Meat-heavy Boston-based restaurant Saus has opened its first veg location following customer demand for vegan-friendly poutine.
The new eatery, located in Somerville’s Bow Market, is moving away from the original location’s focus on fried chicken and pork belly with a 100 percent vegetarian menu. The new menu replicates the classic dishes served at the meat restaurant – including poutine – the dishes are creatively reinvented to minimize animal products.
Replacing the fried chicken sandwich is a crispy tofu sandwich, with Impossible Burgers and Beyond Sausages offered as a plant-based meat option. The veggie location also offers some vegan options, including the cauli-falafel sandwich, and everything on the menu can be easily made plant-based. The owners are also experimenting to select the best vegan cheese to top the poutine.
Explaining the focus on plant-based dishes, Saus co-owner Tanya Walker told LIVEKINDLY that the team have “all implemented more plant-based diets into our own lives to live more sustainable lives, as well as to live healthier.” She added, “A lot went into the decision to make our new location 100% vegetarian. Apart from the shift in our own diets, we wanted our Bow Market location to reflect the change we’ve been seeing in our Boston customers requesting more vegetarian or vegan options. We’ve definitely noticed a trend of increased plant-based diets, especially in the Somerville demographic.”
Speaking to Boston.com, Walker added, “When we [Walker and fellow co-owners Renee Eliah and Chin Kuo] opened the first location, we were in our early 20s, and it reflected how we ate and wanted to eat. As we developed the second one, we wanted it to reflect our new chapter.”
Though the new chapter is one without meat, the Saus team are confident that consumers of all dietary preferences can enjoy the eatery’s offerings. Walker told LIVEKINDLY, “We are hoping that our new menu is delicious and diverse enough that even meat eaters can find something to eat… We’d love a meat eater to come in and order the chili cheese sausage and see how tasty plant-based proteins can be. And even if a meat eater can’t get down with the vegetarian sandwich items, who doesn’t love fries? That’s what we’re known for anyway: our hand-cut fries and scratch-made dipping sauces. So I still think we have something for everybody.”
Massachusetts is not the only place where vegan poutine is impressing plant-based eaters and omnivores alike. In Canada, Ontario’s Planted in Hamilton is a gluten-free and fully vegan eatery and bakery on a mission to “prove that inclusive food can feel familiar and taste amazing.” On Fridays (“Friesday”) customers can order poutine featuring dairy-free mozzarella, gravy, green onion, and BBQ jackfruit, along with menu favourites including Cashew Mac and Pasta and Lentil Meatballs.
Image credit: Planted in Hamilton
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