Loop’s Native Foods Changes Ownership As Former Employee Takes Over
LOOP — Life has been a journey of faith for Dame Dia.
From leaving his home country of Senegal to start a new life in the United States and moving halfway across the country to start anew in Chicago, Dia moves with confidence that the universe will provide.
As Dia settles into his new role as owner of Native Foods, 218 S. Clark St., he’s hoping the universe will continue to have his back in his first foray into entrepreneurship.
Dia is one of three Native Foods employees who accepted an offer from CEO Daniel Dolan to take the reins of the Clark Street location, which has operated in the Loop for the past 10 years. It is the lone Native Foods outpost in the city after locations in Hyde Park and the West Loop were shut down.
“When I told my wife about the opportunity, she said, ‘You act like the boss anyway, so you might as well take it,’” said Dia, who spent several years as general manager of a half-dozen restaurants at JFK Airport.
She wasn’t wrong. Dia had worked his way up from dishwasher to district manager for Native Foods, a vegan restaurant chain which at its peak operated 26 locations across the country. Dia would stay after hours to help co-workers and come in on his days off to make sure the store was in good shape, he said. He would make sure to remember names, faces and orders. It was more than a job; it was home.
OnjaLee LaShay, Dia’s wife of five years, recalls the long hours her husband would put in, awestruck by his commitment and determination, though she’d seen it time and again during their years together. Dia handled temperamental customers with the same acuity he’d use to balance the books, LaShay said: He made it look effortless.
“This is the only business that he was a part of where he felt like it was our family, our people. Everywhere you went, it was like he was the star of the show,” said LaShay, who met Dia when she was a flight attendant. “I’d seen him in other places. He wasn’t happy. His soul wasn’t fulfilled.
“When he was here, his personality was lit up because he was in his element. So [ownership] made sense.”
Taking over the restaurant also meant Dia would be able to keep intact his staff of 10, some of whom trained him when he started at Native Foods. In an industry notorious for high turnover, Dia had managed to build a committed team.
Sylvia Moneyin had been working with Dia for nearly three years when she and her co-workers got word the company was shutting down the majority of its restaurants. The DePaul University grad met Dia when they worked at now-closed Hyde Park eatery Red Fish, Bleu Fish. She’d been looking for a job when Dia offered her one at Native Foods.
“Everyone’s super nice and understanding. We all work together like a family. If you need help with something, somebody will pitch in and take over a shift if necessary. If you have an emergency, [Dia] understands. It’s just very calm. Peaceful,” said Moneyin, who’s heading back to school to pursue a nursing degree.
It’s that familial feeling that keeps customers coming back, too. After doing an impromptu survey of couples sharing a meal in the dining room, LaShay launched #VeganLoveStory2024, a social media campaign to get people talking about their stories of love, compassion and transformation, all tied to their vegan journey and experiences.
“One was part of a couple and he’s been coming here since two months after this location opened. They live in Uptown and they’re always coming to this location every time they’re Downtown,” LaShay said. “So they told this amazing love story, one about their story together but also how this place has been so sentimental for them. It made me go talk to the other people in the room to ask, and there were two other couples who had very great stories to tell.”
Participants can share their stories on Instagram using photos, videos, or narratives while tagging @nativefoodscafe and using any of the following hashtags: #VeganLoveStory, #VeganLove2024 and #VeganLoveStory2024. Select stories will be featured on Native Foods’ Facebook and Instagram stories and reels.
Leaning into her marketing background has been a dream for LaShay, who gets to explore ideas for the restaurant dismissed by previous owners. She hopes to start hosting themed events such as open mics at Native Foods to draw in college students looking for something to do.
“It’s like, ‘I’ve got a new hat. I can do this now,'” LaShay said.
Native Foods is open 10:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Sundays.
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