Met Gala 2021 to Have a Plant-based Menu This Year; Meet the 10 Chefs

As part of its broader objective of diversity and inclusiveness, the 2021 Met Gala will offer its first completely plant-based cuisine. The major fashion event, which was originally planned to take place in May but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic until September 13, would focus on the topic of American fashion. Timothée Chalamet, vegan artist Billie Eilish, tennis sensation Naomi Osaka, and National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman will co-chair the 2021 Met Gala. Guests will be given a chef-crafted, plant-based cuisine, a first for the annual fundraising event created in 1948 to benefit the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Previously, the Met Gala exclusively provided catered meals; however, this year, event organiser and Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour entrusted renowned chef Marcus Samuelsson with producing a modern American dining experience that matched the event’s objectives of more inclusiveness and diversity.

Fariyal Abdullahi, Nasim Alikhani, Emma Bengtsson, Lazarus Lynch, Junghyun Park, Erik Ramirez, Thomas Raquel, Sophia Roe, Simone Tong, and Fabian von Hauske are among the ten NYC-based chefs that took part in Samuelsson. The chefs will collaborate to serve “picnic-style” delicacies like as watermelon salad and roasted potato skins to gala attendees this year.

American food is experiencing a rebirth of its own, as shown by the news this summer that famous NYC fine-dining restaurant Eleven Madison Park will transition to a largely plant-based menu. Samuelsson made a point of capturing this moment through his choice of chefs, who vary from Instagram creators to chefs in well-known restaurants. While Emma is the first female Swedish chef to receive two Michelin stars, while Fabian co-owns the hotspot Contra. Junghyun is the owner of Atomix, a Korean fine-dining establishment. Also, the menu itself is entirely free of animal products.

“We thought it was important to really talk about what’s present, what’s happening—how food is changing in America,” Samuelsson told Bon Appétit. “We want to be the future of American food, of plant-based food. That conversation is happening now.” Ahead to the Met Gala, the experts and Vogue will publish their recipes with #MetGalaChefs on Instagram Reels, the first being Roe’s vegan version on a Niçoise salad.

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