Award-winning plant-based chef Matthew Kenney has announced that he will test a range of globally inspired plant-based restaurant concepts in Los Angeles under his Matthew Kenney Cuisine (MKC) brand. The popup restaurants are branded MKTK Previews and are described as a “limited-time series of three never-before-seen menu concepts”.
The pop-up stores will initially be limited to take out and home delivery but are intended to turn into actual restaurants after their trial period.
A graduate of the French Culinary Institute, Kenney has already managed high-profile restaurants in New York City. To date he is the author of 18 cookbooks, appeared in numerous food and talk shows and operates over 30 restaurants in 11 countries.
In the plant-based cooking scene Kenney is considered a pioneer and is globally recognised for his passion and expertise. In July, he confirmed this status when he teamed up with Golden Platter Foods CEO Scott Bennett to create PlantMade Foods, with a portfolio of over 30 plant-based dishes for Amazon home delivery.
MKC’s core business, however, is restaurants, which are currently facing a transition to home delivery, as Kenney commented: “As our friends in Los Angeles know, a new government mandate has required the closure of all restaurant dining, both indoor and outdoor. Our services have now been reduced to take out and delivery only.”
MKC intends to use the current situation as an opportunity to initiate the test phase for further restaurant concepts, including the Plant Food + Wine kitchen and the Latin American-inspired Oleada Cocina concept, which were both launched last Friday. The third concept, La-Zen, is planned for the fourth of December with a Chinese-inspired offer, as reported by Veg Out LA.
With this step, Kenney demonstrates his passion and creativity towards the plant-based movement, as he previously emphasized in a video on his website: “We are really trying to completely change the way people think about food. I already know it’s delicious, but we have to look at every tool that is available to help people understand how cool it can be.”
“MKTK PREVIEWS is a limited-time series of three never-before-seen menu concepts that have been under development by the chefs at the matthew kenney test kitchen. Although we will not be able to serve guests in house due to temporary dining closures in los angeles, MKC is determined to continue crafting healthful, plant-based cuisine for our community. Our preview series showcase three separate menus, each being a sneak peek of our future restaurants – all available for take-out and delivery,” describes the website.
“Our test kitchen on site at plant food + wine in venice, ca will serve as the incubator to sustain these exciting new preview menus. we can’t wait for you to have a taste of our plant-based restaurants to be!”
