garlic, the oregano, the sofrito, the sazón, the textures, and even the feeling those dishes gave me growing up.
When we develop something at NSV, we don’t start by asking, ‘How do we make a vegan version of this?’ We start by asking, ‘What makes this dish taste and feel like the dish we would all remember?’ Then we build from there. The plant-based protein is only one component. The soul comes from the seasonings, the technique, the sauces, and understanding why that food is meaningful in the first place.”
— Blenlly Mena
From South Korea to the Bronx: The Genesis of NSV
The origin of NSV dates back to 2016, when Mena was living in South Korea. Immersed in a vastly different food culture, her perspective on cooking expanded, laying the foundation for her entrepreneurial drive.
Upon returning to New York in 2017, she launched Next Stop Vegan as a modest meal-prep business in the Bronx. Word-of-mouth support from the local community fueled rapid growth, leading to the opening of a brick-and-mortar location in Washington Heights in 2021, followed by their flagship Brooklyn Heights location in 2022.
“South Korea completely opened my mind… Living abroad forces you to become creative. You don’t always have access to the ingredients you’re used to, so you adapt. Today, as a team, we look at Dominican dishes and respect everything that makes them Dominican, while still asking, ‘What else is possible here?'”
— Blenlly Mena
The Evolution into NSV Creative Caribbean Kitchen
This year, Next Stop Vegan officially rebranded to NSV Creative Caribbean Kitchen, reflecting an expanded culinary repertoire that reaches far beyond a single diet label.
“The name change represents growth. When we started as Next Stop Vegan, the name made perfect sense… But over the years, our cooking developed into something much bigger and much more specific. We became a creative Caribbean kitchen. People weren’t only coming because the food was vegan anymore. They were coming for our mofongo, our chimi, our sancocho, our brunch, our cocktails, our energy, and the experience. NSV allows us to honor where we came from without putting a ceiling on where we can go.”
— Blenlly Mena
Powering the Business with Co-Owner Javier Saba
The brand’s evolution gained further momentum when Javier Saba joined Mena as co-owner. Combining Saba’s background in operations, sales, and recipe development with Mena’s brand vision and community connection transformed NSV into a powerhouse operation.
Together, the life and business partners have pushed culinary boundaries, collaborating with their executive chef to develop plant-based interpretations of complex dishes such as seafood boils, lamb chops, and whole roasted holiday proteins.
Beyond NSV, the duo also launched SOTTE in Greenpoint, Brooklyn—a concept designed to bridge pescatarian and plant-based lifestyles at a single, inclusive table.
Looking Toward an International Future
With a growing community of multi-generational families frequenting their Brooklyn restaurant, NSV is preparing for its next phase of expansion, which includes international activations in the Dominican Republic, cultural collaborations, and expanded menu concepts.
“When I think about the fact that this started with meal prep in the Bronx in 2017 and now people travel to Brooklyn to experience our food, it’s emotional… We’re starting to think internationally as well. The Dominican Republic is obviously very personal to us, so we’re building there—not only experiences, but a brand and a name as well.
Regardless of how large NSV becomes, we would never want to lose the thing that got us here: making food with culture, creativity, sazón, and a lot of love—and giving people an experience they remember.”
— Blenlly Mena