30 Plants a Week: The Botanist Launches Veg-Packed Summer Menu So You Can Eat Yours in One Meal
Move over five-a-day, experts now say we should be grazing on 30 different plants a week, aiming for variety over volume. Backed by recent research from nutritionists, the ‘30 plants’ concept shows that eating a wide variety of plant-based foods is key to supporting not just gut health and immunity, but also better overall wellbeing.
While it sounds like a lot to sow into your weekly routine, The Botanist’s nourishing new summer menu, packed with vegetables, fruit, legumes, nuts, herbs and spices, makes it easy to branch out. Launching across its restaurants on Wednesday 23rd April, the menu celebrates the best of botany while still offering the laid-back, comforting classics it's become known for, including an upgrade to its famous hanging kebabs.
Celebrating plants by name, and now by nature, The Botanist’s new menu includes an abundance of plants, so guests can dig into fresh, seasonal flavours across a range of small plates, sharing boards, mains, ‘garden sides’, and puddings. Some combinations will even provide you with your 30 ‘plant points’ in one meal, such as the Allotment Board (10 plants), followed by the Gardener’s Pie served with herby mash (16 plants) and finished off with the Plant Pot Pud (5 plants). And technically, a shot of espresso counts (1 plant) – whichever way you like it.
If protein is more your thing, The Botanist’s fan-favourite dish has also had an upgrade. The bar & restaurant group sells over half a million (680,000) of its Famous Hanging Kebabs™ per year with three kebabs being served to diners every minute. Fans of the iconic dish can get excited about the new Signature Kebabs, including Slow Marinated Steak, served medium with green garlic butter and properly seasoned fries, Giant Piri Piri Chicken, a double skewer of grilled chicken thigh which also comes with fries, and Turmeric Spiced Tofu, served with garlic herb yoghurt and pomegranate couscous salad.
Bright new dishes on the menu include the Allotment Board, which comes piled with raw rainbow heritage carrots, candy beetroot, chicory and radishes with big green tops, served with a Green Goddess herb dip, the Gardener’s Pie for two, with Tenderstem broccoli, garden peas, spinach, cannellini beans, sweet leeks and carrots in a creamy vintage cheddar & tarragon sauce topped with puff pastry brushed with dill and sorrel leaves, and the Chicken Schnitzel, served with green garlic butter, celeriac & apple slaw and properly seasoned fries.
Comfort food classic, sausage and mash, has even had a botanical update; The Botanist’s Cumberland Sausage is glazed in red onion marmalade and skewered with a sprig of rosemary, then served with herby mash, minted peas, thyme gravy and crispy onions.
And to round things off properly, The Botanist’s new Plant Pot Pud is three miniature pots of joy, featuring a mini plant pot banoffee sundae, plant pot vanilla creme brûlée topped with fruit and even a pot of chocolate mousse with edible chocolate soil. The sharing trio are served with miniature shovels so customers can really dig in.
Development Chef at The Botanist, Guy Greaves said: “As a chef, it's been a joy to celebrate the best of botany across our menu. We’re all-in with plants when it comes to restaurant design and now, we’ve pulled that love of botany into our new menu. We’re celebrating fresh veg, fruit, herbs and spices and the best the season has to offer.”
Dishes on the new menu start from £7.75 for small plates, £15.50 for mains and £8.75 for desserts. To find your nearest bar & restaurant and book your table visit https://thebotanist.uk.com/.
