Meatless Manifesto
Chefs follow the seasons and shoot for bold flavors to score with all diners, vegetarian and otherwise
By Laura Yee, Special to R&I -- Restaurants & Institutions, 9/15/2004
Chef Frank Belosic covets a juicy, charred steak as much as the next meat-loving American but occasionally he consciously refrains from eating meat.
“We’re seeing a trend of people eating lighter and eating more vegetables but like me, they’re not vegetarians. It’s just a way of adding balance in their life and being healthy,” says Belosic, chef at Fahrenheit Restaurant in The Ritz-Carlton, Georgetown, in Washington, D.C.
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Belosic is among a growing group of diners who suspend their carnivorous ways for a day or simply a meal. A 1999 survey conducted for the Baltimore-based Vegetarian Resource Group found that while only 5.5% of adults say they always order meatless entrées when dining out, 40.8% say they do so occasionally while 11.7% often do. Judging by the number of meatless options on foodservice menus, the trend to occasional vegetarianism has not abated. Long gone are the days when meat-shunning diners were an afterthought.
“You have to have choices,” says Karen Guido, vice president of marketing for the Wheat Ridge, Colo.-based Qdoba Mexican Grill quick-casual restaurants. “Everyone’s diet plan is so individual and it can change from meal to meal.”
Chefs say many factors are at work. Availability of and familiarity with ingredients, creative preparation techniques, interest in ethnic fare and the pursuit of healthier lifestyles all play roles.
Seasonal Effects
From independent haute cuisine to college campus kiosks, seasonality
is a major influence on meatless creations, with seasonal produce
standard menu components rather than afterthoughts.
“You can’t go wrong when you are using the best tomatoes of the year or all kinds of great-tasting mushrooms,” says Edward Lee, executive chef of 610 Magnolia in Louisville, Ky. “The prices are at their best, too, when the ingredients are in season.”
As chefs embrace freshly harvested produce, they find in it inspiration to take vegetables beyond side dishes or plate components. Chef Shawn McClain crafts a mostly vegetarian menu at his latest venture, Green Zebra in Chicago. Only a small number of entrées are animal based, a digression that gives guests choices, he says. Artfully combining flavors and selecting preparation methods that maximize flavor are important to his approach, but he knows that a dish cannot hit high notes without top ingredients, including produce at its peak.
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The menu changes weekly, with selections playing to seasons. For fall, McClain envisions dishes such as shiitake mushrooms rolled in thin layers of potato, slowly roasted, sliced like a sushi roll, laid over savoy cabbage and garnished with fresh herbs and mushroom foam.
Pro Choice
Chefs agree that the availability of ingredients has greatly
influenced quality and creativity of meatless dishes. “Ten,
20, even five years ago, you couldn’t get what we can get now,” says Belosic. “It’s not just button mushrooms
anymore: You’ve got many to choose from, which means you
can shoot for many different flavors.”
The National Association of College and University Food Services, based in East Lansing, Mich., estimates that 10% to 15% of college students are vegetarian, and that a greater portion of student bodies regularly opt to go meatless. Because ethnic foods are popular, vegetarian items are woven into dining concepts—whether Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Mexican or Asian—so that students can choose meat or meatless dishes whenever they want.
“You certainly have the students who are strict vegetarians, but you have far more students who want healthy options,” says Ken Toong, foodservice director at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. “When you have so many great ethnic ingredients to choose from, you have many ways to satisfy your customers.”
Prepared condiments—including sambals (Indonesian chile-based relish), chile sauce and black-bean sauce—give zip to Toong’s Noodle Bowl concept. The menu board lists many nonmeat dishes, soups and stir-fries. Curries, fish sauce, lemongrass and wasabi are also in the seasoning arsenal for building boldly flavored meatless dishes.
At Bomboa in Boston, ethnic ingredients are the spurs for Chef-partner Felino Samson’s nonmeat dishes such as shiitake gyoza with miso-braised turnips, edamame and truffled soy dashi (Japanese soup stock). In Hollywood, Calif., Chef Jason Cline at Cuban restaurant Paladar serves Plato Sin Carne (dish without meat). It features grilled peppers, zucchini, chayote squash, asparagus, plantains, yellow rice and red beans. There’s also a tapas-style dish of grilled corn with cotija cheese and chipotle chiles.
Advanced Placements
As cooking styles have evolved, so have meatless dishes. Not
long ago, the most common way to meet vegetarian requests was
simply to substitute tofu or wheat meat for animal proteins.
While that may be satisfying, combining cooking techniques and
extracting the flavor in nontraditional guises takes nonmeat
dishes to another level.
Chef-owner Hubert Keller of Fleur de Lys in San Francisco stuffs Japanese eggplant with Sardinian couscous and beluga lentils that have been peppered with sautéed onions, carrots, celery, dried currants and basil. The eggplant is roasted and placed on a bed of piperade made with yellow, red and orange bell peppers. Piquillo-pepper jus—sautéed sweet Spanish red peppers, onion, garlic and basil that then is puréed—is spooned around the dish. A garnish of baby artichokes and cherry tomatoes completes the presentation.
