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Ninety-five percent of diners at Plates, the UK’s first Michelin-starred vegan restaurant, are meat eaters.
Kirk Haworth, the chef and co-owner of Plates, has said that most people who eat at his restaurant still eat meat or fish elsewhere. The Plates dining room seats approximately 25 guests, and is typically fully booked for weeks in advance.
Read more: Nearly A Quarter Of Consumers Identify As ‘Meat Reducers’ Or Flexitarians
In an interview with Reuters, Haworth said that he wants customers to judge his food based purely on taste and avoids the vegan label as much as possible.
“I always say we’re a fine dining restaurant. I don’t say that we’re vegan,” Haworth told Reuters. “Food should be judged on flavor,” he added, and recalled one diner who declared himself a “changed man” partway through eating his meal.
The Plates tasting menu currently includes: house-laminated sourdough bread with whipped butter, Maldon salt, and barbecued tomato broth; barbecued Maitake mushroom with black bean mole, kimchi, aioli, and puffed rice; slow-cooked baby carrots with Sancho pepper, poached pear, and frozen tarragon; Thai green cappuccino with coco beans and vanilla; Cornish potatoes with toasted hazelnut and sweet-and-sour apricot; caramelised Lions Mane mushroom with blackberries, beetroot, gem lettuce, and hibiscus; rice pudding ice cream, olive oil, chewy beets, and mulberries; and warm cacao sponge, parsnip ice cream, black apple, chestnut, raw caramel, and Buddha’s hand, a sweet, all-rind variety of citron.
It costs £109 per person, plus drink pairing.
Read more: The Best Vegan Michelin-Starred Restaurants To Visit In 2025
Plates showcases food to ‘make the palate feel alive’
While Haworth doesn’t enjoy seeing the word “vegan” on a menu, he told the Guardian earlier this year that plant-based cooking was “not a trend,” adding, “Not for me, anyway. I’ve been doing it for eight years, and it’s just in my soul now.”
He co-founded Plates with his sister, Keeley Haworth, in 2024, and the restaurant gained its Michelin star in February 2025. After winning the award, Haworth emphasized that their restaurant is “all about flavour, excitement, and innovation.”
“We’re not trying to replace meat or make things look like fish,” Haworth told Reuters. “We showcase acidity, umami, and layers that make the palate feel alive.” He also said that he and Keeley had no plans for expansion, but that they do plan to refine the dining experience with a view to potentially earning a second Michelin star.
“The process is the most fun part,” said Haworth.
