ste ws Vegetarian
Richard Knight
What’s not to like about a
hearty stew of vegetables
when chefs get creative.
By Karen Weisberg
WHEN it’s cold outside, nothing is
quite as satisfyingly as a bowl of stew. For
sure, there’s a stew within the idiom of
just about every cuisine, and vegetables
are invariably at its base. Indeed, some
savvy chefs seeking to offer memorable
vegetarian options simply omit the
nonvegetarian ingredients from an existing
menued item. The remaining combo of
vegetables, slow-cooked in a tasty sauce,
This Panade of Fennel, Wild Mushrooms and Oranges at Feast contains
layers of winter greens, mushrooms and croutons, plus grated goat
cheese/Manchego. At service, it’s sprinkled with fresh thyme and nutmeg.
invariably yields a delicious, and cost-effective, stew.
At Feast in Houston, co-owners/co-chefs
Richard Knight and James Silk put time
and care into their vegetarian recipes,
even though vegetarian is far from the
focus of their wide-ranging, sometimes
edgy menu, one side of which features
standards while the other side uses what
Knight refers to as “some of the weirder
bits—nose to tail.”
DECONSTRUCTION
Feast has at least one vegetarian entrée
available (typically, $18 vs. $22-$26 for
meat entrées). “To create vegetarian, we
often deconstruct meat dishes,” Knight says.
“It’s just a little more difficult to get the layers
distinctive and make the flavors interesting.”
