How things have changed – instead of being a fringe request that’s ignored by most restaurants, vegan and vegetarian food is now a popular choice. A recent survey in Australia found 1 in 9 people (11.2%) said they are ‘vegetarian or almost vegetarian’. That’s a lot of customers looking for menu options beyond a salad or pasta with tomato!

To help us understand how chefs and restaurants can cater for this growing demand, Ken Burgin talked with chef and cafe owner Paul Smith of Green Zebra in rural NSW. He’s now a vegan, and tries to create vegetarian food that meat eaters will love! It has to be more imaginative than yet another serve of pumpkin risotto or vegetarian lasagne. We discussed the challenges of creating healthy food with flavour, presenting food on a plate so it’s not always ‘meat in the centre’, and all the angles to modern menu design. Paul is a thoughtful and creative chef – I know you will enjoy this interview. You can also find him on Twitter and his new website PlantYourMenu.com