Everybody eats − it’s one of our greatest common grounds − but everybody doesn’t eat the same things, which complicates many mealtimes. Whether dining with a client, family or a date, it can be challenging to find a restaurant that satisfies and nourishes everyone from omnivore to vegan. But for a city its size, Lexington offers a surprising number of locally owned restaurants that easily accommodate mixed-diet dining. A quick count, by no means comprehensive, finds at least 35 such restaurants, some old and some new; of varying price points, cuisines and ambiance; and in different parts of town.
Lucy Jones can attest to this. A Lexington native approaching her 18th anniversary as a vegan, she’s a local connoisseur. The staff at Minton’s at 760, where Jones eats at least once a week (“but maybe four times in a good week”), is even renaming their vegan sausage and mac-and- cheese sandwich after her − “The Lucy.” The menu includes three vegan dishes, but she orders the same thing every time.
“It’s the best vegan mac-and-cheese I’ve ever had, anywhere,” she said, which is quite an accolade from someone who has lived in Los Angeles, where vegan options are plentiful, and who seeks out vegan food in her frequent travels.
Since she moved back from Los Angeles in 2009, Jones has noticed a marked increase in the quantity and quality of vegan offerings in town, and more people choosing them.
“I think it’s a national trend, but definitely within the last few years it’s gotten a lot easier to eat in Lexington,” she said. “It used to be hard to find a place for mixed company, but no longer.”
Jones is right that Americans are eating less meat. Data from the U.S Department of Agriculture reveals that meat consumption has been declining for nearly two decades, with a 12 percent decline from 2007 to 2012. Meanwhile, global sales of vegetarian food products doubled between 2009 and 2013, according to Mintel, a leading market intelligence agency. And though still a small minority, the number of Americans who identify as vegetarian, vegan or following a “vegetarian inclined” diet is increasing. A 2011 national survey by Harris Interactive found that 2.5 percent of Americans identify as vegan, up from 1 percent in 2009; a 2013 survey by Public Policy Polling indicated that 7 percent of Americans are vegan.
Experts credit increased meat costs and environmental and health concerns for driving these trends, and the restaurant world is taking note. In a 2013 survey by the National Restaurant Association, 60 percent of 1,300 professional chefs said that meatless or vegetarian items were a top culinary trend.
Veteran local chef Ouita Michel has three restaurants − Smithtown Seafood, Holly Hill Inn and Windy Corner Market − with menus that accommodate the spectrum from omnivore to vegan. (She also owns Wallace Station Deli, which offers several vegetarian options.) She acknowledges the trend toward vegetarian and vegan diets but said her vegan-friendly menus stem from her culinary history and a desire to offer something unique in the marketplace, not a response to a fad.
“I love vegetables. I’m not vegetarian, but one of the things I think is really discouraging and is really the sign of a bad restaurant is when they don’t have vegetables on the menu,” she said. “Every great approach to cooking from a professional level − in terms of French, Italian, Asian, whatever continental approach you want to take − they all have a vegetable base. You can’t really have a sophisticated or deep approach to anything you do as a chef if you don’t have vegetables on the menu. And that also lends itself to people who have dietary restrictions.”
At Smithtown Seafood, located in the same building as West 6 Brewing, many of the salads and sides are vegan, and the vegan jackfruit “crab cakes” are so popular that Michel can hardly keep enough of the main ingredient in stock.
“I was shocked. When I first opened the restaurant, we had to 86 it all the time. We bought every can of jackfruit in Cincinnati and Lexington. I drove to Louisville and went to every store,” she said.
The struggle to source enough unripe jackfruit, a traditional meat substitute in Asian cooking, has prevented her from adding a jackfruit barbecue dish to the Smithtown menu.
The newly opened Middle Fork Kitchen Bar also accommodates the dietary spectrum. Like Michel, Middle Fork chef and owner Mark Jensen didn’t design his menu around dining trends but said that putting forth a “veg-forward” menu was a priority that reflected two decades of his cooking style.
“I think a little lower on the food chain fi rst, for a number of reasons. Ecologically, we should all eat a little bit closer to the ground. And another reason is that we’re really in this bread basket of wonderful produce in Kentucky. Kentucky is really, really great for producing everything from early spring vegetables and lettuces to late summer beans and tomatoes and corn in the summer. You name it, we’re growing it. So it’s easy to design a menu based on what you can find at arms length,” he said.
