The Plant-based Fine Dining Chef

Plant based fine dining has moved from accommodation to ambition, and the chefs who do it well cook with more technique than their colleagues, not less. Depth comes from roasted vegetable stocks, ferments, koji, ash and long reductions; centrepieces come from whole celeriac, cabbage, aubergine or leeks treated like a joint of meat; and the pastry is built to be dairy free from the start rather than stripped back.

The profile earns its place at almost every table, because most private dinners now include at least one guest who does not eat animal products. The difference between a good and a bad plant based chef shows up in the mixed table: a good one cooks one menu that satisfies everybody, a bad one cooks two and the vegetarian gets the lesser evening.

Rates match any plated chef, 550 to 1,400 euros for a dinner. The produce budget is lower and the labour is higher, because ferments start ten days earlier and nothing can be bought ready made. Ask what is fermenting in the chef’s kitchen right now; the answer separates the trade from the trend.