Plant-based fine dining retreats as elite restaurants return to meat, limiting career paths for vegan chefs

The world of high-end vegan cuisine is facing a significant contraction, creating new challenges for aspiring plant-based chefs seeking training opportunities in elite kitchens. The shift became starkly apparent when New York’s prestigious Eleven Madison Park—the first restaurant to earn three Michelin stars for a fully plant-based menu—announced it would reintroduce meat and dairy options in 2025, citing financial pressures and a desire to attract broader clientele.

This reversal has ripple effects beyond individual restaurants. For culinary students like Letícia Dias and Autumn Henson, who were pursuing careers in plant-based cuisine, the narrowing landscape means fewer opportunities to gain the specialized skills needed for high-end vegan cooking. These techniques—from advanced seasonal preparation methods to molecular gastronomy applications like spherification—require dedicated training environments that are becoming increasingly rare.

The broader trend reflects a cultural shift away from plant-based dining after its pandemic-era peak, when the industry expanded by 27 percent. At least 20 well-known vegan restaurants closed in New York City alone in 2025, with few new plant-based establishments opening to replace them. Even culinary education is adapting: the Institute of Culinary Education recently reintroduced poultry and seafood into its previously vegetarian program.

This contraction has implications beyond individual careers. Fine dining traditionally serves as a testing ground for culinary innovations that eventually influence mainstream restaurants and consumer preferences. As fewer elite kitchens commit to plant-based cooking, the development and spread of sophisticated vegetable-centered techniques—critical for making sustainable diets both appealing and culturally relevant—may slow significantly at a time when experts emphasize the environmental necessity of reducing meat consumption.