Avo, the vegan eatery just off the Charlotte corridor, had a promising start with a menu of vegan and raw food. Positive reviews rolled in, but just months after opening, the restaurant changed directions to add cooked and warm foods to the menu. Still vegan and kosher, the restaurant's menu is now the charge of executive chef Anthony DeGeorge. I met Chef DeGeorge in September at the Music City Food + Wine Festival, where he impressed festival-goers with his mushroom tartare with cashew cream cheese and mustard seed relish.
Chef DeGeorge grew up in California and first worked in his mother's restaurant. His interest in the culinary arts led him to study gastronomy and oenology in Italy, where he later cooked with chef Maurillio Garola at La Ciau del Tornavento. He later took a position as traveling chef on a world tour with Cirque, where he learned more about various cuisines as well as specialty diets. Now a vegan chef with interests in sustainable in organic farming, he comes to Avo from Blossoming Lotus in Portland, Ore. So let's better know Chef DeGeorge:
Vital tool: High-powered blender like a VitaMix. I use it a lot for sauces and nut-based cheese.
Favorite gadget: I've got a cheap red plastic bowl scraper that I've kept in my back pocket for the longest time; at least six years. I use it all the time for cleaning off my cutting board or scraping bowls (obviously). I've even got it on me when I'm not at work.
Pantry essential: Besides obvious things like salt, olive oil and soy sauce, I would have to say nutritional yeast. It's such an easy way to add a bit of savory, cheesy flavor to food (without actual cheese). Also, Lao Gan Ma chili oil is my favorite condiment.
Necessary extravagance: A 13-inch chef knife for chopping herbs, and new kitchen shoes twice a year
Favorite beverage: espresso
Favorite smell: a freshly mopped walk-in cooler
Comfort food: ramen
Inspiration: customers who give compliments beginning with "I'm not even vegan but ..." and then come back again and bring their friends. If I can make it easier for people to switch to a plant-based diet, then it'll all be worth the effort. Also my mom, 'cuz she's awesome.
Last meal (ever): Ever? I guess a big bowl of broken glass and bleach oughta do it. Besides that I'd want my beautiful wife's amazing hummus, and her company.
Avo is hosting a special dinner on Dec. 10 at 6 p.m. A multi-course tasting dinner is a great way to get introduced to Chef DeGeorge's food. Tickets are just $65 per person and include beverages. Proceeds from the event benefit Mercy for Animals, an organization "dedicated to preventing cruelty to farmed animals and promoting compassionate food choices and policies."
