Meat-Free Menus

Vegetable dishes gain new cachet as even carnivores dabble in plant-based preparations.

Though vegetarians still make up a statistically small portion of the population, they are joined by a larger group of diners who don’t avoid meat entirely, but still seek out vegetarian dishes for health reasons or environmental reasons. In fact, the 2011 VRG/Harris survey also found that between 30% and 40% of the U.S. population is very interested in eating vegetarian foods, although they are not vegetarian. Today’s vegetarians have come to expect sophisticated and flavorful vegetarian dishes in fine-dining and causal restaurants. Vegetarian options are also popping up on menus in traditional meat strongholds.