This post was updated on March 15th, 2017 with giveaway winner.
I attended the Spring Plant-Powered dinner as a guest of Vert’s Mediterranean Grill. All opinions are my own and I was not asked by Vert’s to share this experience, I’m doing so because I truly enjoy dining there!
Vert’s Mediterranean Grill’s Spring Plant-Powered dinner showcased culinary creativity, featuring flavor Spring ingredients!
What do you think of when you think Vert’s Mediterranean Grill?
I used to think of Mediterranean food in a Chipotle-esque type atmosphere. A ‘choose your own adventure’ type meal — whether it be bowl, wrap, or salad where you mix in your favorite protein, toppings and sauces. The end result was always great food, that’s super filling, super fresh, and super flavorful. Believe it or not, Vert’s Mediterranean Grill is seriously the only fast-food (fast-casual) restaurant I’ll eat it (ask <3M — there’s no BK, Wendy’s or Whataburger in our life).
Vert’s Plant-Powered Tablescape
Based on my above confession, it’s obvious that I love Vert’s Mediterranean Grill but last month, I had a significantly different experience at Vert’s when I was invited to their Spring Plant-Powered dinner at their test kitchen near the UT Campus. This experience solidified my love for Vert’s Mediterranean Grill! It also reinforced how much Vert’s cares about ingredients, culinary creativity, and the overall dining experience!
Plant-Powered Menu
Simply walking into the dinner last month, I knew the entire meal experience was going to be different than previous ventures into Vert’s. <3M & I were greeted with a glass of sparking rose that I couldn’t put down the entire night — Graham Beck Brut Rose might be a new favorite and one I’m still craving today! When looking around the restaurant, I noticed that the tablescapes were beautifully decorated to match the Plant-Powered theme with eucalyptus leaves, seasonal vegetables like bright purple cabbage & beets, and elegant floating votives.
Vert’s also amped up individual place settings with earthy, wooden plate chargers, gold sparkly placemats, gold utensils and the world’s prettiest geo-shaped napkin rings! Each setting was personalized with place-cards written in gold paint on a real leaf. They truly went above and beyond to set the tone for this meal — classy, yet fresh and comforting and of course, delicious.
Grapefruit and Holy Basil Gin & Tonic / Marinated Olives & Carrots / Black Eye Pea Hummus
I truly enjoyed the Spring Plant-Powered dinner at Vert’s Mediterranean. With each dish I sampled, I was beyond impressed with how Vert’s elevated their culinary creations — it was like nothing I had experienced at a ‘fast-food’ restaurant before! Vert’s chefs added a sous vide duck egg to the top to their babaganoush and while they egg looked softly poached, it was actually fully cooked and a decadently creamy spread on their warm pita bread!
Babaganoush with Duck Egg
Beet Tartare with Fried Goat Brie Rine
I also enjoyed the fact that Vert’s chefs chose elevated ingredients like morels for their turkey meatballs. They also introduced zhug, an ingredient the other food bloggers and I weren’t at all familiar with, but now know as a type of Mediterranean hot sauce made with parsley. I personally found it similar to chutneys served with Indian cuisine.
Turkey & Mushroom Meatballs with Zhug
To end the meal, the chefs tackled jackfruit for a vegan take on the braised pork Vert’s typical serves in its restaurants. Although not my favorite dish, and executed a tad differently than other jackfruit meals I’ve enjoyed, it was still admirable and unique and I especially liked the chickpeas!
Braised Jackfruit & Butternut Squash
Overall, I can’t say enough about how much I enjoyed Vert’s Mediterranean Grill’s Spring Plant-Powered dinner. It truly spoke volumes to how much Vert’s cares about the culinary process, the type of food they serve their customers, and the importance of offering quality, delicious menu items. This meal was obvious an inspiration for new menu items to come to Vert’s restaurants in the future and I can’t wait to see what they roll out with this Spring & Summer.
#GIVEAWAY — Now Closed
If you haven’t tried Vert’s Mediterranean Grill yet, then here’s your chance! Leave a comment below telling me about your favorite Spring vegetable, your favorite restaurant or a meal you recently enjoyed! Next week on March 14th, I’ll pick a random winner to receive 2 Free Vert’s Mediterranean Grill Meal Cards!
Updated March 17th, 2015: Giveaway winner is Samantha, she’s been contacted to receive her prize.
I attended the Spring Plant-Powered dinner as a guest of Vert’s Mediterranean Grill. All opinions are my own and I was not asked by Vert’s to share this experience, I’m doing so because I truly enjoy dining there!
My favorite spring time dish when the sun is out and the weather is nice to grill asparagus brushed with olive and place it on a spinach salad with sliced radish and to top it off with a shallot, lemon vinaigrette.
Yum! I like Vert’s. So cool that they are doing these dinners to present their food in a different way. I’m not sure if they’re spring seasonal but I love mushrooms, eggplant, and cauliflower!
I love eggplant as well but I’m always at a lost of what to really do with it — usually babaganoush, roasted, or grilled slices.
One of my favorite “fast food” restaurants is Clover (many locations in the Boston area). This vegetarian restaurant uses all local ingredients and makes their own pitas in-house! My favorite meal there is the Egg and Eggplant: hard boiled eggs, roasted eggplant, tomato-cucumber relish, hummus and tahini all nestled between a pillowy soft pita. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
Oh man, that sounds SO delicious! You have me wishing there was a Clover in Austin, I’ll have to check out their website to see what other menu items I can drool over!
I drink cleavers tea. Cleavers is that sticky weed that pops up in the spring and makes mowing a challenge. The up side is that it makes a lovely spring tonic. Fill a teapot with fresh rinsed cleavers, pour freshly boiled water over, steep and enjoy. Tastes sort of green and fresh, like the season.
Wow, I didn’t know Vert’s were doing these type of presentations, but that sounds really cool, hope it helps them. One of my most time favorites would be quinoa with falafel, chickpeas as toppings and tzatziki. Yeah, that’s how I would describe my perfect taste.