Meatballs. Chicken parm. All the creamy carbs.

Italian food doesn’t easily translate to vegan preparations, except in Tracey Alexander’s kitchen. The Connecticut transplant made the plant-based switch out of necessity. Tracey Alexander pulls out a lasagna she made earlier in the morning to pass out samples at Three Girls on Spring, July 10, 2024, in Charleston.

In 2011, Alexander’s mother, Theresa, was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer and given months to live. After researching the benefits of integrating whole foods with minimal processing and less sugar for cancer patients, they both decided to adopt a vegan diet. Others in the Alexander family, including her two adult daughters, Brittany Guerra and Taylor Pitts, did the same.

This was particularly challenging for a family of Italians. Alexander, a home cook who worked in the health care technology industry, and her daughters got to work. They developed 800 recipes under Theresa's watchful eye and critical palate.

Many are on the menu at Three Girls on Spring , a plant-based eatery that opened earlier this year at 121 Spring St. in downtown Charleston. A Bellissimo sandwich is made for a customer at Three Girls on Spring, July 10, 2024, in Charleston.

Googling the small salubrious restaurant, whose space has housed coffee shops and an art gallery, takes you to a landing page of decadent-looking sandwiches under the header “Italian restaurant.” The mother-and-daughter team isn’t shying away from their plant-based le.