For one day only, chef Sam Talbot (of Top Chef fame) will turn his Greenpoint restaurant Pretty Southern into Pretty Vegan ($25–35). The food will remain southern in style, but all the animal products will be nowhere to be found in the fried chicken bites, blueberry pancakes, biscuits, chicken and waffles, mac and cheese, and fried rice with roasted asparagus.
The menu at Pretty Southern has always skewed toward maintaining deliciousness while not going too overboard on fat and flour. If you’re gluten-free, it was already a destination that could accommodate you. Vegans? Not so much.
As Talbot tells us, “Southern food starts and finishes with delicious vegetables. Why wouldn’t we do a melt in your mouth feast of vegan awesomeness?” This menu allows him to go seasonal and focus on some of the techniques you find in his recent cookbook, 100% Real, which reflects how the type 1 diabetic eats on a daily basis. The book is full of vegetarian, gluten-free and dairy-free recipes, but goes light on vegan stuff, making it seem that this day will be pretty experimental in addition to Pretty Vegan.
“Eating and cooking vegan is the perfect way to celebrate what’s seasonally harvesting around you,” says the high-energy chef. “Big flavors and vibrant colors make so many dishes to indulge on. It’s about exploring what the south has been celebrating for over 300 years—vegetables!”
Considering how good those pancakes look, we’re willing to give Talbot’s vegan experiment a shot.
