Juni, chef Shaun Hergatt
New York’s latest super-cool fine dining eatery, Juni, is perfect for vegetarians and those wanting a lighter, albeit just as tasty vegetable-inspired experience of New York’s stunning local and seasonal produce.
Launched earlier this month, chef Shaun Hergatt’s new Vegetarian Tasting Menu is set to change regularly, according to the availability of produce within the year’s many micro-seasons.
The menu is an homage to the season, explains chef Shaun Hergatt who says that “At Juni I talk about seasonality. But for me it means so much more than four seasons. I pick the ripest and finest product available at that time and serve it as the star. To make it onto the menu, produce has to be at its very ripest….and having grown up on a farm where I learnt how to cook straight from the earth, ‘ripeness’ comes as second nature to me.”
Sample dishes from Juni’s tantalizing Vegetarian Tasting Menu include:
Fresh hearts of palm
Purple basil
Arugula soup
Lovage oil
Garden peas
Lemon essence
Gnocchi
Freeze dried goat cheese
Strawberry
Sumac
All of which while simply named are anything but, perfectly representing chef Shaun’s skilled technique, artistic plating and love of vibrant flavours.
Juni’s menu is priced at $50. For more information visit juninyc.com
Attica, chef Ben Shewry
Born and raised in rural North Taranaki on the rugged west coast of the North Island, New Zealand, chef Ben Shewry believes that food can have a deeper meaning than just another item to consume; it can be evocative, emotional and thought provoking, appealing to all of the senses.
His restaurant, Attica’s (Victoria, Australia) Vegetarian Tasting Menu is no exception to this rule, with dishes taking inspiration from Ben’s own childhood; from the volcanoes, rivers, oceans and native bush that make up Taranaki, as well as his current Australian surroundings.
Attica’s Vegetarian Tasting menu is $190 per person, with matched wines, $305 per person. July’s menu currently consists of:
Cauliflower and Sorrel
Cucumbers, Holy Flax, Goats Milk
Carrots, Ground Berries and Bunya Bunya
Minted Potato, Medium Rare
Leeks and Seaweed Butter
Fresh Polenta and Thyme
Pears and Maidenii
The Industrious Beet
Pied á Terre, chef Marcus Eaves
London’s flourishing foodie scene is all the more inviting with the addition of Pied à Terre and its gloriously plant-based Vegetarian Tasting Menu.
The list of dishes below is just a taster of Pied àTerre’s usual vegetarian Tasting Menu, as all of the Michelin starred restaurant’s menus change regularly in line with the seasons.
Green Asparagus and Chervil Velouté with Pea Shoots, a Soft Poached Quail Egg and Perigord Truffle
Salad of Italian Bitter Leaves with Romaine Lettuce, Croutons and Grated Parmesan Cheese
New Season White Asparagus with Wild Garlic Panna cotta, Garlic Mayonnaise, Castlefranco and Mizuna
Carrots Cooked in Blackened Spices with Squash Purée, Cracked Wheat, Chilli, Coriander and Mint
Sweet Onion and Morel Tart with Buttered Spinach, Shallot and Liquorice Purée, Braised Pencil Leeks
Cheese Selection
A Tasting of Lemon and Blood Orange
Valrhona Chocolate Crème with Caramel Sauce, Salted Peanut Ice Cream and Chocolate Jelly
Coffee and Petits Fours
Sommelier Decouverte Suggested Wine per Course £58.00
Sommelier Classic Suggested Wine per Course £90
Champagne Tasting, Four Glasses of Champagne to Accompany the Menu £70.00
The Test Kitchen, chef Luke Dale-Roberts
British-born chef Luke Dale-Roberts’ philosophy is all about fantastic fare in a casual yet stylishly chic setting. At his award-winning restaurant, The Test Kitchen in Cape Town, South Africa, guests are treated to forward-thinking dishes inspired by his travels through Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Switzerland and the Philippines and the second-to-none ingredients he has access to in his unique part of the world.
When Luke first opened The Test Kitchen in 2010, it was part dining room part lab where he and his team would test out new recipes for his constantly evolving menu – hence the name, The Test Kitchen. Luke’s 12-course Vegetarian Gourmand evening tasting menu and Vegetarian Discovery lunch menu is a testament to his passion for creativity and unique flavour combinations.
With wine, the comprehensive Vegetarian Gourmand tasting menu costs R1250 (roughly £69.00) and without, R800 (£44). For the health-bots amongst you, this lavish-yet-light menu also comes with the option of a tea pairing, priced at R1000 (£55).
African Rosti – Amasi curd, wood fired onion stock, beetroot rosti, quail egg
Grilled Fine Beans – tofu miso suke, mirin and olive oil dressing, miso on toast, braised shitake, raw shitake
Home Dried Tomato – sesame and aubergine puree, smoked goats cheese mousse
Potato & Leek Vichyssoise – freshly pickled apples, blini foam
Salt Baked Celeriac – potato and snoek medley, roasted potato skin puree, smoked red onion foam
BBQ Broccoli – with blue cheese
Ajo Blanco – Almond milk, pan seared tofu, sherry glazed grapes, almond falafel
Butter Roasted Courgette – caper and anchovy emulsion, curly kale, cauliflower purée
Grapefruit
Apple
Guava
Lemon
Lerbach, chef Nils Henkel
Grand Chef Relais & Chateâux, Nils Henkel, is the brains behind this last but by no means leasttop vegetarian Tasting Menu from FOUR.
Nils began his training as a chef in 1986at the Romantik Hotel Voss-Hausin Eutin before taking on his role as sous chef at restaurant Lerbach,located at the luxury Schloss Hotel in Germany,under legendary three-Michelin star chef Dieter Müller, before becoming head chef in 2008.
Today, restaurant Lerbach’s menu favours modern influences, different textures and seasonal produce. Its Vegetarian Tasting Menu is a testament to chef Nils’ creativity and love of locally sourced produce, featuring the restaurant’s — which is now the bearer of two much-coveted Michelin stars — very own honey and vegetables.
This particular vegetariangourmet menu has been goingsince May and will remain available to diners throughout the month of August.
Amuse Bouche Farmer’s Salad
Marinated beans, sheep cheese, olives, cucumber
Green Asparagus
Miso mash,soy foam,umeboshi plums
Marinated cereals
Preserved peach, spruce sprouts, kefir
Pappardelle
Artichokes, parmesan, tomato
Fermented cauliflower *
Rapeseed milk,oxalis
Malted sourdough
Quails’ egg, yellow beet, chanterelles, lovage
Brin D’amour *
Lerbach honey, green strawberries, fresh almonds
Carrots
Gooseberries, ground elder, goat’s yoghurt
NIBBLES
€155 FOR 8 COURSES
€ 125 FOR 6 COURSES WITHOUT THESE DISHES*
For more visit schlosshotel-lerbach.com