Zrou x Blossom Vegetarian: Doubling-Down on Plant-Based Splendor

Ever since the plant-based community started putting down roots in Beijing’s dining scene, the conversation has largely revolved around Western restaurants getting in on the craze and the fact that the vast majority of those restaurants have menus catering to omnivores. Recently, however, one restaurant bucked the trend. Blossom Vegetarian 花开素食 is both a Chinese restaurant and, as the name suggests, vegetarian. Yet, it wasn’t until three months ago that they decided to embrace the alternative meat trend and team up with Shanghai’s plant-based meat purveyor Zrou to add an astounding ten new dishes to the menu.

Blossom Vegetarian began in 2008 as Bo Wei Tang, a smaller joint focused on homestyle vegetarian food inside the Fourth Ring Road. Seeing moderate success with that endeavor, in 2014, executive chef Zhang Caoyou and owner Mr. Li decided to expand their enterprise and moved into the two-story building they currently occupy between Gui Jie and Dongzhimen. Unfortunately, their ambitions to take on a considerably larger space were initially premature. As Zhang explains, the restaurant struggled in its early years given Beijing’s small vegetarian community at the time. What’s more, Blossom’s bent towards fine dining meant an even fewer amount of people were looking to splurge on fancy plant-based meals.

Incidentally, those first few years coincided with a 2013 anti-corruption initiative put forth by the capital’s government, which included a policy that stipulated civil servants could no longer purchase pricey meals on the public’s dime. Inspired by this, restaurants across the city, including Blossom, set about looking for ways to operate more affordably. As a result, by 2017, Blossom Vegetarian had a revamped menu, improved technology, and younger talent entering the industry with innovative ideas. Likewise, at this point, plant-based diets were gaining popularity in Beijing, as the city fostered a growing awareness of environmental protection, food safety, and personal health.

Today, Blossom is a stalwart of the city’s vegetarian scene, and even earned itself a Michelin Plate award earlier this year for its “nouvelle vegan food” and “photogenic dishes that feel novel and vibrant.” All of which begs the question: If Blossom had already become an award-winning vegetarian restaurant, helmed by a chef with more than 15 years of experience cooking plant-based dishes, why would they choose to add alternative meat to their menu?

The answer is quite simple says chef Zhang. “As a vegetarian restaurant choices for raw materials are limited – mushroom, veggies, fruit – that’s pretty much it. So Zrou filled the gap and it can integrate into many dishes, so customers can get the flavor of meat without actually eating meat.” And despite the fact that more than a few alternative meat purveyors approached Blossom looking to collaborate, it was Zrou’s commitment to using fresh, locally sourced ingredients such as non-genetically modified soybeans, konjac, coconut oil, and shiitake mushrooms that sealed the deal.

Over the course of one month, Zhang’s new menu underwent three trials, during which time he worked diligently to address three factors in working with the new product. First, he wanted to get the flavor as close to pork as possible. As he explains, “Zrou has very little additives so it’s quite versatile.” Second, he wanted to understand the product as deeply and fundamentally as he understands the myriad other ingredients he works with, nailing its preparation down to a science. And lastly, in true Blossom Vegetarian fashion, he wanted to get the dishes plated just right.

Now, customers can enjoy a truly iconic spread of traditional Chinese meat dishes fit for plant-based palates including zhajiang noodle, fried pork with pepper and hemp, crispy breaded Zrou pancake, bamboo fungus with signature soup, boiled meat, dongpo plain elbow, golden melon and glutinous rice meatballs, crystal pork, black barbecued pork, and sufu jinxiang cake. All ten dishes can be purchased as a set menu for RMB 398 or ordered a la carte.

So what’s next for Blossom Vegetarian? According to chef Zhang, the restaurant plans to unveil a line of ready-made Zrou meals including jiaozi and meatballs that can be delivered to customers who either can’t afford to dine at the restaurant or live too far from it. When those meals launch, orders can be placed through Blossom’s official WeChat account (ID: huakaisushi-64012228) or the vegan lifestyle WeChat account, taihewanwu.

Blossom Vegetarian 花开素食

Daily, 11am-9pm. 144 Dongzhimen Neidajie, Dongcheng District

东城区东直门内大街144号

This is a sponsor post paid by Zrou

Images courtesy of Zrou

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