Monday is meatless at Mario’s

Vegetarian entrées make the menu

By Culinate staff

May 6, 2010

When we think of Mario Batali, we usually think pork belly, not broccoli — but that may be about to change. Now, according to the Meatless Monday organizers, at least two meatless items will appear on Mondays in all 14 of the chef's restaurants.

Meatless Monday — a nonprofit initiative based at Johns Hopkins University — is working to cut meat consumption in the United States by 15 percent, and with Batali’s endorsement, the organization moves a little closer to achieving that goal.

What’s more, Batali may just be the start of a new movement among chefs. Notes Kim O’Donnel, who’s writing her own book on meatless eating for meat lovers:

Could more chefs be following Batali’s orange Crocs-ed footsteps? In an interview on “60 Minutes,” chef Jose Andres described meat as “overrated” and shared his prediction that “the future is vegetables and fruits.”

Meanwhile, at the James Beard awards, an interviewer asked chefs about the next big trend in food, and several of them agreed: vegetables.