Page 36 - Food Service Magazine March 2019

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PLANT-BASED DINING
SEED CHANGE
VEGAN FOOD IS NO LONGER RESTRICTED TO ORGANIC CAFES OR MARKET STALLS, IT’S PLUNGING DEEP INTO THE CENTRE OF AUSTRALIAN DINING, FROM FAST FOOD TO HIGH END. JORDAN BROGAN, FORMER SOUS-CHEF AT ACRE FARM AND EATERY, HAS RECENTLY TAKEN THE REINS AS HEAD CHEF AT PLANT-BASED RESTAURANT ALIBI, INSIDE SYDNEY’S OVOLO HOTEL. THE MENU IS USER-FRIENDLY, FUN AND INNOVATIVE, WITH NO ANIMAL PRODUCTS IN SIGHT. ALEKSANDRA BLISZCZYK CHECKED IN WITH BROGAN TO SEE HOW THE PLANT-BASED MOVEMENT IS GROWING.
TOP PROFILE
What attracted you to a job as a plant-based chef?
Since starting at Alibi I have
higher-end restaurants advertising that they would have plant-based options at the Carriageworks Night Market in February.
I'd presume it keeps costs low, but you also can't charge as much per plate. How does being plant- based affect a restaurant's profit margins? That is actually one of the biggest challenges we face. Everyone thinks that our food costs are low, but in fact it’s the opposite. Most of our dishes have at least 30 ingredients. The time it takes for the prep is unreal, and we use a lot of specialty items as well as nuts and young coconut flesh, which are a lot more expensive than any chicken and most steaks. We are only a small team of four chefs, so that’s how I’ve tried to fix my margins. Most places that serve food at a high level will have at least 10 to 12 chefs in the kitchen at any one time, where as I have a small but strong team that are happy to put in the hours to be able to serve the food that we do. But you are right that we can’t charge as much per plate, the most expensive dish on my menu is $29, whereas most restaurants at our level don’t have a main on their menu for under $30.
I am hoping that with plant-based dining becoming more popular, people will realise the expense and work that goes into it and we will soon be able to charge accordingly.
What other benefits are there to running
a meat-free kitchen? I can imagine your food waste would be quite low.
There are hundreds of reasons to eliminate meat and animal products, from being healthier overall to lowering green house gasses, lessening the pollution in our oceans and saving water. I’m very big on food waste and using as much of any product as possible. Anything we can use, we do. For example cauliflower leaves, which most people throw out, we ferment and use as part of our kimchi base.
CHEF definitely begun looking at the food we consume in a different way, now eating a
mainly plant-based diet myself with one ‘cheat day’ a week, usually when I’m out to dinner. What attracted me to Alibi was the concept, a plant-based restaurant in the middle of an amazing hotel. My last job was at an organic farm-to-table restaurant with a big focus
on sustainability so I already had a little knowledge, but since starting at Alibi it has exploded. Some of the ingredients I now get to use I never thought of using in this way before, so it’s great for me to learn and to be able to teach my younger chefs.
Do you think demand for plant-based options is growing, especially in mid to high-end dining?
I think the demand for plant-based options is growing dramatically. High-end restaurants are increasingly putting on plant-based
menu items, and, for example, I saw many