Meatless meals created with thought and skill command customer loyalty and premium prices. How often have you heard or seen a variation on the following: “We don’t have any vegetarian items on the menu, but the chef will be delighted to create one for you.” This is realistic and occurs every day in many hotels and restaurants.

Why does this happen? Restaurant servers may respond that “people don’t come here for vegetarian dishes, they come for our great steaks (or seafood, barbecue, etc.).” Or you may have tried putting a vegetarian item on the menu but no one ordered it. Finally, you might operate under the assumption that you’ll make anything the guest asks for if you have the ingredients, and your vegetarian customers seem pleased with that.

There are less obvious reasons. “I can’t charge the same amount as I do for my seafood and meat items,” for example. This isn’t correct, but it reflects the inferiority some restaurateurs have about their vegetarian culinary ability. “Who would pay $20 for vegetables?” It’s the wrong question. The right question is, “What can I create that has the same levels of creativity and complexity as my best items and leaves the customer wanting more, wanting to come back?”

This isn’t a plea to save animals or a tribute to World Vegetarian Day. It’s a reminder to stay in touch with trends. Consider some recent findings:

• Vegetarian meals aren’t just for vegetarians. Although New York City-based Harris Interactive reports that three percent of Americans are everyday vegetarians, a March 2010 New American Diner Study finds that 23 percent of consumers are eating more meatless entrées than they did a year ago. Meanwhile, 40 percent of non-vegetarians say they sometimes order vegetarian or vegan menu items just because they sound good.
  
• Young people drive the trend. Late 2009’s Harris Interactive Poll commissioned by the Vegetarian Resource Group asked adults about eating meat (“meat” did not include poultry or fish). Eight percent said they never eat meat. The demographic details are telling. For example, the percentage nearly doubles among students to 15 percent. For females 18 to 34, it’s 12 percent. Even for males in the 18 to 34 age group, it’s nine percent. See www.vrg.org/press/2009poll.htm.
  
• Females drive the trend. Women are 60 percent more likely to be vegetarians than men (source: Psychology Today).
  
• Vegetarian entrées support other trends, such as sustainability and healthy eating.
  
• The best establishments and chefs already offer standout vegetarian items. Of course, there’s Steve Wynn and the restaurants at Wynn Las Vegas and Encore that added or expanded their vegan offerings. But Google “top restaurants” for any major city—even those in the Midwest with fewer vegetarians, percentage-wise, than coastal cities—and download their menus. I did this and found eight of the “10 best” had at least one enticing vegetarian item on the menu.

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