Our chefs on plant-based cooking

In 2018, inspired by health-conscious menu items at the Little Beach House Malibu, along with a growing awareness of the benefits of vegetable-centric diets, some of our chefs decided to change up their menus. With the help of Amy Chaplin from Angelica Kitchen and Jessica Oost, corporate chef at Neiman Marcus, our Chicago and DUMBO House chefs began creating a selection of thoughtfully composed vegan recipes, which became the basis for our new plant-based menu sections. The evolving collection of dishes includes a range of dips, salads, bowls and even pizza and has since encouraged other Houses to follow suit. Now, moving into 2019, you can find plant-based items at all eight of our North American Houses, as well as at some of our UK and European locations.

In addition to the ethical and health benefits (particularly those associated with cardiovascular health and Type 2 diabetes risk), plant-based diets are also the most environmentally friendly way to eat. According to a 2018 study, eating a plant-based diet can reduce your carbon footprint from food by 73 percent. “A vegan diet is probably the the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet earth, not just greenhouse gases, but global acidification, eutrophication, land use and water use,” writes Joseph Poore, the study’s lead researcher. And studies show that people are making the switch. According to a study by Nielsen, in 2018, sales of plant-based food products like milk and meat alternatives grew by 20 percent, reaching $3.3 billion, prompting even chain restaurants like White Castle and Applebee's to introduce plant-based burger options.

“We were really just catching up with what was going on around us,” says Deniz Uzel, Soho House’s Cookhouse and Tonic manager for North America. To start, Chaplin came in to teach all five of Soho House’s New York chefs the basics of plant-based cooking — a process that inspired both North American executive chef Andrea Cavaliere and Jonah Eagan, our executive chef at DUMBO House, to explore plant-based dishes and encourage other Houses to do the same. “At first, I gave a bit of pushback because I thought it was silly, but now I'm totally for it,” says Eagan. “I enjoy it and now find myself going out to eat and craving vegetables and vegan food.”

Outside Malibu (where plant-based eating had been au courant for some time), DUMBO House and Soho House Chicago — our newest and our largest House in North America, respectively — were chosen to lead the charge. When DUMBO House opened in April, Eagan took the skills he had learned with Chaplin and taught them to his new kitchen staff while building the House’s menu. And in Chicago, executive chef Alexis Rorabaugh joined forces with vegan cooking expert Jennifer Oost to create a Midwest-friendly, plant-based menu of her own.

For both chefs, the first challenge was to create menu items that would appeal not only to vegan and vegetarian members but to meat eaters as well. “Chicago is in the Midwest, so it’s still a steak-and-potatoes town,” says Rorabaugh. “We really wanted to make items that were familiar to people who might be hesitant to eat plant-based foods.” To do this, Rorabaugh started by looking at things that were already on the menu and attempting to make them plant-based. She came up with dishes like a vegan bolognese, which is still a top seller, as well as buffalo cauliflower and cashew ranch dip. “We worked to make them really delicious, using nuts and seeds to incorporate that mouthfeel of fat,” she says.

In DUMBO, Eagan started from a slightly different, more vegetable-focused perspective but made sure to balance each dish in a similar way. “I think if it doesn't have qualities of non plant–based food, then people feel like they’re missing out on something,” he says. “Textures, I think, are very important, as well as presentation. Someone can put something in a bowl with all these ingredients and it can be healthy and plant-based, but it’s not very pretty to look at.” In line with this philosophy, DUMBO’s summer menu included a colorful crudite selection with beet, avocado and chickpea dip, and now for the colder months, it includes an equally attractive winter version with pickled and charred vegetables.

Rather than focusing on pre-made, processed meat replacements, both chefs also decided to use as many unrefined vegetable, nut and seed components as possible. “I think some vegan foods still have a lot of additives and things that I wouldn’t eat naturally,” says Rorabaugh. Her dishes, instead, are “all about the plants.”  

This approach has meant that most plant-based items on the menus are gluten-free as well. In Chicago, the entire plant-based section is gluten-free, including the pasta dishes. “I really just wanted to make a section that also delivered gluten-free items without having to say they’re gluten-free,” says Rorabaugh. “I just wanted to stay away from doing any sort of traditional pastas because we have a pasta restaurant called Taverna, so I’m making pasta that is made from actual plants instead of their flour counterparts. I use zucchini and sweet potato noodles for the bolognese and I’m also working on a squash pappardelle.”

 And while he hasn’t turned vegan himself, Eagan, once a skeptic, is now one of the company’s biggest advocates for plant-based cooking. “I find myself looking for vegan restaurants to go to to get inspiration,” he says. “The challenge is totally fun. I love it.” Recently, staff from other Houses have started coming to him for inspiration on their own plant-based dishes. In the last few months, he’s been visited by chefs from Toronto, Amsterdam and Soho Farmhouse, who have all started to repurpose his techniques in their own kitchens.

Check out the plant-based menu items around our North American Houses and learn how to make to make one of the plant-based dishes from our DUMBO House menu at home.

This dish is composed of several different parts, which are all plated together at the end: a charred broccoli steak, broccoli rice, hemp cream, burnt scallion powder and a cashew-based dukkah. The broccoli proportions serve one, while the hemp cream, dukkah and scallion powder can be used for multiple servings or stored for later.

Charred Broccoli

1 head of broccoli

Salt and pepper

1.     Peel the stalk or base of one head of broccoli.

2.     Blanch in salted water for six minutes and then shock in ice water.

3.     Season broccoli with salt and pepper and grill until broccoli is charred.

Broccoli Rice

1/2 head of broccoli, raw

1.     Remove the florets from 1/2 a head of broccoli.

2.     Place in a food processor and pulse until you reach the consistency of a rice.

2 cups of hemp hearts

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

Salt to taste

1.     Soak two cups of hemp hearts in warm water for 30 minutes.

2.     Strain and place in blender with 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar and season with salt.

3.     Blend until smooth.

Burnt Scallion Powder

1 bunch whole scallions

Olive or vegetable oil

1.     Lightly oil whole scallions and char over grill.

2.     Bake in the oven at 250–300 degrees Fahrenheit until completely dry.

3.     Use a Robot Coupe (or a similar food processor) to blend until flakey. Stop before the scallions reach a powdery stage.

Dukkah

900g cashews

250g sunflower seeds

30g fennel seeds

100g cumin seeds

30g dried green peppercorns

100g coriander seeds

200g sesame seeds

30g nigella seeds

30 Maldon sea salt

20g sweet paprika

1.     Bake sunflower seeds for 10 minutes and cashews for 20 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2.     Toast fennel and cumin in a pan until fragrant. Set aside to cool.

3.     Toast coriander seeds in a pan until they pop. Set aside to cool.

4.     Toast green peppercorns in a pan until they pop. Set aside to cool.

5.     Toast sesame and nigella seeds together at a low heat until the sesame seeds are light brown.

6.     Use a mortar and pestle to chop the cashews coarsely. Remove and place in a bowl.

7.     Crush cumin and fennel lightly and then add to cashews.

8.     Crush coriander and peppercorns lightly. Add sunflower seeds and crush further and then add cashews.

9.     Add and mix in sesame, nigella, paprika and salt.

10.     Serve to taste with broccoli steak and then store the rest in an airtight container.