New York Restaurateur Nets PETA Award for Vegan Tiki Bar

Ravi DeRossi to Drop Meat and Dairy Foods From All 15 of His Establishments

For Immediate Release:
February 22, 2016

Contact:
Lakisha Ridley 202-483-7382

Connoisseurs of the high-end eating scene are clamoring for New York City restaurateur Ravi DeRossi’s creations, and now he’s set to receive a Compassionate Business Award from PETA for reopening his cocktail bar Mother of Pearl with a 100 percent vegan menu. Last week, the Polynesian-inspired “tiki bar” began serving vegan spirits, lychee potstickers, a delectable spread of green mango poké with tomato, crispy rice, and jicama—and more. DeRossi is also planning to drop meat and dairy foods from all 15 of his current establishments, including successful charcuterie The Bourgeois Pig—soon to be renamed LadyBird. His already-vegan restaurant Avant Garden will also be expanding. For his kind decision, DeRossi will receive a framed certificate and a box of fish-shaped vegan chocolates.

“Ravi DeRossi is on the cutting edge of a rising trend toward compassion in eating, which is what’s kept his patrons coming back for seconds,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA applauds his commitment to offering the on-trend, cruelty-free vegan options that customers are asking for.”

Recent studies reveal that 13 percent of Americans identify as vegan or vegetarian, and 31 percent of shoppers—including 50 percent of millennials—say that they’ve bought vegan meats in the past year. More high-end hot spots than ever before are adding animal-free options or going all-vegan because of consumer demand. PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—notes that vegan options also spare animals immense suffering.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.