East Restaurant has focused on plant-forward dining with a new menu consisting of vegan options and sustainability.
East Restaurant at Sudima Auckland City is marking EcoFest 2026 with a limited-time set menu that explores how plant-based menus could help hospitality reduce emissions while delivering creative, flavour-led dining experiences. The set menu is fully vegan, focusing on vegetables, grains and plant proteins.
The initiative reflects a broader shift emerging across the hospitality sector, where chefs are increasingly looking at ingredient choice, particularly protein, as one of the most practical ways to reduce the environmental footprint of a meal.
Agriculture accounts for roughly half of New Zealand’s gross emissions, with livestock methane the largest contributor. Lifecycle analysis from AgResearch shows that between 90-95 percent of emissions associated with New Zealand beef and sheep occur at the farm level, highlighting the impact ingredient choices can have on the carbon footprint of food.
East Head Chef Vincent Yan said designing menus around vegetable-only ingredients is becoming an increasingly important part of how restaurants think about sustainability.
“As chefs, we always start with flavour, but increasingly we’re also thinking about the footprint of what we put on the plate,” said Yan.
“Shifting the balance towards vegetable ingredients is one of the most practical ways restaurants can reduce emissions while still delivering dishes that feel rich, layered and satisfying.”
Across the hospitality sector, ingredient choice is becoming a growing focus for chefs looking to reduce the environmental footprint of their menus.
For many kitchens, vegetable-focused ingredients offer new opportunities to explore flavour, texture and seasonality. East is also proudly imitation-meat free and only uses vegetable ingredients, a contrast to a lot of vegetarian dining offerings available at this level.
Yan said vegan cooking especially encourages chefs to work creatively with produce and rethink how dishes are built.
“It allows us to design menus that celebrate seasonal, local ingredients,” he added.
Around 60-70 percent of the fresh produce used at East is sourced from growers across the Auckland region through produce supplier Chevalier Produce.
Ingredients featured on the EcoFest set menu include shiitake mushrooms from Fancy Mushrooms and other vegetables grown by Barefoot Gardens and SK Low in South Auckland. Fresh ingredients are delivered to the restaurant in reusable wooden crates rather than plastic packaging, helping reduce waste across the restaurant’s supply chain.
Chevalier Produce Key Account Manager Shraddha Desai has observed that restaurants are increasingly interested in where their ingredients come from.
“We’re seeing more chefs wanting to work closely with growers and understand the story behind their produce. That focus on seasonal vegetables and responsible sourcing is becoming a bigger part of how restaurants think about their menus,” she said.
For Kanika Jhunjhnuwala, Chief Strategy and Sustainable Growth Officer at Hind Management, the parent company of Sudima Hotels and East Restaurant, EcoFest provides an opportunity to highlight how restaurants can make practical sustainability choices.
“Large-scale climate solutions are critical, but there are also meaningful changes businesses can make day to day,” she said.
“For East, focusing on vegan dishes and working with local growers are two practical ways to reduce the footprint of a menu while still delivering a great dining experience.”
For East’s kitchen team, the EcoFest set menu is also designed to demonstrate that vegan dining can still deliver the creativity and indulgence expected from a premium restaurant experience.
One standout dish is East’s Crispy Cups, inspired by Kra Thong Thong, a traditional Thai appetiser from a member of the kitchen team’s upbringing, featuring crisp pastry cups filled with savoury ingredients.
For East’s set menu, the dish has been reworked with a filling including cauliflower mousse and pineapple, balancing sweetness, acidity and texture.
Yan said dishes like this show how vegan cooking can push chefs to be more inventive with flavour and technique.
“Plant-forward cooking doesn’t mean compromising on the dining experience. It pushes us to think differently about texture, seasoning and ingredients so the dishes still feel indulgent and memorable.”
