The Complete Guide to Matthew Kenney’s Vegan Restaurants

With restaurants across five continents, restaurateur, cookbook author, and celebrity chef Matthew Kenney has built a formidable fleet of vegan restaurants.

Kenney’s signature style emphasizes the use of whole food, plant-based ingredients, such as seasonal fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, and grains to craft high-end dishes. His signature raw vegan lasagna, which features zucchini noodles, heirloom tomatoes, and housemade cashew cheese, is a shining example of this. Other specialties of Kenney restaurants include artisan vegan cheeses and an extensive organic wine list. But Kenney isn’t just about fine-dining and small plates: you can also find classic American fare like burgers and fries amongst his eateries, too. 

The start of a vegan empire

Kenney first cut his teeth in the fine-dining kitchens of New York City. He eventually set out on his own in Southern California, bringing a new style of vegan cuisine that fused traditional and advanced culinary techniques with plant-based ingredients. The result was inconceivable at the time—vegan food that was worthy of a white tablecloth experience. 

Matthew Kenney Cuisine

Kenney’s first few restaurant concepts featured low lighting, clean-cut lines, and immaculate plating precision. The menus incorporated a balance of raw and cooked dishes, many of which employed the use of sous vide, smoking, fermentation, and other high-end techniques that distinguished his style from other vegan restaurants. 

In recent years, Kenney has ventured into more relaxed categories of cuisine—from a food hall in Rhode Island to a drive-thru in Orange County, CA. Once reserved for special occasions, the Matthew Kenney brand has become more accessible for every kind of eater. 

Expansion of an idea

Even during the pandemic, as restaurants closed at an alarming rate, Kenney opened five new restaurants while avoiding permanent closures at many of his existing businesses. 

We’re in awe of what the brand has accomplished, thankful for the good it has done for the vegan movement, and thoroughly addicted to his Instagram feed of mouthwatering meals, delicate desserts, and adorable Maine Coon cat, Rumple (@rumple.thecat). While always quick to report on his latest accomplishment, we decided a comprehensive guide to Matthew Kenney Cuisine (MKC) was in order. Whether you’re looking for a new date night spot, a fast-casual go-to, or a vegan sweets shop, here is all you need to know about the MKC empire.

Matthew Kenney’s vegan restaurants

Alibi

1 Alibi

Kenney’s first (and currently only) location in Australia, Alibi has a colorful menu with stand-out dishes such as kimchi dumplings, watermelon poke, cashew ricotta-stuffed squash blossoms, and pavlova for dessert.
Location: Sydney, Australia

Besina

2 Besina

Found in Plant City, Kenney’s all-vegan food hall, Besina’s menu is centered around the chef’s interpretation of Mexican and Latin cuisines. Choose from plant-based burritos, croquettes, enchiladas, quesadillas, and more. 
Location: Providence, RI (inside Plant City food hall)

Botanica

3 Botanica

Described as a garden-to-table restaurant, the high-end resort restaurant Botanica highlights ingredients that were grown in the on-site garden. The menu includes smoky tempeh kebabs with zhoug, artichokes braised with curry leaves and roasted tomatoes, cashew mozzarella, and fresh herb salad.
Location: One&Only Reethi Rah resort, Maldives

Camila Bugni

4 Casa Planta

Found minutes from the beach at the upscale Igloo Beach Lodge in Costa Rica, Casa Planta uplifts tropical ingredients such as papaya, hearts of palm, plantains, and more. Selections include plant-based empanadas, tacos, burgers, and veggie bowls with maduros (sweet fried plantains).
Location: Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

Double Zero

5 Double Zero

Double Zero is the fanciest vegan pizza chain we’ve ever had the pleasure to dine at. The organic wine list and perfectly specked Neopolitan-style crust helps. The menu features small plates, wood-fired pizza (we recommend the classic Margherita with housemade cashew mozzarella or the garlic cream slathered Artichoke), and desserts like dairy-free tiramisu and chocolate budino.
Locations: Baltimore, MD; Boston, MA; Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY; Providence, RI (inside Plant City food hall); Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; and Tel Aviv, Israel

Folia

6 Folia

Back in 2018, Kenney partnered with Saudi Arabian vegan prince, Khaled bin Alwaleed, founder and CEO of the venture capital fund KBW Ventures, to open the first Folia location in Los Angeles at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. Years later, the fine dining establishment has locations across the Middle East (though the flagship location has shuttered). The rotating menu offers dishes made with seasonal produce that differ by location, but you can expect Kenney’s signature brand of vegan fine dining.
Locations: Manama, Bahrain; Doha, Qatar; Dubai, UAE; Kuwait City, Kuwait; and Riyadah, Saudi Arabia

Ladurée

7 Ladurée By MK

In 2019, this famed French pâtisserie trusted Kenney to convert its Beverly Hills, CA location into a fully plant-based concept, from vegan macarons to a comprehensive tea service. While some animal-based menu items have been reinstalled, the macarons, mille feuille, and ispahan confections remain vegan, along with a selection of heartier, savory dishes. Kenney’s macarons are available for shipping nationwide. 
Location: Beverly Hills, CA

