Oleum owner to take over former Simply Marie’s space in Canton for new restaurant

About a month ago, says Alisha Adibe, a group of tourists walked into her Fells Point restaurant. When they learned it was all vegan, they headed for the door. But Adibe made them a promise. “I was like, ‘Please stay, pick some things off the menu. If you don’t like them, I’ll pay for it.’”

They ended up loving everything they ate at Oleum Vegan Kitchen — and eventually told Adibe what brought them to Baltimore. They were cattle farmers in town for a conference.

Now, Adibe is preparing to open her second plant-based restaurant, which she hopes will appeal to diners of all persuasions, including vegetarians, pescatarians and meat-eaters — not just vegans. That’s crucial at a time when many other plant-based restaurants are struggling, closing or offering meat to stay in business.

After two years in Baltimore, Adibe is expanding to Canton, with a Mexican eatery in the former Simply Marie’s space at 3023 Elliott St. The restaurant will be called Dahlia Cocinita and is set to open in January or February of next year.

Diners can expect to see Adibe’s elevated, plant-based take on Mexican cuisine, with menu items that include “fish” tacos, churros with chocolate and even ceviche made with vegan shrimp and watermelon tuna.

It’s a cuisine Adibe said she frequently sees members of the local vegan community asking for online, particularly since the closure of Chihuahua Brothers Taqueria, a plant-based restaurant that shut down shortly after relocating to a bigger space in Mount Vernon — and adding meat to its menu.

“I was like, ‘I need to fill this void,’” Adibe said. She thinks of it as her way of giving back to the city that’s supported her restaurant for two years. But it’s not all altruistic: “I’m selfish too, so I want to eat the food.”

For Adibe, who became vegan eight years ago for health reasons, a plant-based diet is a way of life. While some vegan influencers have renounced their former ways, turning to meat, Adibe said, “I can’t even imagine eating an animal again.” But she’s not here to judge anyone else’s choices, even cattle farmers’. “If I can just get more people to eat a plant-based diet one day a week, we’re doing a huge service to the planet,” she said.

She founded Oleum, which means “oil” in Latin, as a ghost kitchen in Japan while she and her husband were living in Okinawa. Moving to Baltimore in 2024, she launched Oleum in the former Stratford University building, now home to a shared commissary space called La Chow. She later relocated to Harborplace before moving to Oleum’s current home in Fells Point, the former Bondhouse Kitchen.

In just two years, the restaurant has won praise near and far, with PETA naming its plant-based “steaks” as among the country’s best and ranking high on Yelp’s list of local vegan spots. But it’s not just vegans who love it, Adibe said. “We’re just creating a warm, welcoming environment that anyone can enjoy,” Adibe said.

Part of Oleum’s strength, thinks Adibe’s assistant Katie Smallwood, is that “we’re not just focused on having faux meat products.” Rather, the menu is structured around fresh ingredients and appropriate seasoning, with vegan meats as an optional add-on.

After building a successful restaurant in Fells, Adibe knew she wanted to branch out, this time with a smaller building in lieu of her more than 2,000-square-foot Fells Point restaurant, which is a “beast” to manage. “I believe in manifestation,” she said. After reaching out to multiple real estate agents and struggling to find the right space, she asked Oleum’s staff to “put some good juju out there” to help. That night, when she got home, she saw a post on Instagram that the owner of Simply Marie’s was retiring after 15 years.

The location was just right, a corner spot in a residential community. But the building is in rough shape. Adibe is working with a contractor on a full renovation to replace the floors and install central air conditioning as well as a new bathroom. A carryout window in the rear of the building will help facilitate takeout orders. Adibe plans to leave the facade green in homage to previous tenant Marie Branch.

“Marie was in this neighborhood for 15 years,” she said. “I don’t want to erase her.”

Adibe says she wants to take her time with the buildout, though. “I built Oleum too quickly,” Adibe said. “I didn’t know how popular we would become.”