Would you spend more than $100 a person on a gourmet seven-course meal created entirely of vegetables?
Judging by the growing popularity of vegetarian tasting menus at some of the nation’s most celebrated restaurants — including several in the Washington area — the answer is a decided yes.
From the glittering new Per Se in New York, where a nine-course vegetable tasting menu is $175 a person, to the posh Maestro in McLean, where a five-course meal from the “Colors of the Garden” menu is $105, to the innovative Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago and its $115-a-person vegetable menu, ambitious chefs are presenting diners with stunning multi-course meals that don’t contain a scrap of meat, poultry or fish.
And they aren’t apologizing for the cost, either. Exceptional vegetable courses that look and taste like works of art take as much or more time to do well as any other dishes, chefs say.