La Tour Café, famous for its gourmet sandwiches, burgers, pastries and desserts, launched its very first PLANTED menu at the Aina Haina location last June, focusing on plant-based versions of what it does best — European-inspired cuisine featuring freshly baked goods and local ingredients.
PLANTED by La Tour Café piqued my interest when a friend gifted me a six-pack of rainbow-colored macarons baked to crispy-chewy perfection. Corporate chef Christopher Gee explains the process took a year and a half to hone using a potato starch formula instead of aquafaba (chickpea liquid) to make the egg-free macarons. They are beautifully packaged and available in six flavors — blueberry, dark chocolate, coffee, lilikoi, matcha and vanilla— with plant-based buttercream fillings ($14.10/six pack). Macarons will keep for up to one month refrigerated (or six months in the freezer), making them great as impromptu gifts or omiyage.
Also on the PLANTED menu are hearty sandwich options — mushroom dip baguette served with an umami broth ($15.20), spicy meatball sub with arrabiatta sauce ($13.40) and a unique falafel bahn mi with firecracker sauce ($12.50). For the ultimate comfort food fix, try the grilled cheese made with plant-based shokupan, cream cheese, American and provolone ($5.99). Order a cup of the signature roasted tomato basil soup ($3.80) to dip those sammies in, or quench your thirst with a refreshing chee mui-ade, or lychee li hing mui lemonade (starting at $3.50).
When it comes to trying new things, don’t let your biases filter the experience.
Gee reassures, “This is everyday family-friendly food — not something to be intimidated by — that tastes familiar to foods you’re used to.”
Some online reviewers claim both the PLANTED smash burger and teri burger ($10.99 each), and the chik’n tenders ($10.99) taste so much like meat you can’t tell the difference (my “part-time planted” husband agrees).
If you really want your taste buds to sing, try the irresistible kouign amann (pronounced queen-a-mann). It’s considered one of the world’s hardest pastries to make, yet La Tour Café has managed to create a version so well balanced — sweet, salty, sticky, buttery and flaky — you may just forget you’re indulging in a plant-based dessert. Current flavors include pear and mochi, churro and maple ($5.25 each).
Fun fact: The potato buns and baguettes at all the café’s stores are plant-based so you can order the falafel bahn mi or a veggie burger off the menu at any of the five locations. The biz is launching another PLANTED café next January and plans to expand its green cuisine options by 20-30% in all stores.
Planted by La Tour Café
820 W. Hind Dr. Ste. 1291
Honolulu
808-373-5174
10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sun-Thurs
10 a.m.8 p.m. Fri-Sat
Instagram: @planted.hi
Lillian Cumic is a vegan chef and author of Hawaii A Vegan Paradise and Tasting Hawaii Vegan Style. Her column is a guide for plant-based eating on Oahu. Follow Lillian’s journey at lillianvegan.com.
