Impossible Burger, a high-tech beef impostor, debuts at two Manhattan eateries

This veggie burger, engineered to attract even the most devout carnivores, is spreading to more restaurants this year, on its way to retail-store shelves in the future.

The Impossible Burger will debut this week on the menus of two award-winning restaurants in New York City.

Starting tomorrow, Saxon + Parole will serve the plant-based burger during dinner service and weekend brunch. This American-style bistro, a popular brunch destination, also has a well-known cocktail bar. The Impossible Burger will be offered in a decadent set-up topped with both a mushroom sauce and a truffle sauce, Sherry-braised onions, oyster mushrooms, and the traditional lettuce, tomato, and onion condiments served alongside an order of classic Saxon + Parole fries.

Plus, the internationally inspired restaurant PUBLIC will serve the Impossible Burger at PUBLIC’s bar during dinner service and during weekend brunch. It will be served on a seeded bun topped with muhammara aioli (hot pepper aioli), white cheddar, watercress, frisee, and housemade relish served with a side of crispy, seasoned shoestring potatoes. PUBLIC will be the first Michelin-starred restaurant to serve the Impossible Burger. The Daily, PUBLIC’s sister bar, will also offer the burger.

Both restaurants are under the leadership of Executive Chef Brad Farmerie who graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in 1996. Since then, he has developed a unique style, blending elements of various cuisines from his international travels.

“It all starts with the ingredients,” Farmerie said. “As a chef, I get inspired by the flavors, textures, and possibilities of unique foods, and the promise they have for taking me on a journey. When I got a chance to cook with the Impossible Burger, my imagination was engaged. I was also drawn to the tremendous potential for plant-based meat to conserve our natural resources and protect our planet without compromising on taste.”

Based in Redwood City, California, Impossible Foods, the company behind the Impossible Burger, was founded in 2011 by Patrick O. Brown, MD, PhD. This burger looks, handles, smells, cooks, and tastes like ground beef from cows, but it’s made entirely from plants, with a much smaller environmental footprint than meat from animals.

Impossible Foods is ramping up production and will launch in additional restaurants in the United States throughout 2017, including in multiple-unit chains. After that, Impossible Foods will sell the burger in retail outlets and in key global markets. The company also plans to commercialize plant-based chicken, fish, pork, dairy, and cheese products.

The Impossible Burger has no hormones, antibiotics, cholesterol, or artificial flavors. The Impossible Burger uses 75 percent less water, generates 87 percent fewer greenhouse gases, and requires 95 percent less land than conventional ground beef from cows, according to Impossible Foods. “Our mission is to give people all the decadent, delicious meat they crave—in a way that is sustainable and scalable,” said Brown.

In development for nearly five years, the Impossible Burger debuted in July 2016 in New York City at Chef David Chang’s restaurant Momofuku Nishi. The Impossible Burger is also available in San Francisco at Jardinière and Cockscomb, and in Los Angeles at Crossroads Kitchen. Impossible Foods is a private company with financial backing from Khosla Ventures, Bill Gates, Google Ventures, Horizons Ventures, UBS, Viking Global Investors, and others.

This story originally appeared on Food Tank.