Hungry Angelina

8 Hungry Angelina

Kenney opened the chic-meets-casual Hungry Angelina location back in December 2019. The spacious eatery specializes in plant-based comfort foods like fried pickles, Buffalo fried chicken, pizza, tacos, weekly sandwich specials, and brunch cocktails.
Location: Long Beach, CA

Make Out

9 Make Out

Originally founded in Los Angeles, this quick service raw food concept has moved to Plant City in Rhode Island. The impeccable spot offers a healthy balance to the other offerings inside Kenney’s food hall, providing a tight menu of cold-pressed juices, smoothies, café drinks, salads, rice bowls, and raw desserts. 
Locations: Miami, FL; and Providence, RI (inside Plant City food hall)

10 Marketplace

Shop goods such as fermented nut cheeses, artisan pantry goods, cookbooks, and takeaway foods at this cozy boutique vegan market.
Location: Providence, RI (inside Plant City food hall)

Mudrá

11 Mudrá

Kenney brings his most-loved dishes to Argentina and Spain with Mudrá, which features elevated versions of plant-based pizza and burgers as well as decadent desserts like dairy-free cheesecake and flan de calabaza—aka pumpkin flan. A tighter selection of Mudrá favorites is also available at Mudrá Express in Buenos Aires. 
Locations: Buenos Aires, Argentina and Madrid, Spain

Liora

12 Liora

Located just a stone’s throw away from Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, Liora serves classic Kenney fare like raw vegan lasagna with zucchini and heirloom tomatoes as well as items inspired by Maryland’s famous dishes, including plant-based crab cakes and Maryland vegetable soup.
Location: Baltimore, MD

Oleada Cocina

13 Oleada Cocina

Inspired by the flavors of Mexico, Oleada Cocina offers interpretations of tacos, burritos, and ceviches. The word “oleada” means “wave” in Spanish.
Location: Beverly Hills, CA

Plant City X

14 Plant City X

This vegan drive-thru serves fast-food classics like burgers, fries, and shakes alongside unique sweet treats like dairy-free fro-yo parfaits. 
Locations: Middletown and Warwick, RI

New.Burger

15 New.Burger

A family-friendly casual eatery made to appeal to a wide range of palates, New.Burger’s comfort food-focused menu includes plant-based burgers, mac and cheese, salads, and decadent desserts like caramel apple cobbler and a banana split sundae.
Location: Providence, RI (inside Plant City food hall)

PlantPub

16 PlantPub

Boston is known for its pubs, so it’s fitting that Kenney’s two restaurants in the city’s metropolitan area pay homage to that. The menu, crafted by New Englander and celebrity chef Mary Dumont, features pub fare like fries, nachos, cauliflower wings, and burgers as well as several kinds of pizza. In true pub fashion, it has a craft beer menu.
Locations: Cambridge and Boston, MA

Plant Food + Wine

17 Plant Food + Wine

The flagship Plant Food + Wine on the luxe strip of Abbot Kinney Boulevard is the epitome of Kenney’s plant-based fine dining. The menu offers a blend of dishes made with locally-sourced, in-season produce as well as stalwarts such as chanterelle mushroom-topped toast, artisanal cheese plates, and the ever-reliable kelp noodle cacio e pepe, plus an extensive organic and biodynamic wine list.
Locations: Los Angeles, CA and Lima, Peru

Adrian Mueller

18 Scen

Fast-casual meets farm-to-table at this upscale eatery. The build-your-own-bowl-focused menu spotlights a blend of flavors from Middle Eastern, Japanese, and Nordic cuisines, such as falafel, orange-glazed tofu, and golden beets.
Location: New York, NY

Sutra

19 Sutra

Find Sutra, which serves Japanese-inspired cuisine, on the rooftop of Alo Yoga in Manhattan’s Flatiron neighborhood. You’ll find crispy tempeh katsu, cold soba, smoked yuba lettuce wraps, macro bowls, spicy carrot rolls, and matcha-cream tiramisu on the menu.
Location: New York, NY

Veg’d

20 Veg’d

Take Matthew Kenney quality ingredients and meld it with a drive-thru concept, and you have Veg’d. The casual eatery took over a former Del Taco in Orange County, CA to serve vegan burgers, tots, and swirly soft-serve to the beach-going crowd. Thanks to a healthy dose of salads, smoothies, and bowls, there’s something for everyone here. 
Location: Costa Mesa, CA

Sestina

21 Sestina

Inspired by the rustic elegance of homemade pasta, Sestina dishes up familiar Italian flavors, including rigatoni arrabiata, pasta puttanesca, ravioli alfredo, and more. Stop by for brunch to try the limoncello waffles and caprese sandwich and order a side of garlic bread for the table.
Locations: Culver City, CA

345

22 345

Kenney’s first foray into the speakeasy scene can be found next door to Plant City in Providence. The intimate space features conversation-starting cocktails and a small plates menu to keep things interesting. Like any good speakeasy, a seat at the table is only open to those in the know, so book your reservation before visiting.

Coming in 2023

In winter 2023, Kenney plans to add two more restaurants to his growing fleet: Floraison in New York City and Avivar in San José del Cabo, Mexico. The menus and additional details have yet to be released.

Kat Smith is a Queens, NY-based freelance writer and editor who loves cooking and discovering local vegan hidden gems.

Tanya Flink is a Digital Editor at VegNews as well as a writer and runner living in Orange County, CA.