Your chef has created some incredible mushroom tacos. There’s a lentil burger that deserves its own photo shoot. And the dairy-free chocolate dessert makes you want to order a second serving.
But the same three dishes keep appearing on your social media. These options are hidden on the menu. And when someone asks about them, your team isn’t quite sure what to recommend. Introducing sustainable plant-forward cuisine also means helping people discover it, crave it, and want to try it.
If your restaurant already offers it, it’s worth reviewing how you’re communicating it.
1. Start with the appetite appeal
“We offer sustainable plant-forward cuisine” provides information, but says little about what someone will actually enjoy.
Think about the difference between these two descriptions:
Lentil burger.
Lentil and mushroom burger with caramelized onions, avocado, and crispy fries.
The second lets us imagine flavors, textures, and a meal we’d love to try. Describe your dishes with the same care you give the rest of your menu: ingredients, preparation, sides, and that detail that makes them special. Sustainable plant-forward cuisine deserves descriptions that make people want to order it.
2. Give it space in your communications
If someone visits your Instagram today, can they discover your sustainable plant-forward cuisine without scrolling through months of posts?
You can start with simple actions:
Share photos that put the dish in the spotlight.
Record a short video showing how it’s prepared.
Create an Instagram Highlight featuring the available options.
Include them in your online menu.
Show how they fit into a complete breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
Think about dining occasions, too: lunch with friends, dinner for two, or breakfast before heading out to explore the city. Showing your dishes in these moments helps people picture when they might enjoy them. If sustainable plant-forward cuisine is part of your offering, make it part of what you show.
3. Prepare your team to recommend it
Communication continues when someone sits down at the table.
Your team needs to know the dishes, their ingredients, how they’re prepared, and which modifications the kitchen can accommodate. They should also be able to answer questions accurately about dairy, eggs, or other animal-derived ingredients.
A recommendation might sound like this:
“If you’re in the mood for something packed with flavor, I recommend the mushroom tacos. They come with our house-made adobo, pickled onions, and an amazing salsa.”
To make that happen, start with the basics: let your team taste the dishes and get to know what they’re recommending. That way, sustainable plant-forward cuisine becomes part of the restaurant experience, from the kitchen to the service.
4. Explain what makes your approach sustainable
The word “sustainable” needs an explanation.
Talk about the specific actions you’re taking: using seasonal produce, working with local suppliers, reducing food waste, or featuring more plant ingredients, where applicable.
Avoid phrases like “eating here saves the planet” or environmental figures you can’t substantiate. You can explain why you chose an ingredient, how you use different parts of a product, or introduce the people behind what arrives in your kitchen. Sustainable plant-forward cuisine has stories worth sharing, and those stories need to reflect what you actually do.
5. Notice what sparks interest and what gets ordered
Publishing is the beginning. Then it’s time to listen.
Which dish generates questions? What content do people save or share? Does anyone arrive saying they saw your tacos on Instagram? Which options get ordered, and which might need a better description? Social media results and restaurant orders give you different information. Looking at them together can help you decide what to showcase, what to adjust, and what to keep exploring.
For example, if a post receives lots of questions about pricing or availability, check whether that information is easy to find. If a dish attracts attention online but rarely gets ordered, talk with your team to understand what happens when they recommend it.
Make your food look as good as it tastes
You can start with a single dish: take great photos, improve its description, feature it across your channels, and prepare your team to recommend it.
Sustainable plant-forward cuisine can become part of your restaurant’s identity and an experience your customers want to enjoy again. To make that happen, your kitchen, menu, service, and communications need to work together.
Want to get started, but not sure how?
At NAWÉ, we created a practical guide to help you introduce sustainable plant-forward cuisine into your hospitality business and take those first steps. If you run a restaurant, café, or hotel and want to develop your offering, you can purchase it from our store and get started at your own pace.
👉 https://nawe.mx/es/tienda/como-integrar-opciones-plant-based-a-tu-negocio-de-hospitalidad