Page 37 - Food Service Magazine March 2019
P. 37

PLANT-BASED DINING
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The good thing about being in a hotel is that we’re open all day and have a number
of menus, so we can use off-cuts in other menus. The watermelon trimmings that
we get from dicing the watermelon for our dinner menu we use in freshly squeezed juice on the breakfast buffet; and the pumpkin off-cuts from our carpaccio we make in to a puree for the hotel's in-room dining menu.
How easy is it to bring in
non-plant-based customers?
Trying to convince people that would usually go out to a nice seafood restaurant to come to a plant-based restaurant can be very challenging. And a lot of people still can’t justify spending their money on what they presume is just a plate of vegetables. It is very rewarding though when you get feedback from non-plant-based diners on how shocked they were that they enjoyed the food so much, and even surprised themselves.
Do you find cooking a plant-based menu challenging? Or can you push the boundaries a bit more? When I first started cooking plant-based food I found it challenging, and that’s one thing I loved about it. Good chefs should always be trying to challenge themselves. After learning how to get the right textures and flavours I wanted without using many of the ingredients that I was used to, it’s now a little easier. I definitely wouldn’t say we are limited to fruit and veg, we use a lot of seeds, grains, herbs and spices as well as seaweed, tamari and nuts, but on the other hand that’s where the creativity comes from. Our limited produce makes you think of all the different ways you can use a single ingredient.
What's your favourite dish on the menu?
At the moment it would have to be the watermelon poke or the rainbow-carrot pizza. The watermelon is infused with a lime-ponzu dressing that just bursts with flavour. For the pizza sauce, we make a cashew mozzarella and mix it with a spicy herb oil to give it a nice kick.
What keeps your customers coming back?
Part of it is definitely the quality of the food we produce; we have many regulars that come almost weekly. Also our front- of-house team is great at engaging with customers and helping them choose the right dishes for them, while explaining how we make everything.
Opposite page: Charcoal steamed buns with roasted carrot, cashew hoisin and pickled red cabbage. From top: Jordan Brogan. Alibi at Ovolo.


































































































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