Plant-A-Palooza has a dish for everyone

BALLARAT hospitality venues are celebrating International Vegetarian Day by taking part in Plant-A-Palooza, a vegetarian and vegan food festival running until Sunday.

The Commerce Ballarat and Plate Up Ballarat event has at least 15 eateries on board from Lola, to the Shared Table, to Hop Temple, serving up a variety of creative and delicious plant-based or meat-free dishes.

CB development and executive assistant, Zoe Becker said the festival is another opportunity to activate the hospitality industry and promote venues that are operating in the challenging COVID climate.

“This is a carry-on of all the Plate Up events we’ve been running, and we’ve taken on a lot of feedback from the community about wanting some vegan and vegetarian options,” she said.

“We’ve made a festival that caters for that, that’s different, and is a bit more diverse in its offerings.”

The menu currently includes The Gatehouse Ballarat’s cauliflower stew, Mitchell Harris’ kung pao cauliflower, The Tin Roof’s Mexican vegan burger, The Flying Horse Bistro’s mushroom risotto, Drive Café’s tofu scramble, The Boatshed’s vegan toastie, Freight Bar’s cauliflower steak, and Country Casseroles vegetarian lasagne.

Lola’s Sri Lankan curry, The Shared Table’s mushroom kiev, The Gold House Hotel’s vegan pizza, Azzuri’s pan fried beetroot gnocchi, Schnitz Ballarat’s garden of eden wrap or burger, and the Hop Temple’s nacho mac and cheese are also on offer.

“Some venues are offering dine-in, but if you can’t get a table, even though the weekend is meant to be nice weather, takeaway is still definitely a good option,” Ms Becker said.

Plant-A-Palooza runs from today, Thursday, 1 October until Sunday, 4 October.

Visit plateupballarat.com.au/plantapalooza.