We love food and enjoy seeing which trends appear each year, and try to incorporate some of the best ones into our Christmas Party menu.

The last couple of years have seen a rise in the number of people dabbling in a plant based dishes with TV chefs like Jamie Oliver delivering recipes for meat-free meals and internet Blogger Delicious Ella (Woodward) sharing her personal passions for eating a healthy, raw and vegan diet. Whether for animal rights reasons or health benefits, lots of celebrities are also sharing their vegetarian and vegan diets with fans and posting meal pictures on social media, from Hunger Games star Liam Hemsworth, to Ellie Goulding who credits her diet for helping her feeling leaner and stronger

Leicester is a fantastic place to find vegetarian food with over 60 vegetarian restaurants and while not all of our team are vegetarian or vegan we do enjoy trying all different types of cuisine. The range of restaurants is vast from delicious south Indian restaurants like Mithas to all vegetarian take-aways like Veg Pizza on Narborough Road. Café Mbriki in the lanes also serves vegan cupcakes and traybakes. The cupcakes are made locally by the award winning Vegan Cakery (and their cupcakes are also available to order online if you want a whole dozen to yourself)!

While a vegetarian/vegan diet is not for everyone, Pret a Manger CEO Clive Schlee has been championing #notjustforveggies encouraging those who do enjoy meat to embrace meat-free options at some meals. Pret a Manage are even opening their first all vegetarian store in Soho this June – great news for vegetarians who’ve had one too many soggy egg salad sandwiches!

Lots of research suggests eating less meat is good for you, and good for the planet and whether you’re vegetarian, vegan or flexitarian (choosing sometimes to eat meat-free) our chefs are constantly challenged to a create delicious menu with great local produce. We’ve always been keen to provide a great meat-free option for guests attending our Christmas parties and vegetarians and vegans are always pleased that we have a well thought out, tasty option for them and that it’s not just an afterthought. With more guests requiring a vegan option, for 2016 our head chef has created a vegetarian menu which can be easily adapted to cater for our vegan guests. Who can resist a wholesome Roasted & Spiced Butternut Squash Soup particularly on a chilly winter’s night and our mouth-watering Mediterranean Vegetable Tart wellington will cause even the most dedicated of meat lovers to reconsider their menu choice!