HUNGRY FOR MORE

Restaurant photos clockwise from left: PlantPub; Littleburg; Double Zero, Littleburg

HUNGRY for MORE As vegan options abound, the demand for plant-based restaurants in Boston and throughout New England is on the rise: there’s a slew of local vegan eateries turning out delicious dishes that you should know about.

The new PlantPub, scheduled to open across from Fenway Park this year, is likely to make a huge dent in the Greater Boston food scene. What’s equally good news for area diners who are plant-based or just plantcurious is that there are many other options nearby including the original PlantPub vegan food and beer hall in Cambridge. Co-owners Pat McCauley and Mary

Dumont, head chef, opened PlantPub in

Kendall Square in September 2021. Earlier this year, they partnered with international celebrity chef Matthew Kenney in the

PlantPub brand, which includes the larger

Fenway location and plans for additional

PlantPubs elsewhere. The Cambridge restaurant’s menu, overseen by Dumont, an award-winning chef, includes small bites like

Buffalo cauliflower wings and chili ques fries, burgers, and a variety of pizzas ranging from pepperoni to wild mushroom truffle

The garlic fingers “appetier” (it’s huge and can easily feed a family of four) is made with organic dough, roasted garlic, scallions and melted mozzarella, and comes with herbed ranch and basil marinara dipping sauces.

In neighboring Somerville, veg diners will find Littleburg, which opened in spring 2021 and serves Mediterranean food from the garage front of a former catering kitchen. Owner Graham Boswell says the made-from-scratch Greek pita bread and gyros are a huge hit with customers, as are the stuffed flatbreads and hush puppies with a variety of vegetables mixed into the batter. “We’ve slowly built-up a following,” says Boswell, who admits that opening during a pandemic presented challenges, but adds that his customer base has grown steadily “They like that we make stuff from scratch that has great ingredients and really great flavor.”

The St. Louis native, who moved to Boston in 2010 to attend Boston University, said he hopes to open a sitdown restaurant in the future.

“I think we’re finally at a place where the future looks bright for vegan dining,” Boswell says. “I’m vegan because I’m a food lover and I want to eat things that reflect my values.”

Vegan dishes include endless veggie delights along with burgers, pizza, and pasta.

Other Somerville options include True Bistro, a fine-dining eatery that serves globally inspired food, and Taco Party, a kitschy counter-serve spot that offers a meatless Mexican menu featuring innovative veggie tacos.

The newest addition to the Boston vegan scene is Double Zero—an Italian-themed restaurant known for its pizzas and calzones made with finely ground double zero flour for the crust—which opened on Newbury Street in June 2021. Some pizza favorites include artichoke (with tomato, spinach, garlic cream, balsamic, and shallots) and bianca (with macadamia ricotta, cashew mozzarella, parmesan, rice mozzarella, pepperoncini, rapini, and plant yolk. Non-pizza menu items that are also customer favorites include cacio e pepe with parmesan and black pepper cashew cream and pasta Bolognese with walnut mushroom ragout. Double Zero is owned by Kenney, who has other Double Zero restaurants in Providence (at Plant City), New York City (Manhattan and Brooklyn), Baltimore, and Los Angeles.

Other popular Boston vegan restaurants include The Grasshopper, My Thai Vegan Café, Oasis Vegan Veggie Parlor, Ramen Red White, and LuLu Green. NEL

Veg-Out

While the Boston-area and beyond plant-based dining scene in Massachusetts is on the upswing, there are many new—and some not-so-new— restaurants in other cities and towns throughout New England that are meat- and dairy-free. Below is a state-by-state breakdown of some of our favorite plant-based, go-to eateries:

Connecticut

Three Girls Vegan Creamery, Guilford Three Girls Downtown, Guilford Arles & Boggs Vegan Eatery, Wallingford

Rhode Island

Plant City, Providence PiANTA, Providence

New Hampshire

Col’s Kitchen, Concord The Valley Vegan Café & Crystal Shop, North Conway

Vermont

Pingali Café, Burlington Flavors of Our Travels, Rutland

Maine

Copper Branch, Portland Lovebird Donuts, Kittery