I’m sitting in Rovi in London, one of Yotam Ottolenghi’s restaurants, with a selection of small plates. The ingredients read almost like a gastronomic dictionary, a multi-textured, multicoloured assault on the senses. There’s vivid coal-roasted beetroot with dried shiso leaf of an almost iridescent pink, many-hued pickles, celeriac shawarma with bkeila and fermented tomato.
Ottolenghi has probably done more than any other individual to change the way we think of vegetarian and vegan food – who doesn’t have one of his books on their bookshelf? But his innovative dishes, with their spices, pickles and ferments, may be harder to match with wine than the hearty, bean-rich vegetarian fare of the 1970s.
Although she has customers who favour classic wines such as Chardonnay, Rovi’s manager Jelena Prosevic leans towards aromatic whites, rosés and skin-contact orange wines, many of which would be described as ‘natural’. She impressively brings out a dark rosé with the beetroot, an orange wine with the signature celeriac shawarma and a pét-nat with the pickles.
Most – but not all – vegetable-focused restaurants go down a similar natural-wine route. Sommelier David Havlik of Gauthier Soho, one of the UK’s longest-established vegan restaurants, is among the exceptions. ‘There is an expectation that vegans tend to be particularly keen on funky, natural wines, but in my experience, the opposite is the case,’ he says. ‘People simply want there to be no animals involved; they don’t necessarily want their entire culinary world to go crazy.’
It’s more a question, he continues, of learning to deal with more subtle flavours. ‘Vegan food removes the obvious safety blankets we are all used to, the main one being what we assume is “protein” but is actually fat – the animal fat found in meat and dairy.’
The importance of umami
James Lowe of Lyle’s in Shoreditch, which has always offered a vegetarian option, acknowledges that there’s a challenge. ‘We strive to get the same impact in terms of flavours with vegetables as we do with dishes that contain animal proteins,’ he says. ‘We do things like concentrate juices or reduce water content in vegetables to increase flavour. We ferment vegetables or make misos with them, both methods that always seem to lend themselves well to pairing with both wines and ciders.’
‘A key element in meat-and fish-based dishes is umami, that delicious, satisfying savouriness,’ says Carolyn Martin of Creation, a South African winery that has explored food and wine pairing more systematically than any other producer I can think of. She gets her chefs to play with umami-rich ingredients including tomatoes, mushrooms and seaweeds such as kombu. ‘Drying, fermentation and cooking processes, layering, sauces and marinades also enhance umami.’
Time of year also plays an important part in pairing plant-based dishes, as Nick Hand of the Sri Lankan restaurant Paradise in Soho points out. ‘There is a greater seasonality with vegetables than other ingredients,’ he says. ‘In summer, wines with high acidity and minerality often complement the lightness of seasonal vegetables, while in winter, a more robust wine can add depth.’
According to Josephine Williams, the sommelier at Vanderlyle in Cambridge, many vegetables have a natural sweetness that can jinx a pairing. ‘That’s not to say I gravitate towards wines with residual sugar necessarily, but it does need acknowledging to make sure the sweetness doesn’t throw the pairing out of balance. For me, dry red wines with high levels of drying or chewy tannins seem to clash a little with the sweeter veg, so I tend to opt for wines with a softer structure.’
Innovative restaurant pairings for plant-based dishes
Grilled Hispi cabbage with chestnut & porcini butter with Babylonstoren, Chardonnay, Simonsberg-Paarl, South Africa 2023
Jelena Prosevic, Rovi: ‘Some of our customers look for conventional pairings and this rich Chardonnay works perfectly with these flavours.’
£23.50-£26.95 Cellar Door Wines, Harris & Co, Hedley Wright, K&L, Salusbury Winestore, Vinotopia, Wanderlust Wine. Alcohol 14%
Soy cream and dashi tortellini with black truffle with Domaine Luneau-Papin, Vera Cruz, Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine, Loire, France 2022
David Havlik, Gauthier Soho: ‘We need something to both handle the creaminess and tame the truffles, and the complexity and extensive ageing on the lees in this [biodynamic] wine does exactly that.’
£26.95 AG Wines, Vinvm. Alc 12%
Credit: Hannah Warren
Cashew parfait with Denbies, Demi-Sec, Surrey, England NV
Josephine Williams, Vanderlyle: ‘The parfait is rich and unctuous with a serious savoury character – not unlike a foie gras or liver paté. The touch of sweetness the demi-sec is a nod to a classic foie gras-Sauternes pairing while not jumping in at the deep end of dessert wine.’
£19.95-£23.99 Denbies Wine Estate, Grape Britannia. Alc 12%
Mung bean bobotie with turmeric, coconut and cashew nut custard, sundried tomato salsa with Creation, Syrah-Grenache, Walker Bay, South Africa 2022
Carolyn Martin, Creation Wines: ‘A well-endowed Rhône-style blend with intense flavours of ripe plum, black pepper and tapenade. The wine’s fruity and spicy flavours complement the mung bean bobotie’s nutty, spicy, creamy texture.’
£21.49-£25.90 All About Wine, Corking Wines, Great Wines Direct, Strictly Wine. Alc 14%
