Top city restaurant embraces the vegan revolution
ONE of Birmingham’s best restaurants is opening a vegan cookery school – for one day only.
Michelin-starred Simpsons restaurant will run the class on World Vegan Day – Friday, November 1 – priced at £150 per person.
Attendees will prepare the different elements of a three-course lunch, under the guidance of Simpsons’ executive chef, Luke Tipping. The price includes a welcome pack featuring recipes for all the dishes cooked, refreshments including a glass of vegan sparkling wine and a prepared three-course lunch.
The demand for plant-based eating has soared in recent years, with many Birmingham restaurants introducing specialist vegan menus.
As well as its fine-dining credentials, Simpsons has established itself as one of the world’s best restaurants for vegan food.
Last year, the Edgbaston restaurant was named in a PETA (The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Foundation) list of ten best restaurants for vegan fine dining.
Simpsons already runs a cookery school from its Highfield Road premises. The Eureka Kitchen cookery school runs on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Mr Tipping said: “Whether you are vegan, want to impress vegan friends or simply want to cut down on meat in your diet, the course will provide you with some fantastic dishes and give you plenty of tips to expand your plant-based repertoire.”
He added: “Whilst we are nowhere near becoming a vegan restaurant, an increase in people ordering vegetarian and vegan menu options has led us to develop more dishes.
“The vegan menu was a result of us seeing more vegetarians and vegans dining with us and the fact that more people are choosing to cut down on their meat intake for health or ethical reasons.
“We’ve definitely seen a change in perception in that even our meat-eating diners are choosing more plant-based options because they sound interesting and they want to try something new.
“That said, it’s down to us chefs to make these dishes appealing and I feel we’ve succeeded in that, to the point that we now have the confidence to replace meat and seafood dishes with vegan and vegetarian options on the tasting menu.’’