Vegan and vegetarian groups take issue with lack of plant-based dishes on MasterChef:The Professionals 2021
Veganuary 2022: Top restaurants serving plant-based menus across the UK and beyond
Daniel Humm to close Claridge's restaurant as hotel rejects plans to switch to a full-vegan menu
'I wrote a book about veganism because I was p***ed off that people don't understand the link between India and plant-based food'
Veganism has taken the UK by storm. Looking back ten years, it was hard to find vegan substitutes and very few places served many if any plant-based food.
Nowadays, it seems like being vegan is all about the meat substitutes and fast-food. But rest assured: we have located the restaurants serving plant-based meals even the most puritanical among us can approve of.
Vegan is going fine dining
While there are fast food places that are getting involved: there's Burger King and its vegan nuggets, Wagamama's so-called vegan fish & chips, McDonald's McPlant Burger; there has also been a plant-based movement in fine dining. Here are some notable mentions.
Vegan, Vegetarian and Plant-based Menus:
While the diversity of vegan produce in supermarkets has grown, the expansion of the vegan movement has led to several plant-based fine dining restaurants opening, or restaurants formerly serving meat changing their offering.
Gauthier Soho
Gauthier Soho, led by chef Alexis Gauthier, became fully vegan in 2021, and as a result it lost a number of customers, but subsequently gained even more diners looking for something different and sustainable and prepared to pay the price.
Eleven Madison Park, New York
Daniel Humm's three Michelin-starred New York restaurant made headlines when it announced that after the long lockdown, it would be returning without any meat or seafood on its menu.
Not entirely devoid of animal products, the menu is mainly-plant-based, but for the odd touch of milk and honey served with tea and coffee.
However, it hasn't been all plane sailing for Daniel Humm, as across the pond he was forced to part ways with five-star hotel Claridge's after it rejected his vision to relaunch Davies & Brook with a fully plant-based menu.
Pollen Street Social, London
Gaining its Michelin star only six months after it originally opened, in April 2011, Pollen Street Social earned the much-coveted 5 AA Rosettes in 2020.
Still, the restaurant states ‘We’re only as good as our ingredients’ on its website, and lives by that mantra.
The restaurant's vegan menu was introduced in 2017 due to popular demand, as Jason Atherton explained to The Times: “We spent some time developing it. I’m not going to lie and say we did it because we were super-ethical or whatever — we did it because the demand was there and it became a runaway success.”
Priced at £65 a head for four courses, the menu features dishes such as braised Linconshire broccoli stem, herritage carrot tart and artichoke barigoule.
Simpsons, Birmingham
An informal restaurant focusing on seasonal produce offering a vegan sample menu, Simpsons has had a Michelin star since 2000. With accomplished chef director Luke Tipping and head chef Leo Kattou at the helm, the restaurant is loved by locals and far-travelling visitors alike.
A sample vegan dinner tasting menu starts at £95 per person, with dishes such as potato risotto, sorrel, and beetroot served with sunflower seeds.
The Allotment, Stockport
This restaurant, spearheaded by chef Adam Leavy, is 100 percent vegan, serving local, sustainably-sourced produce.
Menus are updated often depending on the season, with popular dishes including cauliflower wings, miso maple mushrooms and jackfruit tacos, The Allotment is open Monday to Saturday from 12pm - 9pm and on Sunday from 12pm to 6pm.
Adesse, London
Adesse, open as of January 12th 2022, is the creation of plant-based pioneer, American chef Mathew Kenney.
The restaurant, located on the second floor of Selfridges in London, focuses on seasonal produce and the chef's plant-based creations, with dishes such as kelp noodle caccio e pepe, beetroot carpaccio, and jackfruit “crab cakes."
The Art School, Liverpool
The Art School in Liverpool offers a vegan tasting menu by chef patron Paul Askew, starting at £95 plus an optional £55 wine flight, featuring dishes such as confit carrot with pomegranate, carrot gazpacho, carrot & orange cake & saffron pickled carrots and mouth-watering desserts like rum poached pineapple with Guanaja dark chocolate ganache, passion fruit sorbet & a hint of chilli.
Terre à Terre, Brighton
Open since 1993, Terre à Terre in Brighton set out with a mission to create a platform for their innovative ideas where they could push the boundaries of traditional cuisine while adhering to their beliefs in meat-free cooking.
Its ethos has earned it some positive indictments, with Huffington Post blogger Beth Brookfield calling it "a wonderful restaurant" from which other vegetarian outposts could learn a lot, and earning a spot in the Michelin Guide, describing it as having an "appealing menu of generous, tasty, original vegetarian dishes which include items from Japan, China and South America."
Belmond Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons, Oxford
Keeping hold of two Michelin stars for 35 years, this restaurant is helmed by much-adored chef Raymond Blanc. While this restaurant isn't entirely vegan, Raymond is often heard professing his deep love for vegetables, and the restaurant offers seven-course vegetarian and vegan tasting menus priced at £175 for lunch and £194 for dinner.
Gidleigh Park, Chagford
One Michelin-starred Gidleigh Park has menus dedicated to the finest seasonal ingredients. As well as its internationally-renowned wine cellar and traditional à la carte menu, a set vegan menu is available on request, priced at £125 per guest.
Vegan, Vegetarian and Plant-based menu items:
Yard Sale Pizza
For Veganuary, Yard Sale pizza has teamed up with Halo Burger to create a plant-based pizza. The pizza shop, established by Nick Buckland, Johnnie Tate, and Dan Spinney, is launching a vegan cheeseburger pizza in partnership with Halo Burger.
Additionally, as part of their Stuffed Crust Mondays, Yard Sale Pizza will be launching a very special vegan stuffed crust Margherita for January only.
LE BAB x MANILIFE
The modern kebab house, Le Bab, and award-winning peanut butter brand, ManiLife, have joined forces for Veganuary to create a three-course vegan menu. This menu will only be available for January, but has given both brands inspiration to re-imagine traditional flavours and dishes.
The menu consists of roasted tenderstem broccoli florets dressed with chilli and peanut butter tahini for £.6.50, a deep roast peanut butter satay aubergine pitta for £9.50 and a chocolate brownie dipped in peanut butter and coconut cream, also priced at £6.50.
La Poule au Pot
To celebrate Veganuary, Belgravia-based La Poule Au Pot has added a vegan main course to its menu for the first time since it opened in the 1960s.
The French restaurant will, for the foreseeable future, feature a vegan cassoulet, a traditional French slow-cooked casserole stew from the south of France made with vegan sausages.
The restaurant's menu also includes other vegan dishes such as the soup of the day, the ratatouille, served warm or cold and the selection of sorbets for dessert.
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Veganuary 2022: Top restaurants serving plant-based menus across the UK and beyond
Vegan and vegetarian groups take issue with lack of plant-based dishes on MasterChef:The Professionals 2021
Daniel Humm to close Claridge's restaurant as hotel rejects plans to switch to a full-vegan menu
'I wrote a book about veganism because I was p***ed off that people don't understand the link between India and plant-based food'
