From shondaland.com
Curious about embarking on a meatless holiday? These destinations are digging deep when it comes to plant-based escapes
Forks around the world dropped when one of the world’s most lauded restaurants, Eleven Madison Park, reopened in New York after the pandemic with an entirely vegan menu. The restaurant’s chef Daniel Humm wanted to similarly transition to a plant-based smorgasbord at his restaurant Davies and Brook inside the famed Claridge’s in London. The hotel balked, prompting him to leave the business arrangement. Apparently, they didn’t get the message: Vegan cuisine isn’t going anywhere.
As the demand for plant-based fare continues to take root, veganism is now inspiring the travel industry to rethink its culinary approaches. For meat- and cheese-free travellers, finding restaurants in vacation destinations with compelling vegan options has usually been a tricky endeavour, sometimes resulting in totally unsatisfying meals or mistaken meat consumption.
“As people have taken steps towards a more vegan lifestyle, travel has needed to adjust as well,” says Vegans, Baby founder Diana Edelman, whose vegan food blog and tour company aims to make traveling as a vegan easier with special dining guides, events, and trips. In June, Edelman is leading a plant-based journey across South Africa with tour company Alluring Africa.
From major cities to far-flung beaches, hotels and resorts catering specifically to vegan travellers are sprouting up around the world. The vast majority emphasize sustainability and conscientiousness, and they span price ranges, allowing vegan travellers to opt for economical escapes or luxurious splurges.
Vegetarian-friendly hotel database Vegan Welcome currently lists 135 hotels in 22 countries, according to its founder and CEO Thomas Klein, who also operates Veggie Hotels. Of those 135 venues, 18 are exclusively vegan. “The number of vegan hotels has grown a lot in the last five years,” Klein attests. “We get requests [to be listed] from hotels almost daily.”
The properties include La Vimea in the alpine region of Northern Italy. This adults-only, eco-friendly resort bills itself as the first vegan hotel in Italy. The 40-room property uses local produce and organic ingredients to create entirely vegan menus for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, including plenty of pasta.
Across the Atlantic, YO1 Health Resort boasts the only vegan restaurant in the upstate New York town of Monticello. Its kitchen is outfitted with a glass divider where guests can watch and learn how chefs create plant-based dishes, ranging from butternut squash chowder to eggplant rollatini.
In a country known for sausages and meat-heavy meals, Germany’s Lindenberg bucks tradition with a trio of vegan hotels in Frankfurt. (The brand is opening a fourth on the other side of the globe in Bali this year.) The company sources fruits, herbs, and vegetables from its own permaculture in the Taunus mountain range.
“We have decided to go purely vegan as a consequence of our own knowledge development as humans in the environment of a young hospitality business,” says Lindenberg managing director Denise Omurca. “As we collectively strive to be sustainable and conscious of what we do and how we do it, there are a variety of outcomes at the end of each day. Being plant-based is just one of them.”
Palmaïa, the House of AïA recently debuted in Mexico’s Playa del Carmen as an eco-friendly, vegan-only haven. From yoga to meditation, a wide range of wellness rituals are paired with dishes like smoked carrot toast and a piled-high meatless burger. The menu isn’t the only vegan offering; the bath products are as well.
The trend is catching on beyond boutique hotels. Mainstream travel industry behemoths are increasingly making moves to accommodate vegan travellers, including Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises and Sandals resorts, which have greatly expanded vegan options on their menus in recent years. The ships of Virgin Voyages, which launched in 2021, feature the stylish veggie-focused eatery Razzle Dazzle.
While travellers should obviously be open to a meatless diet before booking a stay at a vegan-only venue, it’s not a requirement. “I have heard that the clientele of these resorts are often not vegan,” says Veg Jaunts and Journeys CEO Kim Giovacco. “They would like to try a healthier way of eating, and if they enjoy the food while on vacation, they might then feel comfortable trying to cook some vegan meals at home.”
There are a variety of reasons to adopt a vegan diet, including boosting nutritional value, avoiding animal cruelty, and decreasing ecological impact. As plant-based eating continues to spread, both vegans and the vegan-curious will have more options to travel wider and eat better.
For omnivorous travel journalist Ali Wunderman, who recently stayed at Palmaïa and NewTree Ranch in Healdsburg, California, a trip to such properties can act as a trial run. “Vegan-only resorts give vegan-curious travellers the chance to try on the vegan lifestyle for the duration of their stay,” she says, “so they go home with a deeper understanding of how versatile and delicious a vegan lifestyle can be.”
Katie Lockhart is a food and travel writer who has contributed to Travel + Leisure, Conde Nast Traveler, Robb Report, CNN, and Zagat. Follow her on Twitter at @fndyrhappyplate.
https://www.shondaland.com/live/travel-food/a40104204/the-growing-trend-of-vegan-vacations/
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