Why Plant-Based Menus Are the Secret Weapon for High-End Hospitality (And How to Make Them Unforgettable)…
Aquafaba pavlova with citrus, figs and berries - an elegant yet cost effective vegan dessert for luxury menus.
The Rise of Plant-Based Expectations in Luxury Travel
Luxury travelers are no longer satisfied with tired tofu cubes and sad side salads.
Plant-based dining has moved far beyond a fringe request. For today’s luxury travelers, especially those drawn to wellness focused destinations, it’s an expectation.
Guests are looking for menus that reflect their values - sustainablity, health and aesthetic refinement.
For boutique hotels and retreats, this isn’t just about accommodating preferences, it’s about staying relevant. The right plant-forward offering doesn’t just meet dietary requirements. It elevates brand perception and becomes a signature part of your guest experience.
Beyond the Buzzwords – What Today’s Guests Actually Want
The wellness guest of 2025 is discerning. They’re not looking for bland health food offerings or performative avocado toast.
They crave dishes that nourish more than the body - designed with indulgence, intelligence and obsessive intent.
They don’t want to just feel seen - they want to be remembered.
That’s where neurogastronomy comes in – using sensory design (sounds, sights, colours, aromas, temperatures, textures & blends) to elevate a meal into something unforgettable.
It’s not about checking the ‘vegan’ box. It’s about leaving an emotional imprint.
The Business Case: ROI-Driven Menu Engineering
Plant-based design isn’t just a wellness trend – it's a revenue strategy. With smart menu engineering, plant-forward dishes can actually increase margins by:
Highlighting seasonal produce over expensive traditional proteins
Reducing food waste via crossed utilized ingredients
Enable smaller portion sizes without sacrificing value (thanks to rich flavours and artistic plating)
And here’s the kicker: the veto vote effect. When a group is deciding where to dine or which retreat to book, that one plant-based eater often holds the group’s entire decisioning power. If your property doesn’t offer intentional plant-based options, immediately you risk losing not just one guest, but the whole group.
From Plate to Memory – Designing the Unforgettable
This is where plant-based luxury dining thrives.
A thoughtfully plated dish – glazed heirloom carrots in an edible garden, or a vegan cheeseboard with house fermented elements – becomes a conversation. A photograph. A memory.
Using principles from neurogastronomy, I design food that invites full-body presence:
Curated music to complement flavour notes
Textures that surprise and delight
Dishes that communicate at first glance
These aren’t gimmicks.
They’re the tools of emotional retention. And in hospitality, memory is currency.
One Framework, Many Locations – Scalable Menu Concepts
Properties with multiple venues often struggle with consistency vs creativity. I believe in designing customizable yet flexible templates – strategic menu frameworks that adapt to each location using local, sustainable ingredients, cultural touches and seasonal shifts.
No two menus need to be identical. But they should all carry the same DNA:
Refined plant-forward elegance
Local inspiration
Operational feasibility for real-world teams
This is what makes a plant-based program scalable across properties, without losing soul.
Final Bite – It's Not a Trend. It’s the Future.
The conversation around plant-based hospitality isn’t going away. It’s expanding – fast. And the properties who embrace it now, with intention and intelligence, will become the destinations of choice for a new wave of high-end travelers.
Done right, plant-based hospitality doesn’t just nourish:
It teaches.
It elevates.
And it sells – long after check-out.
In an upcoming post, I’ll walk through a real-world case study – a behind the scenes look at how I built a plant-based menu for a two-day retreat, including design choices, plating strategies and guest reactions.