With interest in the farm to table movement and sourcing local greens at an all-time high, it's no surprise to see veggie burgers taking center stage on menus across the city.
At Genuine Superette, chef Brad Farmerie is making believers out of meat eaters by using Portobello mushrooms.
"Veggie burgers are taking over the world, especially America," said Farmerie. "When we came up with the concept of our veggie burger, we didn't want to pigeonhole it for vegetarians or vegans. We actually wanted to open it up and make it a damn good burger, so we wanted real deep rich flavors which of course Portobello mushrooms have."
The quick service restaurant recently opened a downstairs bar at its Little Italy location, Genuine Liquorette, where guests can order the veggie burger with cocktails or beer for a slightly healthier night out.
The parmesean cheese is amazing on the veggie burger, gives it a nice little salty kick. This is probably my second veggie burger in my life, so I have been personally missing out. If you're on the go and you need a quick bite to fill you up on a half an hour lunch break, this will absolutely do the trick."
In the West Village, by CHLOE offers an all vegan menu highlighted by burgers that are spicy or sweet, depending on your preference.
"We offer two burgers: our classic veggie burger, it's chia lentil walnut patty topped with a beet ketchup," said Chloe Coscarelli, a chef and partner in the business that bears her name. "Our most popular burger is our guac burger, that is a black bean, quinoa, sweet potato patty, topped with a chipotle aoili, smashed avocado, fresh corn salsa."
Whether its topped with guacamole, beet ketchup, or secret sauce, guests will find familiarity in these burgers, even if the meat has gone missing in action.
Overall, the "burgers" at by CHLOE taste super fresh. I hate to say I'm going to give up on meat forever, probably not, but I've been thoroughly impressed so far with the veggie burgers I've had.