These plant-based restaurants are energizing Philly’s vegan scene

There’s a cabbage on fire at Pietramala, and it’s glowing like a leafy lantern beacon over the oak wood grill at Ian Graye’s four-month-old vegan hot spot in Northern Liberties. This isn’t just any cabbage. This crunchy, conical head of heirloom Caraflex is brined overnight, poached with kombu and herbs, then, after a charring kiss over the flames, is destined for a silky white celery root sauce dappled with spicy green wasabina mustard oil and a nose-tingling whiff of grated horseradish.

The end result is fragrant, complex, and deeply satisfying. This elaborate treatment for produce, an effort once reserved for animal-based proteins, meat stocks, and dairy-enriched sauces, is now the new standard for plant-based cooking in Philadelphia. Of course, this town has always been a hub of vegan energy with ambitious standbys like Vedge and Charlie was a sinner., which have long offered sophisticated alternatives to the vegan junk food of seitan cheesesteaks and Impossible burgers that are now ubiquitous.

The culinary talent, varied techniques, and culture have flourished over the past decade — bolstered by better ingredients from innovative local producers like Bandit cheese, Mycopolitan mushrooms, and specialty growers like Green Meadow Farm — putting the spotlight on vegetables vs. the old quest to simply replace meats. I have a list of favorite recent bites from across the city’s diverse vegan scene — from fancy tasting menus to comfort food, sushi, and Mexican pozole — that prove the best omnivore restaurants are now crafting quality vegan options, too.

» READ MORE: 19 plant-based dishes, from sushi to salatim, to try in Philly

Three of the most exciting exclusively plant-based kitchens in Philly right now — two newcomers and a veteran coming into her own — are helping push the conversation forward.

You’ve heard this story before: Chef leaves the meat grinder of New York for Philly’s more affordable land of opportunity. Pop-ups lead to a starter BYOB, and soon comes the glowing buzz of a town that covets new talent. That script certainly applies to Ian Graye, 37, the Queens native who moved here when his gig at Blue Hill at Stone Barns ended at the outset of the pandemic. Graye, who also worked at Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s abcV and Marco Canora’s Hearth, has brought a genuinely fresh voice to Philly’s plant-based scene in this cozy revamp of the Northern Liberties space previously occupied by Blackbird Pizza and Koo Zee Doo.

His focus on live fire, fermentation, and relationships with farms like Taproot and Robin Hill Organics has resulted in intricate dishes that layer flavors, textures, and seasonal nuance and set Pietramala apart. Among the most memorable was a tall, hollowed cylinder of delicata squash, rubbed with smoked maple syrup and roasted fresh like a steak over the coals, that came stuffed with creamy cashew ricotta along with smoked macadamia pesto and black walnut dukka.

Green Meadow Farm’s heirloom polenta is turned vivid green with pureed spinach and tatsoi, then teased with the cave-aged funk of Maverick, one of the distinctive cashew-and-coconut milk cheeses made in the Bok building by Bandit (formerly Conscious Cultures). Fried lion’s mane mushrooms from Mycopolitan are confit to herb-infused moistness then fried into some stellar nuggets streaked with sweet-and-sour Jimmy Nardello jelly. A smoky maitake is the ultimate umami bomb, nestled like a bear paw into mashed potatoes ringed by an intense pea miso tamari that takes three days to make.

Pietramala’s focus on pasta was a mild disappointment, its extruded noodles gummy rather than snappy, and often oversauced. A fascinating take on cacio e pepe sauced with pureed lacto-fermented white sweet potatoes and four different peppercorns needed just a glaze of the flavorful concoction, not a dousing. Similarly, the pungent finishing touch of grated house stinky tofu added one too many bold flavors to a spicy rigatoni that was already boisterous with carrot ‘nduja, three shades of fennel, and gochujang. Such missteps are easy enough to recalibrate. And I’d rather someone swung big than timidly struck out. Graye’s instinct to go bold at Pietramala is already a win. Pietramala, 614 N. Second St., 215-970-9541 ; pietramalaphl.com

» READ MORE: Craig LaBan's guide to vegan dishes in Philly

Over a 20-year kitchen career ranging from ¡Pasión! to Royal Tavern, Khyber Pass, and Cantina Los Caballitos, Mark McKinney has cooked more meat than most chefs in Philadelphia. He’s also been a vegan, on and off, since 1990. So why did it take until 2021 for him to finally open a place where he could cook the food he loves? He had to overcome alcoholism, says McKinney, 52, who credits the pandemic-triggered loss of his job at a bar as the moment he decided to get sober and bet on himself.

