Australia’s first all vegan pub has officially launched in Sydney at the historic Chippendale Hotel, affectionately known as The Chippo.
Vegan, Bhavani Baumann aka Mama B, officially became the publican of the venue built in the 1880s — taking over ownership from Brett Strauss earlier this year.
Well-known in the vegan community, Ms Baumann is no stranger to creating plant-based Aussie pub food, having previously run The Green Lion pub in Marrickville and Sanga, a vegan subway style bar in the inner west suburb of St Peters.
“It was always my dream to do it, I always wanted to have a whole pub be vegan, to help create a world I am happy living in,” Ms Baumann said.
Born into an “all veggie” family, Ms Baumann said it was after watching a documentary on the dairy industry that finally made her go vegan.
“I told my husband, I’m vegan now, I had tahini on my pizza that night and I’ve never looked back,” she said.
Describing herself as “a foodie” and always cooking for the family, Ms Baumann said The Chippo in-house bistro is “classic pub fare, reimagined” that delivers Aussie favourites like the Chicken Parmigiana, bangers and mash and a fan favourite the ‘Zinga Burger’.
“Most of our customers, I’d say 75 per cent, are non-vegans. They just needed to try the food to realise it’s tasty and that it fills them up,” she said.
Ms Baumann isn’t the only chef noticing a surge in the popularity of vegan food.
Luke Mangan, a restaurateur and one of Sydney’s best-known chefs, said it was important to cater to all customers and adapt to a changing market.
“I believe it’s (vegan meals) something we cannot ignore for customers,” Mr Mangan said.
The owner of Sydney restaurants Glass Brasserie and Luke’s Kitchen said he has vegetarian and vegan dishes in all his restaurants and he has seen an increase in their popularity.
“It’s becoming more popular, so as a business we need to move with the times and cater for everyone,” he said.
Ms Baumann said she’s excited about the “fancy” items she is adding to the menu to bring some “class” to the vegan pub scene.
“We’re reinventing vegan dishes, adding fancy things like vegan caviar and waffles and cheese boards,” she said.
She said the menu had been a hit and that the Chippendale community had banded together to help her with renovations around the pub.
“One of our regulars is a props and stage manager for a theatre company and he’s come in, in his own time to help fix our pool table lighting,” she said.
“I think it’s important to make everyone feel like this is their second home.”
Along with an all vegan food menu, Mama B, has overhauled the drinks menu to include all vegan wines, and cocktails using products like aquafaba, made from chickpea water, as a substitute for egg whites.
“The Chippo is a community where everybody is welcome, and as a heritage location that holds a special place in Sydney’s heart,” she said.
Ms Baumann has also revamped the old pokie room to be used for meetings, studying or chill out spaces, along with a lower level called, The Den, for comedy nights and live bands.
“We’re not trying to be a health food establishment. It’s not just kale and greens. People come here, eat the food and leave satisfied,” Ms Baumann said.