When it comes to nutrition — and topics such as gluten, fat and meat — passions run high and common ground is scarce.
This is partly because scientists, regulators and the general public are working from different playbooks. Take butter: many people consider it a nutrition no-no and Health Canada currently suggests we should “limit butter,” but an extensive new study led by researchers at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., finds no link between moderate butter consumption and heart disease and even suggests it may offer some protection against diabetes.
So how should the foodservice industry navigate this puzzling and often contradictory landscape? Here’s a roadmap of current dining trends in healthy eating.
VEGANOMICS
“I was just looking at the Google trend data for the word ‘vegan’ and even in the last year, there’s been a pretty big spike,” says Toronto Vegetarian Association executive director David Alexander. “It’s not just bigger cities that can sustain a vegetarian restaurant or bakery; you’re starting to see them in mid-sized cities.” Self-styled “plant pusher” Doug McNish of Doug’s Public Kitchen in Toronto is perhaps Canada’s best-known vegan chef, educator and author. “Seven of 10 people who come through my doors are not even vegetarian; I’ve seen the demand grow tenfold, even in the past few years,” he says.
Trained in both classical French cooking and raw-food preparation, McNish formulates many ingredients from scratch. “One of my signature dishes is a Raw Tostada ($17) made with corn and carrot tortillas layered with sunflower seeds, refried beans, guacamole, pico de gallo, lettuce, cashew sour cream, and then we top it with locally grown microgreens,” he says. The tostada shells are made from puréed organic corn, carrots and spices folded with ground flax seeds, then dehydrated. “They taste like they’ve been deep-fried.”
Numerous business boats are floating on the rising tide of veganism, such as Kupfert & Kim, a vegan quick-service restaurant that recently opened its sixth Toronto location, or popular raw vegan chain Crudessence, which has a retail take-out line, three Montreal dining outlets and one location in Quebec City serving dishes such as the Apollo Bowl ($17), raw vegetables on a quinoa-millet blend with grilled tempeh, kimchi and creamy ginger sauce.
Six years ago, the first Boon Burger Café opened in Winnipeg with an all-vegan menu of items such as breakfast burritos ($6.95) and burgers ($8.75 to $8.95). Now there are five locations in two provinces and the house patties retail through Winnipeg Vita Health stores.
When the first store opened, “there was a lineup around the block and we ran out of food. That’s when we realized the public, even right here in Winnipeg, wants something healthy that doesn’t involve animals,” says co-owner Tomas Sohlberg, who plans to expand the concept further. “I experimented with veganism about 10 years ago and at the time it was almost a little subversive,” says chef Michael Hay, a district chef with Oliver & Bonacini Restaurants who oversees the Café Grills and Beaumont Kitchen in Toronto. His Café Grills serve a Thai Root Vegetable Salad ($13) with spiralized beets, daikon radish, carrots and zucchini, Thai basil, mint, edamame, chili-lime dressing and cashew butter.
“We have started offering vegetable plates almost as sides,” says Alexandra Feswick, chef de cuisine at The Drake Hotel in Toronto. “We have a vegan potato rösti ($15) that’s always on the menu; it’s grated potato with no egg or flour, and herbs. It’s not even labelled as vegan.”
Ontario’s Eastern Mediterranean chain Me Va Me Kitchen Express operates two full-dining outlets and a growing roster of franchises. “One of the biggest sellers is falafel ($11.95) — it’s vegan — and we do lots of dip salads such as hummus or Labanah & Za-atar,” says owner Albert Nachomov. “It’s a big seller for us with bread [or] whole Romaine lettuce leaf.”
But can a plant-based menu be profitable? “Costing comes down to the product you’re bringing in to serve,” says Jason Bangerter, executive chef at Langdon Hall Country House Hotel & Spa, in Cambridge, Ont., which boasts Ontario’s only Five-Diamond dining room. “So if I’m serving my guests the best product I can possibly get, it costs more. But if people want that special ingredient, they understand it’s going to cost a bit more.”
“I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the profitability of a beet, for example,” says chef David Hawksworth of Vancouver fine-dining spots Hawksworth and Nightingale. “It’s more about what amazing dishes we can make. But great vegetables are not cheap either.”
“I speak to my chef friends and say, it’s a revenue stream; you have to dedicate some labour to producing that, but the people will come,” says Nachomov. “With plant-based ingredients, they can still get away with charging what they charge for a piece of meat, or close to it.”
Gluten-free Pushback Although only one per cent of the population has the serious condition known as celiac disease, and no more than six per cent of the population is gluten-sensitive, about 22 per cent are currently gluten-avoiders for non-medical reasons, according to The Gluten Free Agency in Toronto.
“Gluten-free is here to stay, but the hype over gluten-free is over,” says registered dietitian Katie Jessop.
Chefs agree. “The gluten-free thing has probably hit the pinnacle,” says Hawksworth. Nonetheless, his varied menus offer choices both vegan and gluten-free diners will appreciate, and gluten-free options remain strong selling points in the right setting. Bangerter reports that at his traditional weekend afternoon teas, “gluten-free is huge.”
Peter Chiu recently launched his Toronto-based Basil Box chain, a fast-casual Asian food concept based on fresh ingredients cooked to order that allows guests to build a customized box ($9.45). “Everything is gluten-free; many of our sauces are vegan,” he says. “It’s driving our business quite well; people that don’t have those dietary restrictions still appreciate [it].” Chiu will have five locations by 2017 and hopes to expand throughout North America.
Innovative foods continue to pop up, too. Edgy Veggies, for example, is a vegetable-based gourmet snack cracker available in major retailers. “It’s wheat-, peanut- and GM-free,” says Edgy Veggie Foods principal Christy Conte, who’s launching single-portion packs for foodservice in flavours such as Smoked Sweetcorn & Chipotle Peppers and Sweet Red Pepper Sriracha.
“The generation that’s coming up, the millennials, have more interest in health and food and they’re more willing to try new things. Not paying attention to that market segment is absurd,” says Hay. “But I’m also noticing a change in the older generation: the Boomers and the Gen Xers. It’s not just a small segment; it’s going to be very large.”
Volume 49, Number 6
Written By Sarah B. Hood