While chefs like Jensen and Michel offer veg-friendly menus out of personal culinary style, Alfalfa’s restaurant in downtown Lexington followed a diff erent trajectory toward the same end − a place where everyone eats. It opened in 1973 with strictly vegetarian fare but eventually incorporated meat into the menu, developing relationships with local farmers to source most of their animal products while still focusing on vegetarian and vegan options. General manager Karissa Arnold says the switch from a entirely vegetarian menu was largely a business decision but has created a more inclusive dining environment.
“You’ll have a family come in because one family member is vegetarian or vegan and so they’ll have options here, but they also know that everything else on the menu is great too,” she said. “It’s a very family-oriented thing to share a meal.”
Where ‘Everybody Eats’ in Lexington
Vegan and vegetarian offerings at local restaurants have expanded greatly in recent years. The following list (by no means comprehensive) highlights some favorites.
Asian Cuisine
Asian Wind: This Chinese restaurant off ers a substantial vegetarian and vegan menu, including their special “kwachic” veggie mock meat.
Blue Reef Sushi: The Bluegrass Roll includes seaweed salad, avocado, and asparagus.
Mandarin Café and Sushi
Panda Cuisine: Baby bok choy, several tofu dishes, and hot and sour lettuce are vegan favorites.
Pho BC: The vegan pho broth is flavorful, the vermicelli noodle bowl is fresh and generous, the pancake doesn’t use egg and most entrees can be made with tofu.
Planet Thai: All of their curries use a vegetable base and are safe for vegans and most dishes can be made with veggies or tofu.
Chevy Chase
Athenian Grill
Bourbon n’ Toulouse: Their black beans are vegan but aren’t offered every day, so call ahead to ask.
Charlie Brown’s Restaurant and Lounge: This neighborhood establishment offers two meat-free burgers, one of which is vegan.
Oasis Restaurant: The vegetarian platter is great for sharing, or wear your elastic waistband pants for the daily lunch buff et.
Tomo Sushi: The “veggie veggie roll” includes red pepper tempura and is topped with avocado.
Downtown
Alfalfa’s: Lexington’s establishment veg-friendly restaurant has been serving lunch, dinner and weekend brunch since 1973.
Coles 735 Main: Fine dining with thoughtful vegan fare, such as baked tofu with warm udon noodles and pesto.
Dudley’s: The chef will always put together a vegetable plate ($15) if you ask, and the sourdough bread is vegan.
Kentucky Native: Vegan soft pretzels and a rotating cast of fresh salads are served in the beer garden oasis behind Michler’s, Lexington’s beloved florist and greenhouse. Open nights and weekends when the weather is nice.
Middle Fork: The deconstructed, grown-up PB+J (one of several vegan options) features ginger peanut sauce, lime-orange jam, pickled red onion and a fi re-grilled baguette. Order several dishes and share.
Natasha’s: The spicy midnight curry is the only vegan option, but good if you don’t mind a little heat.
Sav’s Grill and West African Cuisine: Choose from three delicious veg dishes — peanut veg, leaf veg (spinach in tomato sauce), or mafen veg (eggplant, carrots and potatoes in tomato and onion broth). Don’t forget the fried plantains and Sav’s house-made hot sauce.
Jefferson corridor
County Club: The smoked tofu ssam is offered at lunch on Fridays and Saturdays, the French fries are cooked in oil instead of animal fat, and the daily salad is often vegan. If you’re lucky, they’ll be serving smoked watermelon gazpacho.
Enoteca: This wine bar offers a lovely patio and a few vegan tapas including olives, almonds, the beet salad without cheese, and often a soup.
Stella’s Kentucky Deli: The lentil burger and lentil soup are delicious standards.
Smithtown Seafood: Try the Singapore salad topped with jackfruit “crab cakes” and harissa vegenaise. There’s also a vegan burger, and many vegan sides.
North Lime
Al’s Bar: A great dive bar and venue with a black bean and quinoa burger and house-made sweet potato chips.
Minton’s at 760: The vegan sausage and mac-and-cheese sandwich, soon to be known as “The Lucy,” is the epitome of comfort food. They also serve a vegan sweet potato hash and tempeh sandwich.
Warehouse block
Caldo (located inside Centered): Known for its bone broths, Caldo also serves miso and salads.
National Provisions
Others
Azur
Good Foods: The hot bar, salad bar, and sandwich menu at this co-op grocery can truly satisfy everyone.
Gumbo YaYa
Masala
Windy Corner: Take a beautiful drive through horse country for a tofu po’ boy and a variety of salads.
The Soup Kitchen: The hearty vegan vegetable soup is offered daily.
Vinaigrette Salad Kitchen: Try the vegan power salad, or customize your own combination.