Our New Year’s Resolution: Build a Successful Business! (Part 2)
Next month, we are launching More Than Carrots, a search platform for vegetarian restaurant dishes. We have a humble goal: we want to change the perception of vegetarian food by showing the world all the variation of delicious vegetarian food that’s out there.
Building the product and thinking through the implications has been an interesting journey, even more so because Annette and I have quite different points of view. Annette still eats meat and you can read her version of the story here.
Charlotte’s View — 2017: The Year it Became Easy to be Vegetarian.
Quite a bold statement to make, especially in December, a celebrated meat-filled month. However, my confidence and newfound hope will not be affected by turkey and pigs in blankets; and here is why:
I became a vegetarian 18 years ago, I’ve learnt a lot over the years about cooking and keeping healthy. With no illnesses or impairments to date, I think I can say so far so good. There were many tricky situations that I could foresee about becoming vegetarian, however I was surprised by how often ordering a side salad in restaurants, or turning down gestures of goodwill at home, would be necessary. But with the difficult comes the hilarious. A personal favourite: “I’ve made Charlotte chicken pasta bake, will she be ok with the cheese?” “Yes Mum, but she might not be particularly pleased about the chicken!”.
To my great delight, it would seem, that those days are now over. The conversations about vegetarianism have drastically changed. Veggie sausages have become a staple in the fridge and freezer of my meat loving housemates, whilst there is an increased awareness of the health, environmental, financial and ethical implications of eating meat. As 2016 drew to a close, many meat-eaters begun to reconsider their personal intake of meat, and Google trends reported spikes in searches for ‘vegan, vegetarian and flexitarian’. For 2017, I therefore have my fingers crossed, as it is already being pitted as the year of the Flexitarian. Meanwhile, in London the Veganuary campaign is helping push these topics to the forefront. For new starters, going vegan might seem a little drastic. Instead, less restrictive options like ‘Meat Free Monday’ deals are popping up all over the capital. Not only can you try something new but you can save a few pounds whilst doing it, what’s not to love?
All of this is changing people’s attitudes towards meat. Eating less meat at home seems to become the new normal. The last bastion of meat-eaters are therefore restaurants, because eating out is special and a special occasion demands meat, right? But don’t fret: I have found two (might I say ‘elegant’!) ways to use these situations to my advantage and I’d like to share them with you:
The first option is to tackle the issue head on: some restaurants that are far from being vegetarian eateries can still be a good choice for vegetarians. ‘The Pig and Butcher’ in Islington is rightly considered as a ‘Meat First’ restaurant, but their farm to fork philosophy is still a cause for celebration amongst vegetarians and meat-eaters alike. When dining out with my friends, as a vegetarian I can be safe in the assumption that the meat they eat has been well cared for and still enjoy great, carefully sourced seasonal vegetarian dishes myself. On today’s menu, for example, is ‘Roasted Jerusalem artichokes, chestnuts, pickled apple, radicchio & herb dumplings’. Creative, seasonal and utterly mouth watering. Their daily changing menu makes every diner implicitly aware of the supply chain behind every dish.
Or you can take it one step further with a restaurant like St John’s Smithfield. Many see Fergus Henderson, chef and founder of the St John establishments, as eccentric in his encouragement of Nose-to-tail eating — for most vegetarians this is quite possibly terrifying — but his mantra is to be respectful and let no part of an animal go to waste. His restaurant reflects this philosophy in all their dishes. Their vegetarian food is equally well thought out. Served in an industrial yet refined setting you can, for example, enjoy a vegetarian main of Fennel and Berkswell Cheese along with an assortment of small plates and sides.
The other option is to select an outstanding vegetarian restaurant and introduce my carnivore companions to the great variety of vegetarian options. For a vegetarian, going to a vegetarian restaurant means not just ‘being included’ and finding ‘something’ to eat, but actually getting excited about food with all its variety and comfort. It’s about the feeling of home.
For example, The Gate, Hammersmith and Islington (I’m lucky enough to have visited both), is like walking into a boutique store where everything is your size AND well within your price range. You no longer scour for what looks or sounds like it might be relevant for you…you can have it all…and have it all is what you will want . Don’t miss the vegan-friendly, chunky herb polenta chips, it would be your biggest mistake, my co-diners can attest. The Gate’s meat free menu is so well thought out that my meat eating cohort don’t leave with a hankering for the taste of the ‘red stuff’. It is intrigue that really connects me and them to the offering at the Gate. The Gate’s menu has introduced me and my friends to such an array of combinations, textures and colours which we never would have tried, let alone known of, without a visit. It should be on top of every vegetarian’s hit list going into 2017, you can thank me later.
Lastly, all of these suggestions wouldn’t have any validation unless I was to include one of my biggest secrets/guilty pleasures. I’m a mega fan of the frozen dessert and there’s one ice-cream parlour that puts the rest to shame: Udderlicious make all of their ice creams and sorbets in house and have flavours on offer that you won’t find anywhere else. With their head quarters on Upper Street, Islington, and their new parlour in Earlham Street, Covent Garden, they are taking London by storm. Watch out for that Dark Chocolate & Sea Salt sorbet, it really is addictive.
As you can see, I have a few places lined up for 2017 and I’m very excited about making it easy for everyone to find them with the launch of the More Than Carrots search tool for vegetarian dishes. I’d love for you to try it and tell me what you think — you can sign up here.
Happy New Year, thanks for reading and keep me posted on great veggie dishes :).
Charlotte