Why The King Of The Grill Is Rethinking Meat?

On a private lakeside retreat in remote Patagonia, Argentine chef Francis Mallmann is embarking on a plant-based mission. Gisela Williams journeys to La Isla to sample his vegetarian recipes and to find out why the king of the grill is rethinking meat.

- Gisela Williams

It took almost three days to reach La Isla, celebrity chef Francis Mallmann's private island at the far-flung western edge of Patagonia. The journey required two flights to get from New York to southern Argentina's port city of Comodoro Rivadavia, followed by a six-hour drive along empty dirt roads and, finally, a boat ride across Lago La Plata, on which I weathered the freezing temperatures in a full-body waterproof suit. By the time the speedboat pulled up to the dock of the 15-acre island, I was delirious with exhaustion, my face and toes numb from the cold. But 10 minutes later, after being escorted to my cabin-a cocoon of warmth filled with cosy furniture-my discomfort melted away.

The contrasts of that first day in Mallmann's secret hideaway put me in a state of relief so intense it bordered on rapture. For the next several days, that bliss never wavered-not even when it sunk in that, on this trip, Argentina's grill-obsessed chef would not be serving a single morsel of meat. For the past four years, the man best known for his succulent steaks and seared salmon fillets has been working on what is perhaps his most radical project to date: a vegetarian cookbook.

"I think that, in the next twenty years or so, no one will be eating meat or fish," Mallmann told me. The declaration made me pause mid bite, as I gripped a tower of avocado, tomatoes, and lettuce sandwiched between two crispy potato Rösti in disbelief. For a Brooklyn chef to make such a decree is one thing, but for a native of a country whose national identity is so intrinsically tied to the consumption and export of red meat? That could start a small riot.