
How to cook a vegan paradise restaurant
It’s one of the biggest vegan restaurants in Melbourne, but it’s been in the news for years for its unorthodox methods and controversial ingredients.
It was featured in the documentary ‘Nail Paradise’, which is broadcast on ABC television.
The film has also sparked a debate about how vegans should cook.
‘It’s about the way you cook food, it’s about how you eat out, it is about the food itself, it has a very particular way of cooking it, and so, I think, the vegan community has really gone a little bit over the top with the idea of ‘Oh, we should cook this way because that’s the way we cook, that’s how we do it’.
‘It doesn’t exist in reality.
‘The thing about nail paradise is that you do get to eat vegan food at it.
It’s not just vegan food.
‘What you get is really good, and it’s really tasty.
‘I’m not really vegan, but I love the idea that if you can make something that’s vegan, it becomes part of your life.
‘If you’re vegetarian, it can be very difficult to eat vegetarian food because you don’t know how it’s made.
‘But if you’ve got the right kind of vegan cooking you can really enjoy it.
‘You’re going to love it.
You’re going the extra mile.’
What you can expect at nail paradise The restaurant has a small kitchen and three separate areas, each with a different food preparation area.
In one of those, you’ll find veggie burgers, and in another, a grilled chicken salad.
‘Nails are all different,’ said Chef Russell.
‘There’s vegan beef, veggie chicken, vegan sausage, veg bologna, and veggie ham.
‘We’re not just using vegan meat, we’re also using meat that has been slaughtered, so you can have meat from the farm that’s been treated with hormones and antibiotics and processed into a product that’s different to what you normally eat.’
If you have meat that’s grown in a way that’s completely different to your normal diet, then you’re going in for a really different experience.’
Chef Russell, who has been working at the restaurant for nearly two decades, said that the vegan menus were ‘based on what I know about how animals are raised and slaughtered and the way people think of animals, and the ways they think of meat.’
‘So it’s not something that I’ve been trained to do, so it’s quite a difficult concept for me to do.’
You’re really trying to go in and recreate that vegan lifestyle that you’ve always had.’
The only thing that you’ll get that’s really vegan is the meat, and you’re not going to get that vegan meat from an animal raised in a different way, it’ll be from a factory.
‘So we’re just trying to recreate the veggie food that you get at nail parlours.
‘In terms of the veg menu, we use lots of fresh vegetables, but also veg, we go into it with vegan cheeses, we make a lot of sauces, and we try to make the sauces really flavourful.
‘At nail parlor, the chefs have a really strong flavour to them and we don’t use artificial flavours, we don-‘We just want to make veggie meat, not a meat like at a restaurant.’
And if you’re looking for a different sort of vegan experience, chef Russell added, there are also vegan pizzas and a veggie bar.
‘And for people who aren’t vegetarian, the bar is really special, it was built with a vegan theme, so if you want to get a vegan pizza, it will have a vegan recipe and the toppings, it doesn’t have to be made by a vegan.
‘Just like at nail restaurant, if you go there and want a vegan burger, you can order it from a vegan menu.
‘Noise is just an added bonus.
‘People really enjoy their diners coming out and having a conversation with the chef and not having to leave their own house.
‘For example, they’ll come out and have a discussion about how they like the steak and they’ll be eating the steak with a veg side, and they just want it to be good.’
But for those who want to experiment with vegan food, the chef said that you can do that as well.
‘A lot of people come to nail paradise with an idea of trying vegan cooking, so they’re not vegan.
But they just say ‘I’ll do it, I’ll do a vegetarian dish, I’m not going into veganism, so that’s a great way to try vegan cooking,’ he said.’
So, if they say ‘Hey, I want to try a veggo’, then they can come and get a veggy burger, and that’s another way to experiment.
‘One of the great things about