In the heart of New York City’s vibrant West Village, Chef Santiago Astudillo is busy working on exciting vegetable-forward dishes at The Wesley, where more than half of the upscale restaurant’s curated menu is vegan.
Starters range from gem lettuce dressed with vegan Caesar, smoked breadcrumbs, and black garlic to an Earthy beet salad served with kabocha squash, fennel, sunflower seeds, and almond ricotta.
The Wesley
Astudillo’s embrace of plant-based cuisine in the upscale dining setting reflects a broader shift in dining preferences towards health-conscious and sustainable choices. A direction that other NYC chefs, most notably Daniel Humm of Eleven Madison Park, have also followed.
“The inspiration to focus on plant-based dishes comes from a personal evolution of how I eat and what I perceive as healthy,” Astudillo tells VegNews. “I think it aligns with the…