Byron Burger Banks on Fake Meat to Turn Its Fortunes Around

Byron is the largest U.K. burger chain so far to use Beyond Meat

London burger chain Honest Burgers were early adopters, but Byron, with its 53 locations, is the most significant U.K. restaurant chain so far to introduce Beyond Meat’s bleeding vegan burger to its menu. Byron, which recently received £10 million of investment, has hired Sophie Michell as food director, and closed 19 restaurants after its finances collapsed, is bringing in ‘The Truffler’ and ‘Cali Cheese.’ The former offers truffle ‘cheese’ sauce alongside portobello mushroom, truffled vegan mayonnaise, crispy onions, and lettuce; the latter comprises vegan cheddar, roasted garlic vegan aioli, smoked tomato ketchup, red onion, pickle, and lettuce. It’s a marked improvement on the ill-fated, kind of weird ‘flexitarian’ burger that saw beef and mushroom combine; it also puts the restaurant group ahead of the likes of Gourmet Burger Kitchen, in a field where reticence to innovate has proved devastating. Time will tell if it will really be enough; it’s also a coup for Beyond Meat, getting ahead of Impossible Foods’ struggles to bring its burger based on plants to the U.K. [Plant Based News]

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• Good tweet: