20 April 2023 , 14:50
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Wahaca has become one one of the first major restaurant chains to no longer serve steak due to the effect on the environment.
Thomasina Miers, the 2005 MasterChef winner co-owns the restaurant with 13 branches and she aims to reduce its carbon footprint by removing the meat.
And this comes with steak and cheese tacos having been one of the best selling dishes on the menu.
Last year Wahaca started showing the carbon footprint for each dish and it was the chargrilled steak burrito that came out worst - and this will also no longer be offered.
The move follows a trend with other restaurants to appeal to vegans and also cut costs by removing some meat options.
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Steak and cheese tacos were one of the best selling dishes (MEDIA WALES)“We wanted to look at a way of reducing the amount of meat dishes … while still offering truly tasty options for those that still enjoy eating it,” Ms Miers told the Telegraph.
“Being conscious that meat and dairy products are among the biggest culprits from an emissions perspective has led to us expanding our vegetarian and vegan offerings in recent years.”
Wahaca will still be offering some meat dishes including slow-cooked beef tacos.
Ms Miers co-founded Wahaca in 2007 after winning MasterChef and the first branch was opened in Covent Garden, London.
While there were more than 20 restaurants opened since then, the chain suffered financial problems during the pandemic and some of the eateries had to close.
Ms Miers is an advocate of people eating less meat to be more environmentally friendly.
Ms Miers believes people should be eating less meat (Western Mail)She wrote in the Guardian: “I am much more for small-scale, community-driven farming because I believe in the potential of food to be a force for good, for human and environmental health."
Meanwhile Wahaca co-founder Mark Selby told The Caterer that skirt steak, which had been used in the restaurant's steak and cheese tacos and steak burritos, killed "100 cows a week" because of the nature of the cut.
He admits it is a "bold" step to remove these steak dishes.
"While I'm not worried about it at all, it is a bold step and it's one where we did debate ‘do we really want to do this with our third biggest dish?' I don't think it will materially change the experience for anyone, but actually from a sustainability point of view, it brings us a long way," he said.
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