About a month ago I attended an invitation-only dinner in north London featuring dishes prepared by Michelin-starred chef, Berwyn Davies, who had been experimenting a new “fine dining, guilt-free” menu concept.
I soon found out that I had been duped! I didn’t much mind though as I the food was really tasty anyway.
The menu read as follows:
- Poached chicken with wild garlic, baby vegetable a la Grecque, toasted hazelnuts and pearl barley risotto;
- Roasted chicken with chou farci, Wye valley asparagus, bacon, potato roost and new season morels; and
- Dairy-free dark chocolate mousse with pistachio crumble and raspberries.
But it wasn’t just the dessert that was vegan. The two previous dishes were too. The “chicken” and the “bacon” were actually soy and pea based products from a new vegan food brand called, This. I thought all the dishes were tasty – and that the “chicken” was super moist.
This was started by “two meat-lovers” who “checked out meat-free food, and decided that we didn’t want any of it” and decided to come up with their “own plant-based meat-alternative products … that PROPERLY works in a fry-up or in a chicken-pie” that’s “ridiculously high in protein,” tastes “sensational.”
I think they might be onto something. Having one of the English language’s most commonly used words – This – as their brand name seems pretty stupid for all sorts of reasons, but the actual product itself tasted like a good idea to me.
Check out this video for highlights from the night and to see how diners react when finding out own meal was actually meatless:
Find out more at this.co.
