You had to know that when 11 Madison Park went vegan, others would follow. Sure enough celebrity chef and Food Network luminary Spike Mendelsohn has announced the opening sometime this fall of PLNT Burger in Union Square. For those who have difficulty reading between the lines, PLNT is short for plant.
The Montreal-born chef, who cut his teeth in New York working for the likes of Thomas Keller, the late Sirio Maccioni, and Drew Nieporent, has won acclaim for his beef burgers (aka, hamburgers), so maybe it should come as no surprise that his new venture, as the name denotes, will specialize in sizzling patties on a bun.
PLNT Burger will focus predominantly on take-out — with four or five seats at the counter. PLNT Burger already has stores in the Philadelphia and Baltimore areas.
“Our goal,” Mendelsohn told New York Post “Side Dish” columnist Jennifer Gould, “is to democratize plant-based food and feed the masses.” If it sounds like a shot at 11 Madison Park and its artiste-in-resident, Daniel Humm, that’s because it is. Not everyone, that is, can afford its $335-a-person tasting menu.
As for the burgers, they look plausible, but so far we’ve found only one plant-based burger we could sink out teeth into. Stay tuned.
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