Taste Of The Town: GLAM Gives Midtown Vegans Plenty To Chew On

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- A charming vegan, fast-casual restaurant in the heart of midtown is the brainchild of Janette Miller, a vegan herself for many years.

Glam is an acronym for "Green Living Animals Matter."

"The idea is to really give people more options, to have vegan food that is gourmet, filling and satisfying and more modern," she said.

As a fan of chef Todd Erickson's vegan options at his local restaurants, Janette decided he'd be a perfect fit to design and run the menu.

"I love his presentation and I heard he was a nice person. And so I called him up and asked him if he wanted to participate, and we connected so fast. It's worked out really well," she explained.

His selection design pulls from a little of everything.

"I wrote the menu with a vegan mind and maybe there are limited options, and if they are going to come here everyday for a meal, I want them to be able to have a globe trotting selection. So, there's a lot of mix and match items that wouldn't necessarily go together but its all under the vegan umbrella," Erickson explained.

The wide-ranging menu also offers wine and champagne.

Back in the busy kitchen, Chef Todd prepares some tasting dishes with farro risotto with wild mushrooms, as well as spaghetti with meatless meatballs and gourmet flatbreads.

CBS4's Lisa Petrillo began with a dish called Lean and Green, made with zucchini noodles, chunky avocado, snow peas, asparagus and broccolini, with lemon-basil pesto.

The concept is to take the stigma out of the word "vegan" and make it attainable for everyone at every age.

"There's a lot of reasons people come to this lifestyle of eating, for health reasons, for food allergies, for wanting to be a better person for the planet. And we're here for all those people and people that just want a lighter option as well," said Erickson.

"And it is delicious. It really is," Petrillo agreed.

Next, the spaghetti and meatless meatballs with gluten-free pasta, marinara, grain-bean balls, basil, and toasted hemp seed.

"If you put this in front of me and I didn't know it was meatless, I would think it's a different kind of meat," said Petrillo after tasting.

And finally, Todd's pear flatbread with cashew ricotta, charred onion, walnut pesto.

"I love the consistency of the bread and the the topping is sweet and savory. There's a little bit of everything in here. I'm loving that flatbread," Petrillo added.

Glam is opened 7 days a week from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. for lunch and dinner.

For more info, visit: www.glam-vegan.com