Photo courtesy of PLNT Burger
PLNT Burger is the brainchild of Top Chef contestant Spike Mendelsohn, who brings reinvented American fare to the Main Line.
A new restaurant has joined the ranks within Wynnewood’s Whole Foods Market. Chef Spike Mendelsohn, known for his appearance on reality TV cooking show Top Chef, debuted a new PLNT Burger there last month. The vegan menu features reimagined American cuisine with a focus on burgers.
The plant-based burgers, made with Beyond Meat patties, run the gamut from the traditional PLNT burger, topped with tomato, lettuce, pickles and sauce, to a mushroom-bacon-barbecue one. A chili bowl—ground Beyond Meat, beans, tomatoes, green onions and vegan shredded cheese—a crispy vegan chicken sandwich, salads and sides like fries round out the menu. There’s also a selection of Beyond Meat hot dogs.
For plant-based food skeptics, Mendelsohn says, “First and foremost, it’s delicious. You have everything that you would want out of a burger spot—slightly greasy, meaty, hot, and delicious.”
Hoping to make vegan a more enticing option, Mendelsohn has purposefully priced the menu to be delicious and affordable to encourage restaurant goers to try plant-based diets, which may help mitigate the environmental impact of meat.
“[PLNT Burger isn’t] necessarily for vegans or vegetarians, it’s for people that are just looking for something alternative to red meat but still love to eat America’s favorite style of food,” Mendelsohn adds. “It doesn’t matter if it comes from animal protein or plant-based. If it eats like a burger, tastes like a burger, acts like a burger, it’s a burger.”
Though the Wynnewood location is the first in Pennsylvania, other PLNT Burger locations have already sprung up in the Maryland and Washington, D.C. Mendelsohn hopes to continue opening locations across the country, with outposts like Wynnewood serving as a blueprint for sharing sustainable and delicious food.
“What you choose to eat actually has an effect on climate change,” Mendelsohn says. “You vote every time you choose what to eat, you vote with the diet. When people decide to spend money at our restaurants, they’re also investing in our mission.”
15 E. Wynnewood Road, Wynnewood, (610) 936-9777.
