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OCT. NOV. 2016
VI
Good to know: vegetables
require a longer preparation
time than meat and go off
more quickly. Correct cooking
times are essential.
MAGAZINE
to eat out. There is also a further
group of consumers to take into
consideration: the flexitarians, i.e.
people who follow a plant-based diet
but who occasionally include animal
products. Restaurants cannot ignore
them.
A MEAT-FREE DAY.
Some
restaurants around the world (as in
Barcelona, Aspen in the U.S.A. and
Ghent in Belgium) are experimenting
on offering a vegetarian menu once
a week. School canteens and local
administration offices started the
experiment in Ghent and were soon
followed by pubs and restaurants.
In Italy, the “Meatless Monday”
campaign (no animal proteins on
Mondays for a better health and a
better environment) was supported
by people like the oncologist and
notorious vegetarian Umberto
Veronesi.
This system is like offering themed
nights and it is a good way to
promote vegetarian menus and
attract vegetarian customers.
LOTS OF IDEAS FROM THE
MEDITERRANEAN TRADITION.
You can’t act as a vegan cook you
if you’re not a real one. The good
news, though, is that many recipes
from our Mediterranean tradition
are vegetarian. One example for all:
spaghetti with tomato sauce. Veggies,
legumes and cereal have always
been the main ingredient of all our
regional culinary traditions, while
meat has been a treat for centuries,
reserved for special occasions only,
and fish was available only to people
who lived on the coast. The habit of
eating meat and fish nearly every day
is therefore fairly recent. This is why
vegetables are a viable option for the
modern world and deserve a lot of
our attention, to save the suffering
Planet and avoid a future of insects
and algae.
Six tips for vegetarian
restaurateur newbies
Know nothing about vegetarians?
Time to study then! You must know
what vegetarianism is and the
difference between vegetarianism
and veganism. You have to know
what your customers want. A vegan
restaurant needs a vegan owner, to
merge interests.
Suppliers are friends: you need to
know the best fruit, vegetables and
legumes suppliers. Raw materials
must be excellent because they give
the flavor to your dishes.
Prices must reflect the quality and
freshness of raw materials, of well-
known origin, organic and possibly
sourced locally.
No meat and fish in the dish,
but also no products coming
from animals in the deco of your
restaurant.
Take away and corner shop: some
products are not easily found and
they can determine the success of
a food business. Why don’t you
consider selling them? A take-away
option is also a good idea.
Experiences from the restaurants
Italy is the third European
country with the highest number
of vegetarian restaurants, after
Germany and the UK. We asked
some restaurant owners to tell us
about their experience
Mantra Restaurant, raw
vegetarian. So good not to seem
vegetarian
“Our ravioli? They’re stuffed
with a kimchi filling (fermented
vegetables) and the dough is
pineapple and fresh coconut, dried
just about right. Courgettes and
algae are used instead of pasta. Raw
vegetarian cuisine is like alchemy,
always looking for the right balance
of texture and flavour” says Marina
Dell’Utri, owner of Mantra, a vegan