Every year, the chefs at the Beverly Hilton are tasked with feeding Hollywood’s finest at the Golden Globes: this year, the guest list includes Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lopez, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Eddie Murphy alone. So what do you serve a ballroom with so much star-power? Matthew Morgan, Executive Chef has an answer: vegan cuisine.
For 2020, the entire Golden Globes menu will be meat and dairy free. The decision was made by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, but Morgan was more than happy to oblige.
“As long term partners of the HFPA, we are pleased to support their decision to offer an entirely plant-based menu for the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards. Our talented culinary team is excited to create dynamic plant-based offerings,” Morgan said in a statement.
What are dynamic plant-based offerings, you ask? Well, for starters, an appetizer of chilled golden beet soup—a perfect accompaniment to those gleaming statuettes. Then, there’s a main course of King Oyster Mushroom scallops that, at least visually, are dead ringers for their pescatarian counterparts. The entrée is accompanied with wild mushroom risotto, Brussels sprouts, globe carrots, and pea tendrils.
For dessert, there’s a vegan opera dome with praline Gunaja crumble and caramelized hazelnuts. (Is your mouth watering yet?)
Although veganism hasn’t been considered a niche diet for years, the award show’s culinary choice is just another example of how mainstream it’s become. Vegan options are now available in fast food restaurants—Burger King serves a whopper with an Impossible Burger patty, and KFC is experimenting with BeyondMeat fried “chicken.” Disney World, too, is majorly upping its vegan offerings, adding 400 plant-based dishes to its theme park menus. And there’s empirical data to show an American lifestyle change is afoot: according to The Economist, a quarter of 25 to 34-year-old Americans say they are vegan or vegetarian. After all, now that things like vegan chocolate opera domes exist, cutting out animal products doesn’t seem like much of a challenge—especially when you consider all the health and environmental benefits.
