Vegan restaurant co-owned by Made in Chelsea star puts meat on the menu to be ‘healthier’

A vegan restaurant co-founded by a Made in Chelsea star has put meat on its menu to be “healthier, fresher and better for you”.

Clean Kitchen, a chain popular among young professionals in London, has marketed itself as “100 per cent plant-based” since opening in 2020.

But instead of serving only smoothies, earthy acaí bowls, vegan burgers, wraps and fries, it will also serve meat as it looks to attract a wider array of customers.

The decision has thrown the restaurant into disarray, prompting a backlash from vegans and causing its co-founder Verity Bowditch, a star of the E4 reality TV show Made in Chelsea, to end her day-to-day involvement.

In a statement, Clean Kitchen said: “After a tough consultation period we have made a difficult decision, we have opened up our menu to beyond only offering plant-based dishes, effective immediately.

“Clean is now opening up our menu to be focused on becoming healthier, fresher and better for you. We will of course still be championing our plant-based classics on our menu.

“Unfortunately with this change in strategy, Verity has decided to step away from the day-to-day involvement of the business.”

The chain, which is fronted by the YouTuber Mikey Pearce, announced the move two days ago to its 33,000 Instagram followers.

Its branches in Battersea Power Station and Camden have been closed while the menu is rewritten.

Fans react

The decision sparked anger from fans on social media. George Alsworth, wrote: “Plant-based food is for everyone. Being in high rent areas like Battersea Power Station is not. This is profit over a mission, which shows that you do not care about plant-based living.”

Another commented: “Can’t really be called Clean Kitchen anymore, right? Clean from what? Definitely not clean from blood.”

Kristin Liane wrote: “Adding animals to the menu is epically wrong on every level.”

Others demanded refunds on investments they had made in the company based on it being vegan.

Bowditch told fans of how she came to distance herself from the franchise: “It’s one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make, but it had to be done due to the new direction of the brand’s strategy,” she said.

She explained that the restaurant was built in a market “where vegan alternatives were booming” but there was not “more of a demand for whole foods” which has led to the chain “opening up to cater for the mass market”.

Two of Clean Kitchen’s eateries, in Notting Hill and Soho, suddenly shut down in February which led to anger from staff.

Rival British vegan fast food chain Oowee also changed its menu in February, conceding that restaurants “have got to sell meat” to be successful and make veganism “mainstream”.