Marco Pierre White to sell 3D-printed vegan ‘steaks’ in his UK restaurants

The acclaimed chef says he was ‘mind-blown’ by the meat alternative

(PA)

Diners will soon be able to eat 3D-printed vegan “steaks” at celebrity chef Marco Pierre White’s restaurants across the UK.

White plans to sell the meat alternative, created by Israeli company Redefine Meat, for £20 to £30 at his steakhouses and three other London restaurants, similar price points to their beef counterparts.

Redefine Meat uses ingredients including soy and pea protein, beetroot, chickpeas, and coconut fat to make its fake steaks.

The company uses 3D printing and artificial intelligence to recreate the muscle fibres of animal meat, producing what it describes as “juicy yet firm” steaks that taste like real beef or lamb.

When White first tasted the products, he told The Telegraph he was “mind-blown”, adding: “The world needs to eat less meat, but the reality is that until now plant-based meat products have fallen way short in terms of the quality and versatility required for our menus.”

Redefine Meat first launched its 3D-printed steak in June 2020 and planned to roll it out to restaurants in Europe in 2021 and in supermarkets in 2022.

On top of White’s restaurants, the company will also provide “premium-quality” burgers, sausages, lamb kebabs and ground beef to restaurants in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands.

Eshchar Ben-Shitrit, chief executive and founder of Redefine Meat, told the Guardian that some of the feedback the company has received from vegans is that the 3D-printed steak is “too much like meat”.

“Personally, I don’t eat meat,” he said. “I think it’s wrong to kill animals and eat them. But in order to get the flexitarian, it’s better to disregard the opinion of the vegan.”

White, whose steakhouses are renowned for serving fine cuts like fillet, rib-eye and chateaubriand, said in 2019 he had previously experimented with going vegan for nine months.

He told Birmingham What’s On at the time that although he slept better, had more energy and lost weight while on a vegan diet – as well as cutting carbs, alcohol and smoking – he decided it wasn’t for him.

“I found myself staring at roast chickens and roast beef. Cheese boards were staring at me, almost to the point where I though they were moving… I was never full. I was always hungry. I was never comforted.”

In 1994, White became the youngest chef to be awarded three Michelin stars at the age of 32 for his establishment Restaurant Marco Pierre White in London. However, he famously handed them back to the Michelin Guide five years later in rejection of the rating system.