[As published in West Palm Beach Magazine]
If plants could be considered art, then the owners of Planta are modern-day Picassos. You’d never know it by the taste, but their burgers are made of marinated herbs. The ahi tuna roll is made with watermelon that’s been marinated overnight, topped with fresh ginger, and citrus soy, over sticky rice. The bowl of tuna tartare is made with richly flavored beets over freshly sliced avocado drizzled with a light soy sauce. Feeling indulgent? Try a side dish of yummy tater tots made with cauliflower. That’s just for starters!
What do you get when you take two restauranteurs: a businessman and a great chef, both with extraordinary culinary backgrounds and vision to showcase an upscale, celebrity favorite serving a broad range of veggie-centric dishes across cuisines and two markets?
Planta.
Planta’s dishes are 100 percent a work of art. And they’re best experienced sitting inside its trendy, upscale restaurant drinking your favorite mojito. Everyone, not just vegans, is gravitating to this new establishment, and for good reason. It’s good.
The restaurant made quite the splash in Toronto, Canada five years ago when Steve Salm, president of Chase Hospitality, and Chef David Lee joined forces and began to develop and manage a successful restaurant company focused on plant-based cuisine. With items like the Planta Burger, made of fried mushrooms, tofu steak, lettuce, pickles, aioli, and barbecue spice, and other elevated plant-based dishes you need to know about, they’ve taken guests on a culinary journey.
At present, the Planta brand has half a dozen locations, with four in Toronto and two in the greater Miami area. The newest opening is located in Rosemary Square in West Palm Beach, with more locations opening in the fall. For Salm and Lee, toggling between two countries not only opens the door to form partnerships with more local growers in two very distinct climates but an opportunity to build a large plant-based community hub. “You can’t eat burgers and fries seven days a week. You have to be good to your body,” says Lee. “It’s what people want—and that’s what we’re seeing.” We met with Salm and Lee and the conversation was as fresh and delightful as their Planta menu. [Read more]