"You should read a menu and not just look for the meat"
GG's Gemma chats to Got Veg? about Belfast's first pop up vegetarian cafe
Four days after their third outing in the Black Box, the fact that Gemma - one half of the GG's kitchen team - is willing to speak about the monthly dining event is testament to her enthusiasm for the project. The day-long cafe is such a mammoth undertaking that the following week brings a welcome silence on all things GG. "The first week after the event we can’t talk to each other, then next week it’ll be “when are we doing this again?” and then “OK, let’s meet and talk about the [next] menu". We’ll just sit with loads of books, going through them thinking, “What can we make work?”. It’s mass-catering so it has to be something that’ll carry the whole day. It’s a weird process from - "I don't want to see you" - to - "next week we’ll talk."
Gemma and Gareth’s hard work is paying off. Fervent interest from GG's earliest days – “We could have booked the first one three times” - has meant they can expect each sitting to sell out. Belfast vegetarians seem pleased to finally get a little attention.
Gemma considers the standard fare on local menus: "I don’t like this divide you find in restaurants where it’s thought that all meat eaters wouldn’t eat veggie. You should read a menu and not just look for the meat. For me I find it easier to cook vegetarian food, it’s just about flavour.
"I don’t understand why the only vegetarian option on the menu is this boring pasta that you could cook yourself for £1.50, or risotto or the same goat’s cheese tartlet. I find it really boring and I just think it’s really lazy."
The typical vegetarian punter may be disheartened at the customary meat-centric menu but Gemma is hopeful for the future. "A few years ago it would’ve been Thai curries or Japanese food, but now it’s pot belly, offal - kind of medieval food – pulled pork is everywhere. I don’t know if it’s like a trend we might ride out”.
“It's ridiculous that there isn't a veggie cafe in Belfast”
"I have a lot of friends who are vegetarian and it was really difficult when we wanted to go out to eat. That’s always been a conversation - "Where are we going? Well I’m not going there!" We wanted it to be open to meat eaters. A lot of our friends are veggies and meat eaters and we wanted to bring them all together.”
Having experienced its intimate supper club atmosphere it comes as no surprise that GG’s was originally conceived to accommodate veggie friends. The trade off in facilities is never far from the chef’s mind. “ We always have to plan the menu around what can be reheated and what can be cooked in an oven as that’s all they have.”
“We sacrificed a bit of the practicalities in the kitchen for what happens out the front because that’s the main thing that people experience. It’s really nice to be able to look out and see that people are enjoying themselves and sitting there for hours.”
Gemma and Gareth are well suited to the pop up restaurant business, happy to twist and turn with demand. Keen not to scare off meat-eating diners, they first stuck to veggie burgers. Now they are making plans to go vegan, something that wouldn’t have occurred to them before the requests came in. “We never really though of that before - we eat so much cheese it’s ridiculous. For the desserts it’d be quite hard as it takes a lot of thought and a lot more preparation. But it’s something we want to do in the future.”
Gemma is pragmatic in her audit of the latest GG’s. The café teamed up with Belfast Music Week, hosting electronic DJ Automate and there was a watchful eye from the kitchen on the implications for their diners. “I heard the music go on and thought “Oh. OK, it’s turned into something different”. The sitting-room illusion was disturbed. “Chatting over their rice puddings and crumbles - I wanted to ask “Is everyone comfortable?” But we have to keep trying stuff like that to see what works.”
Charming the hipster set is definitetly part of the game plan and the beardy, lumberjack-shirted crew turn out accordingly. “There is an alternative scene in Belfast and you can infiltrate them a little bit. People like to go out to somewhere that isn’t the standard restaurant.
The revival of the Warzone Collective and their vegetarian canteen provided heaps of inspiration. “But they’re not open regularly, you’re not always sure when they’re open. I don’t feel like I can drop in there but when I do go it’s amazing, it’s so cheap and lovely. We wanted to make it a set day so that it becomes an event. The next step would be making it more of a permanent thing.”
GG’s has Belfast’s longstanding DIY ethic in spades. From Middlesborough native Gemma’s outsider perspective, “You have to do everything yourself here. I love that about Belfast. People just get on with it and do stuff. All my mates are putting on gigs because they want to play music, they’re putting on nights because there wasn’t a night they wanted to go to before – ‘If it’s not happening I want to do it’.
One surprise for GG’s was the generosity they come across with every event. Grateful for GG's steps to enhance the choices on offer in the city, people have responded in kind.
“Once people know you’re doing something off your own back the support’s there. It hasn’t been hard to get people interested and get good feedback from the get go. The Warzone guys were really generous and we would return that idea. There’s so much room, it’s not as if you’re pushing anyone out.”
The joy of being recognized has made for a stronger sense of community. “People are coming back and bringing us recipes and giving us feedback in what they liked or didn’t like so much.” And Gemma is keen to hear what they think. “I love that anyway, that whole idea of sharing – it’s great to me. People say – “We’re bringing you a vegan cake for the next one.”
Follow GG's on facebook and twitter for details of their upcoming Christmas vegetarian event in December.
