Why vegan food is the future: chef Matthew Kenney puts his faith in plant-based menus as Covid-19 takes its toll on restaurants

Kenney recently opened vegetarian restaurants in California, New York, and Buenos Aires as he bets on growth in plant-based food and snaps up good real estate

Notable investors such as Saudi prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal and tech entrepreneur Kyle Vogt have backed Kenney’s efforts to expand

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Vegan dishes are displayed at Fresh & Raw: A Vegan Dinner hosted by Matthew Kenney, Daphne Cheng and Tyler Kord as a part of the Bank of America Dinner Series during the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival at the Park Lane Hotel, New York, the US. Photo: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images for NYCWFF

Published: 8:15pm, 12 Dec 2020Updated: 7:22pm, 13 Dec 2020

As the number of restaurants that have closed soars across the United States – nearly one in six since the start of the pandemic – Matthew Kenney sees opportunity to grow.

The Los Angeles-based chef has opened five vegetarian restaurants since September in California, New York, and Buenos Aires, with plans to add at least eight others to his international roster of more than 25 Matthew Kenney Cuisine establishments. The locations are spread around the globe, from Dubai to Los Cabos, Mexico, featuring concepts like the pizza-focused Double Zero and Sestina, which specialises in plant-based Italian.

Kenney is pushing forward with that goal even as a November surge of Covid-19 led Los Angeles authorities to limit service to takeaway, and as the National Restaurant Association (NRA) reports that about 100,000 restaurants have closed across the country this year.

Pre-pandemic, the food industry added an average of 10,000 restaurants a year, according to a spokesperson for the NRA.

Kenney attends the plant-based movement’s “Plant the Revolution” panel discussion organised by Elmhurst 1925 at Gracias Madre in West Hollywood, California. Photo: Rachel Murray/Getty Images for Elmhurst 1925

“We’re finding it a very attractive industry to grow in,” Kenney, 56, says. Two forces are driving his optimism: rising demand for plant-based food – even McDonald’s is testing the McPlant, while the meat-free market is expected to hit US$74.2 billion by 2027 – and vacancies creating opportunities for real estate deals.