VERY (VERY) GOOD VEGAN

The days of the etiolated tofu burger are — mostly — gone. The vegan revolution, despite its egalitarian roots, is moving into white tablecloth territory. Plant-based finedining establishments are blossoming worldwide, proving that removing ingredients from menus doesn’t have to result in a lack of flavour or flair; less is definitely more.

Case in point: California’s Cafe Gratitude franchise, where highlights include the Raw Zucchini Cilantro Hummus and Pulled Mushroom Sandwich, is growing a healthy number of restaurants in the Golden State’s fancier zip codes.

Out east in Toronto, an entire district has been renamed Vegandale due to its crop of clean green restaurants. Try Planta, in Yorkville, for elegant ‘crab’ cake and retro-tropical decor (read more in our feature on p.150).

Meanwhile, on home turf, Michelinstarred restaurants worth their saltbaked celeriac are perfecting plantbased tasting menus. At London’s Gauthier Soho, French chef and vegan convert Alexis Gauthier has a modern vegan tasting menu and intends to be fully vegan by 2020. Even that bastion of classical dining, The Ritz London, is offering special menus that include a chestnut risotto with toasted yeast and romanesco, and a pithivier of celeriac with truffle and hazelnut. And if you don’t know what a pithivier is, then it’s back to tofu for you. cafegratitude.com gauthiersoho.co.uk theritzlondon.com plantarestaurants.com SB

FROM LEFT: I Am Transformed, Cafe Gratitude; climbing a giant sequoia, California