Long gone are the days of vegan cuisine existing solely as boring salads and mushy patties. Animal products don't dictate yum, as veggies, fruits, herbs, nuts, and grains have the power to offer a whole world of flavor.
Hiranth Jaysinghe — Executive Chef and COO of vegan quick-service restaurant Plant Junkie at 226 Front Street in Manhattan, N.Y. — knows a thing or two about harnessing the tasty powers of plant-based food, as he's specialized in vegan cooking for over two decades and is a vegan himself.
When Chef Jaysinghe joined forces with veteran NYC restaurateur Nat Milner, aka Plant Junkie's CEO, they used their "over 50 combined years of NYC restaurant experience" to bring global vegan magic to The Big Apple in 2019. The co-founders envisioned a world where accessible and diverse plant-based comfort food could be a reality, offering everything from Bangkok Noodle Drop bowls to Roma Bowls with plant-based Italian sausage.
"People can basically take a trip around the world when you come and try our food," Chef Jaysinghe tells Green Matters via phone.
Plant Junkie's Bangkok Curry Bowl
In an exclusive interview with Green Matters, Chef Hiranth Jaysinghe discussed his vegan cooking journey, incorporating his Sri Lankan background into his cuisine, and how Plant Junkie is changing NYC's vegan dining experience.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
GREEN MATTERS: Can you tell us about your NYC restaurant experience?
CHEF HIRANTH JAYSINGHE: I moved to New York in, maybe, 1990. I started working at the Natural Gourmet Institute. It's an all-plant-based cooking school started by Annemarie Colbin. They gave me a scholarship to go through their cooking program. I was also working in New York for mainstream restaurants. I worked with David Bouley, David Burke, and Richard Lee. When I finished cooking school, I went to San Francisco and worked at the vegan restaurant Millennium. Four or five years later, the school offered me a job as an instructor, which I did for seven years. While doing all this, I also worked as a private chef for high-end clients, did consulting work, and I helped open the vegan restaurant Blossom in the Chelsea area. From there, I did consulting work for Nat Milner, and that's how I met him.
GM: You blend “down-home American comfort food” with your Sri Lankan roots. Can you tell us more about how your style of vegan cooking can appeal to a wide range of people?
CHJ: Growing up in Sri Lanka, we are a very food-oriented culture. As a family, everybody's involved in the cooking. My dad used to travel to Western countries for his job. He would come back and make dishes from England, France, and Germany. As a kid, it was very fascinating trying different types of Western food.
I moved to America when I was 18 and went to college in North Carolina. Throughout my college time, I worked in healthy, hippie-style restaurants in Asheville, so I enjoyed cooking and became vegetarian when I was 22 or 23. After college, I moved to California, and worked in different restaurants. About 15 years ago, I became vegan.
I actually got the opportunity to cook for people like Bill Gates, Beyoncé, and Megyn Kelly, and I used to be RuPaul's private chef. Even though they were not vegans, they would still enjoy trying vegan stuff.
GM: You previously said you noticed a lack of diverse vegan dining options. So, over the last five years, have you seen a change? Is Plant Junkie part of that change?
CHJ: I think so. Before, especially in New York, it was Caravan Of Dreams and Souen, and they'd often serve, like, brown rice dishes. Even if you went to a fine dining restaurant a while back, all you got was a plate of grilled vegetables with mashed potatoes as your vegan option.
Now, with modern technology and more exposure, there are more options, even things like vegan tunas. Plant Junkie has global cuisine, and it lets people see vegan food doesn't have to be, like, a veggie burger. You can do a Thai dish, or Sri Lankan, Mexican, and Indonesian.
GM: What’s your favorite item on the menu and what makes it unique and sustainable?
CHJ: My favorite is the Sri Lankan Bhudda Bowl, which has different curries from Sri Lanka. I also like our Thai dish that we have. And we have a Moroccan plate, which is also nice.
We do use some processed things, like the Beyond burgers, but at least that causes less damage to the planet than eating beef. These massive farms create so many issues, from water usage to hurting animals to gas emissions. Even if you are not vegan, if you eat something vegan even once a week, it makes a difference.
“Greenovation” is a series from Green Matters that invites founders of companies that are not only disrupting industries, but also trying to change the planet for the better.
