I think upthread someone mentioned Eleven Madison Park, a high-end Manhattan restaurant that in 2021 re-opened post-pandemic as an entirely vegan (what they call plant-based) restaurant. And then the following year, it won three Michelin stars. But this year, it added some non-vegan dishes, though it’s still offering vegan options. I was hoping they posted the menus online but the website says, “Due to the hyper-seasonal nature of our menu, all courses are subject to change. Therefore, we do not share our food menus online.” The New York Times said (gift link) that it was difficult to get bookings for corporate events when the restaurant was purely plant-based, but that the new menu will “offer seven to nine courses for $365, and will largely be prepared without animal products. Diners will have a few opportunities along the way to opt for meat or seafood instead of vegetables.”
Most gyro places that I’ve seen do, in fact, offer a falafel gyro. I guess that falafel is a slight way down the “processed to mimic meat” road, but it’s still a lot closer to chickpeas than it is to Impossible Burger.
Falafel sandwiches are great, but gyros they are not. Gyro refers to the rotisserie style of cooking the meat, and I don’t think it can be separated from the meat contents themselves.
Falafel is also dry, lacks all of the fat of a good gyro meat, and just doesn’t hit the same. When you’re craving a gyro and someone gives you falafel in bread, you’ll punch them.
I mean, if you define a “gyro” based on it containing a particular sort of meat in a particular way, then a “plant-based gyro” is something that simply can’t exist. But if you want a sandwich that’s made the same way as a gyro, with all the same toppings, then falafel will work fine. And a falafel not-a-gyro-but-similar sandwich will probably be better than an Impossible Meat not-a-gyro-but-similar sandwich.
I can’t argue with the semantic quibble of calling a plant-based “fake meat” gyro a gyro, but I can tell you, a falafel sandwich does not satisfy the gyro craving in the way that a fake meat gyro does. It’s just not the same, they’re two different foods. And this is what I’m trying to convey about the frustration of being a vegan or a vegetarian. You and a vegan can both get a falafel sandwich if you want, but you can get a gyro where a vegan cannot. You have that choice, while vegans either stop eating gyros (a food that may have some cultural or personal significance), or they eat fake meat alternatives. It’s really, really nice to have that fake meat option. And telling them that falafel sandwiches will “work fine” just ignores the reality that falafel sandwiches don’t taste the same.
And actually, I take back what I said previously that falafel sandwiches are great. I’d never order one if I weren’t vegetarian. I love falafel, but putting it bread is just too much dry carby stuff in one bite. It crumbles and falls out because you have to squish it to fit in your mouth. Put my falafel on a plate with some hummus and veggies, please. Falafel sandwiches feel like a bone thrown to vegetarians. Problem is, they’re usually significantly cheaper than the falafel platter, and much easier to eat for a quick lunch. So I order them, but I don’t love them.
FWIW looking it up a bunch of Chicago area vegan restaurants have been closing lately. Mostly ones that did a lot of faux foods. Honestly not sure what to make of it. I think more of us are more willing to eat vegan and vegetarian food than ever while being omnivores. I am hoping that it is matched with better options at full fare places. Sad about Chicago Diner. Ate there in High School years and as a young adult. Did a few times in the few years too.
Faux ground beef in tacos is great; I think it tastes exactly like the seasoning and it’s hard to tell the difference. Probably would be the same thing in chili, but I haven’t tried that. Impossible burgers are good enough.
Not sure what T. rex would taste like except maybe chicken. When I was in Costco the other day I had the epiphany that these are dinosaur-shaped nuggets made from dinosaurs.
Huh. And i, whose friends tease me about being an obligate carnivore, quite like a good falafel sandwich. They usually come with a lot of fatty sauces. It’s true that i sometimes get the lamb kebab or the chicken schwarma, instead. But if the place has good falafel, i often choose it for the sandwich.
Sadly, my current Arab place has mediocre falafel. I mostly get falafel in sandwiches, not in platters. Because it does kinda need all the sauces and stuff.
I usually throw a good heap of Jerusalem salad with some tahini on top into the pita with the falafel. The falafel should have a crunch that stands up to the moisture!
At the Museum of the Rockies (Bozeman, MT; home of the T. rex), they didn’t have an indoor food place, but in the summer, they had a semi-permanent food truck just outside, and they served dinosaur nuggets, certified by Jack Horner as being made from real dinosaurs.
I think this is the answer to the question in the OP.
Fake meats are designed to appeal to people who are avoiding meat for reasons other than culinary preference. For those with health or more likely ethical concerns about meat, but who like meat and miss it in their diet.
I’ve tried a lot of meat substitute products - in general, they were expensive, highly-packaged, rather highly-processed and frequently not especially nice. Mainstream/supermarket Vegan ‘cheese’ products being among the worst mainly because they are typically just a block of starchy set custard, with a sour flavour that is only vaguely cheese-like.
I stopped reviewing these things because I found myself stuck in the crossfire between vocal vegans and also anti-vegan blowhards.
Vegans were angry at me because they did not feel these things properly represented vegan food, and in some cases, angry because I was reviewing them in comparison to the animal-based things they purport to substitute for - some vegans felt this was unfair because - their point not mine - apparently if you haven’t eaten real cheese or bacon for years, then the fake versions of those things are much more convincing).
Anti-vegans just kept making the same inane arguments and idiotic JAQing over and over - “If vegans don’t like meat, why do they want to eat something that resembles meat?”
I’m not a vegan or a vegetarian and I’m probably never going to be. I am conscious that modern farming practices have some very bad aspects and I would like to be less responsible for those. I’ve reduced consumption of some things - especially processed meats - for the sake of my own health, but I am a member of an animal species that eats other animals.
Vegan food that isn’t explicitly trying to mimic meat is almost universally nicer than the substitute stuff, but I can see how the substitutes might concievably help someone who wanted to go vegan, in the same way nicotine patches might help some people who want to give up smoking.
This week for a Pot Luck dinner, we did fake ground beef (Beyond Beef) in walking tacos*. It was universally hailed as a triumph, even for the one kid who said “Oh, it’s vegetarian…” and had to be given the evil eye by Mrs. Cheesesteak who said “I made it, you’re going to try it.”
- For those not in the know, walking tacos are taco meat + toppings piled into a small bag of Fritos (or other chip) and eaten with a fork. It’s surprisingly satisfying.
I thought that was called a Frito Pie.
Where I come from, a walking taco is usually more similar to a seven layer dip.
We had a work lunch in Little Rock with walking tacos. I was surprised that they sell Fritos bags specifically for walking tacos.
I’ve been thinking about this all day, and I still can’t decide if I’m deeply intrigued or utterly horrified…
I’m trying to figure out why it’s called “walking tacos”. I’d think it would be easier to eat a pile of that on a plate, it on a bowl, while walking around a cocktail party than to juggle a bag of Fritos with stuff trying to fall out as you ate.
My understanding, from seeing them sold while visiting New Mexico, is that you’re holding the bag upright with one hand, while eating out of the bag with the other hand, while walking around on the street or at a fair.
