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Celebrity chef opening vegan fast casual inside Whole Foods

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September 9, 2019

Celebrity chef and restaurateur Spike Mendelsohn is opening a vegan fast casual eatery, PLNT Burger, this week inside Whole Foods Market in Silver Spring, Maryland. The restaurant will serve burgers featuring Beyond Meat patties and will also offer herbed French fries, seasonal chopped salad, fresh-brewed Honest Tea and oat-milk-based soft serve created by the founders of Dolcezza Gelateria, according to VegNews.  

Mendelsohn, who has appeared on "Top Chef" and other cooking shows on Bravo TV and the Food Network, said he first discovered Beyond Meat after meeting the company's executive chairman, Seth Goldman, while participating on a panel. Mendelsohn said he was "blown away" by the meat substitute and decided to create a business using it. 

"Americans consume around 50 billion burgers a year, and in the U.S., they rank as the number-one selling item on 80% of menus they appear on," Mendelsohn told VegNews. "With increasing consumer concerns around the negative health and environmental impact of conventional meat, there's an insatiable demand for products that provide the same flavor and experience as traditional burgers, but are derived from plants. I saw this business as an opportunity to diversify my restaurant portfolio and create a huge impact."

A variety of fast casual restaurants, including Chanticleer,  Chronic Tacos, Freebirds and PizzaRev, have added Beyond Meat offerings to their menus over the past couple of years.