Musician Questlove Launches Line Of Vegetarian Cheesesteaks At LiveNation Venues
Vegetarians have a new sandwich option, and it comes with a musical pedigree. Roots frontman Questlove has introduced a vegetarian version of the Philly cheesesteak made with plant-based Impossible 2.0 Meat, which you may know from the headline-making Impossible Burger.
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The cheesesteak will be sold at home games for the Philadelphia Phillies this baseball season, beginning on opening day March 28. In addition to Phillies games, the sandwich will also be introduced on the menu at 40 entertainment venues across North America owned and operated by Live Nation. The goal for the product, the musician explains, is to create a global network of restaurants, venues and retail locations where Questlove's Cheesesteak can be purchased.
"We first tested out this product at our annual Roots Picnic music festival in Philly in 2018," Questlove, a Philadelphia native, said in a statement. "Without any forewarning, we offered the cheesesteak in our VIP area, which was mainly populated with friends and family, and no one believed me when I told them the 'meat' was not beef, but plant-based."
The Impossible Burger gained fame as the first plant-based burger that manages to look, feel and even bleed like real meat. Ingredients include wheat protein, coconut oil, potato protein and heme, a molecule which is responsible for much of the flavor of real meat but which Impossible Foods derives through fermentation.
The sandwich's cheese, on the other hand, is regular non-plant-based cheese, Pitchfork was able to confirm — which is probably for the best.
It may seem strange that Questlove, a Grammy-winning musician, co-founder and drummer of the Roots, and the musical director of "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," has a new food product, but he's taken bites out of the food world before. In 2018, he collaborated with Williams-Sonoma on a popcorn product line, and his 2016 book, "Something to Food About: Exploring Creativity With Innovative Chefs," was nominated for a James Beard Award. Though it may seem early, it's safe to say Questlove will not be one of those celebrities who enters the food world and fails.