Vegetarian menus, meal kits stoke foodservice sales
The carrot is having a moment on Toronto menus as top chefs open plant-based restaurants and food delivery companies add more vegetarian meals to meet the growing demand.
At recently opened Planta in Yorkville, chef David Lee nestles a roasted, smoked heirloom carrot from local Cookstown Greens in a homemade turmeric bun for his 18 Carrot Dog, garnished with fries, mustard, sauerkraut and dill pickle.
Lee, who sources produce from the Ontario Food Terminal and from local farms, said his best-selling main course is the Planta burger, a black bean, lentil and beet patty topped with tomatillo mayonnaise, spiced fries and mushroom "bacon."
Chef Nathan Isberg also celebrates the potential of plants at vegan Awai, where flatbreads are topped with caramelized onions, oyster mushrooms or cherry tomatoes; homemade ravioli is filled with artichokes and potatoes are blistered black in the coals of his wood oven before being transformed into dumplings.
Vegan takeout restaurants are springing up weekly across the city, including meatless, wheatless quick-service Kupfert & Kim, which advertises "delicious, minimally processed food that is awesome for humans, animals and our planet."
Lisa LaBute, co-founder of The Goods, a small downtown storefront that also does corporate catering, prefers to call her plant-based smoothies, soups and salads "functional healing foods," as she feels the word healthy is over-used.
"We had a 35% increase in walk-in traffic this January," said LaBute, a former ad executive turned raw food chef.
"When we started five years ago people thought I was crazy, and I'd get into arguments about plant-based diets."
LaBute hired family-owned Maple Produce to source fresh produce daily from the Ontario Food Terminal.
The Goods' best-selling Bee Well soup starts with a broth of turmeric, garlic, ginger, miso and chaga mushrooms loaded with shiitake, portabella and crimini mushrooms,
carrot, celery, red onion and brown
rice.
Meal kits
Weekly meal kits for two or more delivered to homes have also arrived in Toronto in a big way.
World leader Hello Fresh, based in Germany and launched in Canada last June, offers portioned ingredients, including precut vegetables and pre-measured spices and recipes to put dinner on the table within 30 minutes.
Three dinners for two people on the Pronto Plan cost $80 a week, including tax and delivery.
"We offer convenience and health," said Toronto-based managing director Ian Brooks, who added a vegetarian plan in January in response to customer demand.
Recent choices included roasted eggplant linguine and shepherd's pie made with sweet potatoes, mushrooms and caramelized onions, designed by the company's in-house culinary group.
"Hello Fresh brings convenience to your door, saves money compared to eating out and makes you faster than takeout," Brooks said.
The leader in Canadian meal kit delivery, Chefs Plate, which started in 2014 in Toronto and expanded west last year, increased its vegetarian meal offerings within the first year, said Connie Kuang, director of brand and partnership.
Of the seven dishes ($9.75-10.95 per serving) to choose from each week on the two-person plan, three are now vegetarian, from a crispy chickpea Caesar salad to a ginger noodle stir-fry, along with three meat options and a fish dish, all accompanied by vegetables.
Kuang said customers range in age from the mid-20s and up.
