By Carrie Meslar
As I’m putting the finishing touches on this article in the San Diego airport, I’m also having a breakfast sandwich … when it hits me. This thing tastes like bacon. An uneasy feeling creeps in as I peel the sandwich apart to reveal a strip of the pig stuff. It tastes like a brick of salt to me, and I’m not impressed, though it is airport bacon so that’s probably not surprising. What are the chances that this happens while writing the following article? I’m not sure, but it does make the rise of creative and delicious meatless options in Charlottesville feel all the more timely.
It wasn’t long ago that meat-free dining options for vegetarians were few and far between, and for vegans it was a virtual desert. The classic Caprese sandwich was the vegetarian choice at most lunch spots, and occasionally someone would feel inspired to add some roasted red peppers. Dinner usually looked like vegetable risotto or an entrée salad without the grilled chicken. Plant-based meat alternatives offered little inspiration to mainstream restaurants, and they mostly lived in obscure sections of the natural food store. Tofu, tempeh, and seitan were often regarded with weary expressions or flat-out disgust. Some might even be reading this and wondering, what the heck is seitan?
Yet the times, they are a-changin’, and plant-based foods and meat alternatives have found their way onto a variety of menus—even chain restaurants are adopting meat alternatives. These changes have been met with mostly positive or neutral reactions from consumers, but Cracker Barrel recently learned that not everyone was on board: When the restaurant put Impossible Sausage onto its menu, it received a fair amount of anger from loyal diners, who cried the chain was going “too woke.”
Meanwhile, here in Charlottesville, local independent restaurants are also serving up a number of ways to dine meatless. Though not strictly a vegan restaurant, due to the importance of fish sauce in a number of the dishes, Vu Noodles has been on the radar of those who follow meatless and vegan diets for years, and for good reason. Just off the Downtown Mall, in a space that looks like it might be a shop in a Harry Potter novel, the charming little walk-up spot is full of options. Anyone who has tried the banh mi knows you don’t have to be a vegan or vegetarian to enjoy this sandwich. Packed with flavor and texture, you don’t feel like you’re compromising on anything. Add in pho and all the noodle bowls, and there is an effortless quality of getting lunch here that makes it a favorite.
Botanical Plant-Based Fare is a newer addition to the mall, and it serves up a fully vegan menu. It’s plant-based meat items like tamari mushroom bacon aren’t designed to taste just like their animal counterparts, but rather the ingredients pull flavors from the vegetables themselves. Offering both committed vegans and health-minded diners an extensive menu of grain bowls, sandwiches, and salads, it’s clear this fast-casual spot is filling a niche. The standard menu, plus a rotating seasonal menu also has the ability to be gluten free, another dining request that is now becoming a standard.
GRN BRGR at Dairy Market fills a craving. There is something about the classic hamburger that carries with it indulgence and comfort. From McDonald’s to high-end celebrity establishments, America loves its burgers, and GRN BRGR offers lots of options for those longing for their former burger days—or who are curious about the advancements made in the meat-free dining world. With a reputation for the best burger in town, it should come as little surprise that the minds behind Citizen Burger Bar make sure that biting into the GRN Bacon Ranch burger (this writer’s personal fave) brings with it all of the nostalgia and perhaps craving for a great burger.
According to Bloomberg Intelligence, plant-based alternatives meats are here to stay, and grow. With meat alternatives such as Beyond and Impossible leading the charge, it is forecasted that the next 10 years will bring explosive growth to the industry, potentially reaching as much as $118 billion by 2030. The factors contributing to this growth include: sustainability and health concerns, declining product prices, and lack of access to traditional meats in certain countries.
There will always be the die-hard meat fans, who proclaim bacon makes everything better. Yet as food science advances, and we are forced to take a closer look at our food industry, our planet’s health, and maybe our waistlines, the increase in great tasting meatless food is a welcome trend—and the fact that none of our four-legged friends were harmed in this uptick might not be significant to everyone, but it certainly doesn’t hurt.
