Showing how “plant-based food can indeed be sublime,” as the company’s motto states, Fort Lauderdale–based Sublime Restaurant & Bar makes you feel extra-good about eating vegan because it donates one-hundred percent of its profits to animal welfare.

Is this your first restaurant?

Yes.

When did it open?

2003.

Do you want to have more than one restaurant?

Perhaps.

What’s your favorite dish on the menu?

All, but especially the fire-roasted artichoke with panko and garlic “butter.”

What’s your most popular appetizer?

Frito Misto, with crispy cauliflower, sweet chili sauce, and sesame seed.

What’s the most popular entrée on the menu?

Vegetable lasagna.

What’s your most popular dessert?

The coconut cake.

What do you feel is special about your restaurant?

Sublime donates one-hundred percent of its profits to animal welfare.

How often do you change your menu items? Do you have daily or weekly specials?

We change our menu items regularly. We have specials based on the availability of ingredients from our garden.

Do you have gluten-free, soy-free, and sugar-free options on your menu?

Yes, we have gluten-free and soy-free items.

What do you do to reduce your environmental impact?

Sublime has an aggressive recycling program, serves water purified on site (instead of bottled water), and uses state-of-the-art energy-monitoring equipment.

What are the most important lessons you’ve learned as owner or chef of this restaurant?

Listen to guests, not salespeople.

What led you to want to open a vegan restaurant, and/or what led you to the vegan diet yourself?

Wanting people to have the opportunity to experience sublime vegan cuisine in a sublime atmosphere. Animals raised and tortured for food suffer in great numbers every second, and humans can help to reduce the suffering. It’s all about what people choose to eat.

In the time since your restaurant first opened, how has the plant-based food movement changed? Do you find more demand now for vegan food?

The plant-based food movement has changed, with a growing number of people becoming informed of the health benefits. Thus, more demand for vegan food.

Since your restaurant first opened, has your view of what constitutes healthy or delicious foods changed? Have you changed the types of foods you offer?

Although the menu changes, my view regarding healthy or delicious food has not changed.

Where do you see the plant-based food movement going in coming years?

Meat, dairy, and egg substitutes will continue to improve and become more Sublime. More establishments, such as arenas and cruise ships, will offer plant-based food because it is a good business decision.

This spicy Asian dish gives you a hint of the tropics with its inclusion of coconut milk in the sauce.

Thai Red Curry

Serves 4–6

For the red curry sauce:

1 14-ounce can coconut milk

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon red curry paste

2 teaspoons lime juice

Pinch sea salt

Pinch white pepper

For the vegetables and rice:

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 cup broccoli florets

½ cup sliced celery

½ cup julienned carrots

½ cup sliced onions

½ cup julienned red peppers

½ cup sugar snap peas

¼ cup cilantro

¼ cup sliced scallions

½ cup sliced water chestnuts

½ cup bean sprouts

Drizzle sesame oil

To assemble:

2 cups jasmine rice (cooked or steamed according to package)

Cilantro and scallions (garnish)

Whisk all ingredients for the red curry sauce together until curry paste is well blended and set aside.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large sauté pan over a medium-high burner. Sauté all vegetables together, except water chestnuts and bean sprouts, for 5 to 7 minutes until they begin to crisp. When the other vegetables are crisp, toss in the water chestnuts and sprouts along with a drizzle of sesame oil. Sauté another minute. Add red curry sauce, stir together, and remove from heat.

To assemble: Place the rice in the center of dish, scoop vegetables on top of rice, and pour the curry sauce around the edge of the rice. Garnish with cilantro and scallions.

Sublime Apple Crumb Pie à la Mode (see photo on page 233)

Makes one 9" pie

For the pie dough:

1¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons vegan butter substitute

3 tablespoons shortening

½ cup ice water

For the oatmeal streusel:

2¼ tablespoons vegan butter substitute

2½ tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons brown sugar

5 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2½ tablespoons oats

Pinch cinnamon

For the filling:

8 Granny Smith apples

1⅓ cups sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

5 tablespoons vegan butter substitute

½ cup currants

2 tablespoons cornstarch

For the pie dough: Mix together the flour and salt. Use dough cutter to cut butter and shortening into the flour until crumbles are about the size of quarters. Slowly add in ice water sparingly (amount may vary). Keep the dough floury and dry. Wrap and refrigerate while preparing streusel and filling.

For the oatmeal streusel: Add the vegan butter and sugar to a mixing bowl. Using a mixer, cream together the butter and sugar, mixing well. Combine the brown sugar, flour, oats, and cinnamon in a bowl and whisk together. Add the dry mixture to the butter mix and combine.

For the filling: Peel and core apples, cut into quarters, and then slice them into thin slices. Cook the apples in a large pot on the stovetop over medium heat with sugar, cinnamon, vegan butter, and currants until half cooked, al dente (cooked so as to be firm but not hard). Remove and drain the juices into a container. Place those drained juices into the pot and bring to a boil. Make a slurry by whisking water with cornstarch until you achieve a thin, muddy consistency, and then add the slurry to the pot of apple juices boiling on the stove. Bring to a boil for about 10 minutes while stirring carefully and cook the starch out. It will become a little thicker and not as light. Stir apples back into the cornstarch and apple reduction mix. Remove from the heat and set aside.

To assemble: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll the piecrust out on a floured surface and place it into a 9" greased pie pan. Fill the pie shell with the apple mixture. Top with about ¼" streusel. Place the pie pan into the heated oven and bake for about 30 to 40 minutes. Remove and let it cool before cutting. Serve with a scoop of your favorite vegan vanilla ice cream.