Cool story. The food is so delicious.
It’s human nature to resist change. We all have our daily routines and habits that we have grown accustomed to. We all have a coffee shop that makes our lattes just the way we like it, know a bar with the best deal for happy hour drinks, and of course, have go-to restaurants, the kind we see as more of a hang out spot than just an eatery. For many meat-loving foodies around New York City, this place is the Bourgeois Pig, an upscale restaurant that has become known for its extensive cured meat selection and overall cool vibe.
What some patrons of the eatery may not know, however, is that the Bourgeois Pig is one of the 15 bars and restaurants that owner, Ravi De Rossi, will be turning vegan. That’s right, despite the immense popularity De Rossi’s 15 locations have had over the last decade or so, next month the Bourgeois Pig will be killed off and then resurrected in a whole new form with a completely new name: Ladybird. So why would the successful restauranteur risk everything in this manner? Simple. The on-and-off vegan is determined to shed more light on plant-based food and the fact that it can be delicious too.
Principled, healthy food even if it means lower sales. Awesome. See: Death and co restaurateur bringing huge vegan restaurant complex to Williamsburg.
“…DeRossi says he feels better about this decision than anything else he’s ever done. He’s not worried about losing business from dumping animal products, he adds. “I’m more worried about my conscious and living without the weight on my shoulder of the damage I’m doing, and the suffering of animals,” DeRossi says. Eventually, he wants to only be a part of vegan concepts, even if it means lower sales. “I’ve been such a strain on society for 40 years now,” he says. “It’s time for me to be more productive.”