“It’s very satisfying because you have elements working with and for each other,” Keller says. “There are contrasting flavors and textures as well as good balance. I don’t think I am eating a vegetarian dish. I think I am eating a good dish.”
James Gottwald, chef at Rockit Bar & Grill in Chicago, takes a similar approach in building flavors. One proven technique is grilling, especially in summer, bringing smoky, charred nuances to vegetables. In autumn, grilling gives way to roasting, a process that coaxes extra sweetness and depth from root vegetables. Even snowy weather, the dry season for fresh produce, has its charms.
“In winter, I think of stews and cassoulets, which can be prepared with vegetables,” he says. “You’re basically braising and mingling flavors.”
Contrasting and layering flavors take on greater importance in meatless dishes, says Champe Speidel at Gracie’s in Providence, R.I. “You don’t have the marbling of meat and all the other attributes that give heft so you’ve got to make up for it somehow,” he says.
For example, Speidel roasts red and yellow beets and matches their sweetness with the crunch of toasted hazelnuts, then accents the mouth feel using oil infused with honey. Micro-arugula adds a small bite while pickled celery cuts the sweetness.
Healthy Kick
In the last few years, Belosic has catered to his share of low-carbohydrate
devotees, serving them the usual large portions of meat. While
he believes such diets will fade, he sees them presaging longer-lasting
eating trends.
“The Atkins, South Beach and other diets are short-term fixes,” he says. A longer-term answer to nutritionally ballanced dining, Belosic says, is the “Georgetown Method,” specials he has created for health-conscious diners. The selections will be a part of the regular menu and will include nonmeat options such as asparagus risotto with black truffles or pasta arrabiata.
“We want to give healthy choices that taste great and can be enjoyed as much as a great steak with béarnaise sauce.”
Ryan Hardy, chef at The Coach House on Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., says his ravioli stuffed with house-made goat cheese and spinach, and house-made tagliatelle pasta with roasted figs and shaved sheep’s milk cheese, red chile and mint have proven to be the biggest meatless successes with guests.
“You have to prepare food that sounds interesting and tastes even better, whether it has meat or not,” he says. “There’s just too much competition out there to be bland.”
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Crispy Yucca Tacos
Executive Chef Ryan Brown,
Sol Kitchen, Delray Beach, Fla.
Yield: 6 servings
| Garlic, minced | 1 Tbsp. |
| Olive oil | 1/4 cup |
| Ground cumin | 1 tsp. |
| Fresh lime juice | 2 Tbsp |
| Napa cabbage, shredded | 1 cup |
| Radicchio, shredded | 1/2 cup |
| Red onion, shaved | 1/2 |
| Grape tomatoes, halved | 12 |
| Chives, snipped | 1/4 cup |
| Cilantro sprigs | 12 |
| Canola oil | as needed |
| Yucca, peeled, cooked, diced | 1 lb. |
| Salt and pepper | to taste |
| Flour or corn tortillas | 6 |
| Guacamole | 1/2 cup |
| Lime wedges | garnish |
- Cook garlic in olive oil; add cumin and lime juice. Toss with cabbage, radicchio, onion, tomatoes, chives and cilantro; set aside.
- Heat canola oil to 350F; deep-fry yucca until golden brown. Season with salt and pepper.
- Grill tortillas until warm; spread lightly with guacamole then add yucca.
- Top with cabbage mixture; serve with lime wedges.
Brawny and Bold
When meat is taken out of the mix, a stand-in
may be necessary. Cheese and avocados figure prominently because
of their richness and fat. Eggs and nuts add substance as well.
For example, turn roasted almonds into nut butter and toss it
with warm green beans and spices.
Purée of dried fava beans with
fennel salad, pecorino cheese and rosemary croccantini (crispy
crackers)
A 16, San Francisco
Soft ricotta gnocchi with creamed
sweet corn, sautéed
wood ear mushrooms and baby
mizuna
Aureole, New York City
Broccoli and sun-dried tomato fusilli
with fresh thyme and Parmesan cheese
California Pizza Kitchen, multiple
locations
Savory vegetable tart with artichokes,
baby beets, quenelle of goat cheese and greens
Gary Danko, San Francisco
Garden veggie sandwich on ciabatta (spicy
sweet peppers, Gorgonzola, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions and
creamy cucumber sauce)
Panera Bread, multiple locations
Roasted-leek flan with asparagus in a
ramp-and-truffle sauce
Rover’s, Seattle
Meatless Makeover
For the past five years, Qdoba Mexican Grill
has offered a signature grilled veggie burrito (right), with
marinated and grilled zucchini, eggplant, red bell peppers and
green onions wrapped in a flour tortilla.
But the Wheat Ridge, Colo.-based chain plans to roll out a revamped version. “We can make some alterations and make it better,” says Karen Guido, vice president of marketing.
Eggplant, Guido says, is either loved or loathed, so the mix of vegetables likely will change. The chain also is seeking a bolder flavor profile in part because the marinade does not penetrate the vegetables as much as it should. A different mix of spices may be employed.
“We want it to taste the best it can be and appeal to all audiences,” Guido says.
Varieties of Vegetarianism
Nonmeat-eaters classify themselves in different ways, according
to the Baltimore-based Vegetarian Resource Group.
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