FUTURE PROOF

Plant-based eating in Australia is growing from the ground up, says Shannon Harley.

IT WAS LONDON-BASED Israeli chef Yotam Ottolenghi who awakened us to the idea that vegetables could be the hero, using meat, if at all, as a seasoning. Ten years on from his first cookbook, plant-based dining has hit the fast lane, from LA to London and even here in steak-loving ‘Straya (the latest figures show the number of vegetarians Down Under has risen from 1.7 million to almost 2.1 million).

Health is a key driver, along with a growing realisation of provenance and the toll of animal farming. “There’s been a shift in perceptions about sustainability. People are more aware of the importance of local products and a balanced diet,” says Sydney chef Brent Savage, who removed meat from his menu at Yellow in 2016. Michelin-starred French chef Alain Passard says there is a third dimension to the story. When he took meat off his menu at his Paris restaurant, L’Arpège, in 2001, he says the decision went beyond a reaction to mad cow disease in Europe: “There is a creativity with vegetables that you don’t have with animal tissue.”

The growing number of plant-based options reflects a new balance of power on the plate (‘three veg and perhaps meat’, a la Ottolenghi). Melbourne’s Transformer is one of the city’s hottest smart-casual venues, and is plant-based; Adelaide’s Two-Bit Villains has convincing alt-meat burgers; and Tasmania’s Veg Bar does renditions of classic comfort food. In Sydney, the newly opened Alibi has been inspired by the green wave.

Plant-based recipes are blooming in the glass, too, from the beetroot and tequila number at Sydney’s Bar Patrón by Rockpool, to the use of aquafaba (vegan eggwhite) at Melbourne’s Polly Bar.