By Annelise Kelly
A new era has dawned for plant-based eating. Whether it entails committing to an entirely vegan or vegetarian lifestyle, or simply depending less on meat at mealtimes, animal-free eating is on the rise in the United States and abroad.
International food and restaurant consultants Baum + Whiteman proclaim plant-based dining is “2018’s trend of the year” in their 2018 Food and Beverage Trend Report. They cite a 90 percent increase in vegan searches on Google in the past year. They also share statistics from research firm Global Data that the number of people in the United States identifying as vegans has soared 600 percent over the last three years, from 1 percent to 3 percent.
Consumers are choosing less meat and more plants for a variety of reasons. Eating lower on the food chain is more sustainable and consumes fewer resources; evidence suggests plant-based diets are healthier; and many people choose to minimize or eliminate animal products from their diets for ethical reasons.
Clearly, restaurants that fail to welcome vegan and vegetarian diners risk alienating customers and leaving money on the table. Latin establishments around the country are upping their offerings in plant-based categories because it’s good business. Even the most meat-centric Argentine steakhouse is recognizing they can’t afford to leave vegetarian or vegan customers unsatisfied.
THE LATIN CONNECTION
“La Cucina Povera” is an Italian expression meaning “the cooking of the poor,” which is one of the traditions informing many of the Latin cuisines served around the United States. A heritage of thrift and economy will inevitably generate culinary traditions that don’t emphasize meat. Consider dishes such as chiles rellenos, flautas de papa, and Peru’s causa, a cold layered dish of mashed potatoes with aji amarillo (orange chile pepper), which may be garnished with vegetables or eggs as well as meat or fish.
Some opportunities to make dishes meatless are obvious, simple and streamlined. Tacos, burritos and enchiladas are easily rendered meatfree or vegan by swapping out the fillings with straightforward substitutes like beans, tempeh or tofu.
Mexico has plenty of traditional meatless guisados (stew-like concoctions) such as those offered by Mi Mero Mole in Portland, Oregon. Their vegan guisados include hongos y papas en pasilla (mushrooms and potatoes in dark chile pasilla sauce) and calabaza en mole (butternut squash in chocolate mole). Vegetarians love the very traditional rajas con crema (roasted mild green chiles and onions in sour cream sauce). Tacos de nopales (cactus) are another simple traditional vegan dish.
Other chefs are radically re-inventing taco fillings. Chef Rick Lopez of La Condesa in Austin, Texas, roasts turnips and seasons them with an al pastor sauce and a topping of pineapple, onion, chiles, ginger and yuzu for a multi-cultural reinterpretation of tacos al pastor.
On menus at Latin restaurants throughout the United States, you’ll see plant-based options on the increase, from low-brow to high end.
VEGANOS
Veganos Kitchen launched in December 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada as a family project, with a simple taqueria-style selection. “We started with just 14 or 15 items, and we’ll be adding more,” says owner José Oros. “I test new ideas, offer samples to people, take their feedback, make changes. Once I feel comfortable, I’ll add it to the menu. We’re looking at adding fish tacos, chicken soup, enchiladas, maybe ceviche.” The Veganos menu is completely vegan, offering house-made mock meats in tacos, burritos, sopes and tortas. They craft their own al pastor and steak substitutes with wheat gluten, and chicken and chorizo from soy. “We could buy it but it’s expensive, so we make it ourselves,” Oros says. They also whip dairy-free sour cream out of tofu, and serve Daiya non-dairy cheese. Pozole, chilaquiles, and chile rellenos round out the dishes, which top out at $9.99.
“Vegan demand has been growing. In the future I think vegan restaurants will outnumber meat restaurants,” observes Oros. “Just in the last few months we’ve had about five vegan places opening in Vegas. A couple are Mexican, one is Chinese, one is American breakfast.”
TACO TUYO
Taco Tuyo in Santa Barbara, California, is another newly launched project that’s 100 percent vegan. Owner and chef Steven Sysum embraced a plant-based eating style almost ten years ago and opened the small takeout spot—billed as “Santa Barbara’s first plant-based Mexican restaurant”—in January 2018.
