Sharing the Luhv with Reading Terminal

Luhv Deli has now opened up in Readings Terminal Market bigger and better than ever. Serving the classic sandwiches, salads and soups that the family has been selling as Luhv Bistro in Hatboro PA, the ‘Luhv’ has finally made its way to the city of Philadelphia. After making a name for themselves within the suburban community, offering healthy, vegan meals, they expanded to a small pop-up deli on 11th and Race. Home prep meals being their specialty, their tubs of mock tuna and a variety of soups, Luhv Deli was the first to present an exclusively vegan menu to Readings Terminal. I met one of the friendly co-owners of the family owned business, Facundo Lucci, while roaming the busy aisles of the food court. He extended a warm invitation with free samples and told me about how the business started back in his hometown.

Facundo told me that the struggles his family went through is the where all their ‘Luhv’ came from. His parents emigrated to the United States from Argentina. This is the second business they have attempted to create on their own since arriving to America. Their motivation stems from a vision of a healthier and more well-rounded sense of family and ultimately, a community that supports one another. His parents and 3 siblings wanted to do something good for the world, themselves, and their people. There they saw that veganism was the only option. They all share their business, like their veganism. Supporting each other in the local farmers markets, their family built business, and now with their expansion into the city of Philadelphia, they all step up whenever and wherever help is needed.

I asked Facundo about when he decided to commit to the lifestyle his business supports and he expressed great influence from seeing how well it had been working for his father and his mother. After quitting cold turkey, he quickly learned the benefits of eating well. In fact, he spoke about how addicting the feeling of doing good for not only himself, but also his community is and how there is no going back for him. He has received heaps of support from the amazing people he meets in Readings Terminal and quickly was given the space to create a real plant based bistro after only spending 7 months as a convenience deli. What he thought would be a cut throat environment (to my surprise as well) turned out to be a real close knit piece of the public. He pursues his business alongside many other hard working tradesmen and tradeswomen that offer a variety of vegan, vegetarian, and other simmering arts.

Facundo disclosed to me that there will be a secret menu with a collection of yummy meals at the new Luhv Bistro location in Reading Terminal Market. Future dreams of ways Luhv will prioritize a healthy environment, like electric cars for transporting their locally attained produce and solar panels for their manufacturing plants were also brought to light, on top of their sustainable outlook on the business world. As if it wasn’t enough collecting all scraps for a special vegetable stock sold only at the Luhv Bistro and assuring all their trash is compostable so that nothing is ever wasted, to the best of their ability.

All in all, my experience with Luhv has been so lovely. Their mok tuna salad is one of my favorite dishes as an artist and college student and I drop by often just to catch up with my pleasant friend Facundo. Everyone get ready for September 9th though! The new bistro will be having its GRAND OPENING! Follow @LuhvFood on Instagram for more information, future updates and topnotch ‘Luhv’ puns.