In a move she says she hopes will "effect real environmental change," chef-restaurateur Dominique Crenn announced Thursday that she's pivoting all of her restaurants away from serving any type of land-based meats.
"Meat is insanely complicated — both within the food system and the environment as a whole — and, honestly, it felt easier to just remove it from the menus all together," Crenn said in a statement released today. The change officially took effect on October 1, and now her three SF restaurants — Atelier Crenn, Bar Crenn, and Petit Crenn — are serving only seafood and vegetables. And the announcement is somewhat of a formality, as Eater notes, given that Atelier Crenn hasn't served meat courses in almost two years, and the Breton-inspired Petit Crenn has been seafood- and vegetable-focused since its opening in 2015. The only place with meaty dishes on the menu until recently was her high-end wine bar, Bar Crenn.
Last November, Crenn became the first female head chef in the U.S. to earn three Michelin stars for Atelier Crenn. While Crenn has consistently rejected the "female chef" label, it was a significant milestone, and she remains unique among her peers in focusing on modernist and molecular cuisine.
Crenn has plans for a fourth restaurant that have been delayed — a cafe, restaurant, and patisserie on the ground floor of Salesforce Tower called Boutique Crenn. First announced in early 2018, the project has been seemingly on hold.
Crenn announced via social media in May that she has breast cancer and has been undergoing treatment for that.