![]() ![]() We were the first-ever company to bring an entire team and concept into Whole Foods, which became PLNT Burger. Seth reached out to me and said ' have this opportunity to test within Whole Foods we had become really good friends by that point so I agreed to test it out. I think that's something he missed since he started and grew Honest Tea and sold it to Coca-Cola. I started doing content for Beyond so we all became familiar with each other.Īfter the IPO of Beyond, Seth had more time to think about how he wanted to go back into start-up mode. I was always that guy pitching new products to the market. But, he knew about my experience such as helping launch the first Beyond Meat sausage to Whole Foods when it came to market. There are all these ingredients I've never worked with before, like sorghum.Ĭhef Spike Mendelsohn: I'm a serial entrepreneur so when I got a taste of my first ever Beyond Meat burger I was like hey, we have to open a fast-food burger and Seth didn't really know me too well at that point. I've been cooking for a while so I compare it to an artist who paints with the same set of colors for their entire life and imagines someone came in and swapped their color palette with a bunch of new colors, that's kind of how I looked at the plant-based movement. There was a ton of ingredients I have never worked with in the past like Beyond Meat which really opened me up to this new world then before you know it people were sending me all kinds of products like vegan butter, vegan whipped cream, all sorts of stuff. As you know, vegetables make up about three-fourths of the plate but I never considered them as the center of the plate, as I do now. The Beet: How was the transition to plant-based chef?Ĭhef Spike Mendelsohn: I've been cooking vegetables my whole entire life as a chef. ![]() Since then 9 other PLNTs have opened, but the first stand-alone brick-and-mortar storefront is in New York City, just south of Union Square. In the conversations that followed, the two decided to partner on a fast-food chain to bring this sustainable meat alternative to the world and launched it in Whole Foods in the Silver Springs, MD area just outside DC. Mendelsohn recalls being in shock at how delicious the Beyond burgers tasted, and with his wife's support, he got involved with Beyond Meat, helping launch the brand's vegan sausage in Whole Foods and pitching new products and placements. He has since nicknamed Mendelsohn "the burger king." When Mendelsohn got the meat alternative home, he was impressed at the texture and how similarly it cooked and tasted just like real meat "It just so happened to be that Spike's wife was vegan," Goldman recalls. At the time the company was preparing for its IPO. Goldman, sitting near Mendelsohn, had a secret weapon under his chair: a pack of Beyond Meat burgers, and he told the chef to go home and cook these and let him know what he thought. I can't get enough of that dish.The start of Mendelsohn's new plant-based venture dates back three years when he was speaking at a food conference in Washington D.C., where founders and investors were on the panel, including entrepreneur Seth Goldman, co-founder of Honest Tea, and at the time, the executive chairman of Beyond Meat. I'm going to have to go with my own cauliflower purée, kimchi slaw and BBQ sweetbreads with kimchi vinaigrette. What was the best meal you ate on the trip? There was a beautiful spa, pool, game room, movie theatre, parties with great music, more food and of course, a 24 hour casino. It was a Top Chef cruise, so they had an unlimited amount of food and drinks. It was great to be with all my Top Chef buddies and be surrounded by the amazing fans.Ĭan you give us a mini review of the trip's accommodations? Honestly, there really wasn't any lowlight. The deal was that if I won, she had to name her baby after me! The highlight had to have been beating a pregnant lady in the finals of my ping pong tournament. Alas, it actually turned out to be a real cruise.Ī little bit of both, but mostly pleasure. ![]() At first, I thought it was a hoax - that we were all invited back for another round of Top Chef competitions and that each chef that lost would be kicked off and left at the port with their knives. I just arrived back from the Top Chef cruise, which went to Key West, FL and Cozumel, Mexico. ![]()
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