The result in Primary Plant Based is the one vegan restaurant in Philadelphia I’d most enjoy visiting once a week. McKinney’s humble attitude infuses the former Cadence space near Fishtown with an unpretentious and casual neighborhood vibe. And yet the menu showcases some of the most creative scratch vegetable cooking in town, emphasizing the best produce from local farms in hearty, globe-hopping inspirations that reflect McKinney’s eclectic career.

His masa ball soup with corn flour dumplings floating in earthy guajillo broth is a full-flavored Mexican riff on the matzo ball canon. Korean-style kimchi pancakes come topped with crunchy slices of confit celery root “sashimi” topped with chia seeds bloomed like caviar with tamari. Cardoons are braised into lusciously tender stalks that taste like artichoke hearts for a po-boy-style sandwich with a mushroom version of the debris gravy from Parasol’s in New Orleans. Yuba skins marinated with beet juice anchor the Yeuben sandwich with “Ukraine sauce.” Sopes, meticulously made by McKinney’s longtime colleague, Toluca-born Zeferino Cruz, come with smoked frijoles and charred ancho salsa. Cauliflower al ajillo features heirloom florettes from Green Meadow Farm over a garlicky shishito queso with warm tortillas and lipstick red dabs of salsa made of charred tomato, arbol, and almonds.

Stick with the fresh apple fritters for dessert; the fruit crisp was a microwaved disappointment. It was an odd and unnecessary shortcut for a restaurant that’s generally so satisfying because it takes very few. Primary Plant Based, 161 W. Girard Ave., 267-360-2305; primaryplantbased.com

» READ MORE: How to eat more plant-based food in Philly

Rachel Klein isn’t out to shock anyone. “Delicious and familiar” are the words that define her aesthetic as the chef creates menus for the coveted tasting menu dinners at Miss Rachel’s Pantry. Having spent the first part of her career catering weddings where the bride may have been the only vegan in the room, Klein was always well aware her food may be many guests’ first introduction to plant-based cooking: “Food was made to show us love and culture, not make people say ‘What the f— is this?’ There’s place for that, but not here.”

A plate of warm biscuits with herbed spread, like the ones that launch the multicourse meals behind the glass garage door of this charmingly converted warehouse space in South Philadelphia, could put any vegan skeptic at ease. But then so could the silky rutabaga soup, lightly creamed with coconut milk and topped with a crispy fritter of rutabaga and apple chutney.

A pretty pedestal of kuri squash mounded with whipped tofu ricotta, harissa, hazelnut granola, and watermelon radish was all about textures and shades of earthy sweetness. Intricately pleated cappellacci filled with cashew cheese and caper-brined carrot “lox” evoke a Jewish ravioli dream, served over the same golden vegetable broth Klein uses for her excellent vegan matzo ball soup, sold by the pint at the popular monthly soup stock-ups. Pastry chef Carley Leibowitz’s beautifully moist spice cake with citrusy frosting and buttered rum ice cream was the perfectly delicious dessert reply of refined comfort to the warm biscuits that started the meal.

If Inquirer subscribers haven’t read much about Klein over the years, that’s because she’s the daughter of Inquirer staffer Michael Klein, and we do our best to avoid conflicts of interest. But after 12 years as one of the vegan scene’s trendsetters, Klein is deserving of recognition. There’s a reason her monthly postings of a dozen-plus dinners, at $105 per person for five courses including gratuity, regularly sell out within an hour. Since reopening for inside dining in 2021, she’s refocused on making beautiful food on plates (with off-premise catering now on pause). And it’s fair to say she and her outgoing staff have simply turned Miss Rachel’s Pantry into one of the most lovely and thoughtful date night BYOB dining experiences in South Philadelphia, vegan or otherwise. Miss Rachel’s Pantry, 1938 S. Chadwick St., 215-798-0053; missrachelspantry.com