“Our restaurant exists to explore the vast creativity of Mexican gastronomy, featuring local Santa Barbara ingredients,” says Sysum. “Mexican food is naturally vegan friendly. It’s not hard to come up with a winning menu based on vegan ingredients and still stay true to Mexican cuisine.”
When considering what challenges an animal-free menu imposes, he says there are no creative challenges. “We’re always experimenting, we get a lot of positive feedback. The challenge is overcoming the preconception that vegan food is bland, that it’s not nutritious, that it relies on highly processed meat substitutes. We seek to satisfy vegans who want to take care of their health and omnivores who are skeptical that vegan food can be delicious.”
Sysum agrees that veganism is on the upswing. “Now vegan is more of a household term, people are less leery of it being a fringe diet. There’s more demand for vegan options at non-vegan restaurants, as well as more demand for vegan restaurants.”
Noting the greater sustainability of a vegan diet, his marketing efforts include reaching out to environmentally conscious groups. “There’s a lot of overlap of their efforts and our mission of being good for the environment,” observes Sysum. Everything is made from scratch, including gluten-free garbanzo tortillas, Taco Tuyo’s most popular ingredient. Two new tacos are coming out of the kitchen. El guaco started as a special, featuring homemade guacamole in a crispy corn shell, topped with fresh red salsa and Peruvian beans. Popular demand put it on the regular menu. Taco encantado tops “marinated Portobello with chipotle lime sesame marinade, which is naturally creamy and complements the unctuousness of the Portobello.” There’s also the Taco Amafauna, a bean/quinoa croquette with homemade mole sauce in a garbanzo flour tortilla with kale and radish on top.
DEL SUR MEXICAN CANTINA
In San Diego, California, Del Sur Mexican Cantina is owned by lifelong vegetarian Kate Grimes. Her mission is to keep the restaurant “approachable, offer something for the vegan and vegetarian and meat eater,” Grimes says. “Meatless eating is absolutely becoming more popular, especially in San Diego. There’s more awareness, for health or for ethical reasons. That fits our sustainable philosophy: We try to go organic and local as much as possible.”
The restaurant offers three vegan tacos: bean and plantain, fried and battered soy, and jackfruit. “The jackfruit is seasoned the same as our pulled chicken. We marinate it in adobo sauce, then we bake it. A lot of meat eaters who come in and want to try the jackfruit wouldn’t necessarily order tofu or tempeh.”
Plant-based ceviche, with cauliflower standing in for the seafood, has recently joined the menu. Meatless items compose between a quarter and a third of their sales, “a bigger following than we anticipated,” says Grimes. “We just wanted a neighborhood restaurant where everyone can eat, to make it welcoming to all.”
CAFE PASQUAL
Cafe Pasqual is no newcomer. Just a block from the historic plaza in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the small and iconic restaurant was founded by owner/chef Katharine Kagel in 1979. The cafe was awarded the James Beard Foundation America’s Regional Classic award, and Kagel has been nominated by the James Beard Foundation as Best Chef: Southwest. One key to the restaurant’s longevity? Accommodating customers.
“We like to offer what people want, and we believe in substitutions. People know we’re vegetarian friendly. Many online vegetarian resources list us,” says Kagel. “Vegans are very, very happy to dine here because we’ll do whatever it takes to make them happy. We want to do it their way.”
Cafe Pasqual has a variety of items designed to be meat-free. “We have a squash blossom quesadilla with poblano sauce and queso Oaxaca featured right now,” she says. The house favorite among vegans is the mole enchilada incorporating zucchini, spinach and optional tofu. Another option is a quinoa burger made with mushrooms, sweet potato, garlic and onion, and served on a gluten-free bun with tomato chutney.
“Yes, it’s increasingly popular to eat plant-based,” notes Kagel. “I was just talking about this with my servers, it seems to us that the number of vegans has held pretty steady over the years, but vegetarian diners are increasing. Sustainability-minded diners also appreciate that our produce is local and organic.”
Annelise Kelly is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon, and a regular contributor to el Restaurante.