Image: WeAreNottingham / flickr
Nottingham based Michelin-starred chef has refused to add vegan meals on menu because he feels his critically acclaimed menu cannot be recreated with cheaply available vegan ingredients.
Chef Sat Bains has had a 33-year illustrious career in which he has earned 2 Michelin stars and a reputation for his carefully curated menu that mainly caters to meat lovers.
His menu offers elaborate seven and ten 10 course meals, costing £105 and £120-a-head featuring meat delicacies that the chef creates with a lot of exquisitely sourced ingredients.
And while his restaurant caters to vegetarians and pescatarians, the chef revealed he would not adapt his dishes for vegan diners.
“We are not specialists in vegan food and I never set out to be a vegan restaurant,’ he told Nottinghamshire Live.
“The customers coming here know what to expect. We’re niche – we can be niche with our menu in terms of ingredients so there are certain dietaries we can’t do and won’t do. I can’t go to a vegan restaurant and ask for steak.”
‘It’s a complete rip-off’
According to him, vegans constitute a very small community and developing an exclusive vegan menu is labour intensive and counter-productive.
“It’s not just 10 dishes thrown on a menu – it’s thought about so much in minute detail. We want to give our customers the best food we can,” said the chef.
Moreover, he feels vegan ingredients are so cheap, he will not be providing his customers any value for the money they spend on his meals.
“Vegan food is the biggest rip-off. The ingredients are so cheap. I want to give people value for money.”
“You can’t go to a heavy metal concert and expect classical music,” he added.
“It’s my business and my business model to do what I want. I don’t do vegan, halal or kosher.”
Disappointed
Sat Bains stance seems hard to believe especially since veganism has been scaling heights over the past few years.
A recent Mintel report highlighted that vegan food sales soared 40% to an estimated £816m in 2019.
The company also reported that two-thirds of Britons chose to eat meat substitutes last year and the trend has been increasing since the past two years going from 50% in 2017 to 65% in 2019.
With consumer preferences shifting, Sam Calvert, Head of Communications for The Vegan Society expressed his disappointment in seeing top chefs choosing to miss out on the market opportunity and not “accept the creative challenge to produce fabulous food that is good for animals and for the planet.”
“Vegans may be a minority but they often decide where other diners eat so if you don’t cater for them you can miss out on other business,” said Calvert.
What do you think of Sat Bains decision to not provide vegan options? Share your thoughts in the comments below!