[cheering]
Opening a restaurant is like having a child.
These are our vegan shrimp. I encourage you to try them.
We have to do things differently than other folks do.
or else we're like everyone else.
It's made from algae seaweed and kelp but it eats like shrimp.
I think we need new solutions to find a sustainable way to enjoy shrimp.
Algae and seaweed. Kelp and algae.
Algae is this amazing thing on our planet that comes in a variety of shapes and sizes.
And it's really the future of food.
It's really where we're going in the food world.
Shrimp is one of our favorite seafoods by far.
Especially in the United States we eat more shrimp than any other seafood.
We eat about four pounds per person per year.
You know it's a simple little organism that tastes great.
But the way we harvest them can be really detrimental for many reasons.
Giant nets scrape with the bottom of the ocean and cause a lot of environmental damage.
What we're doing right now doesn't really have the capacity to scale.
to meet a growing demand from a growing human population.
Algae is more prevalent in our daily lives than you might think: sushi and nori.
You can even find algae and things like our toothpaste or ice cream.
So it's something that's already here and we use it.
It's time I think now to explore how we can take it to the next level.
and use it for other exciting food applications.
This ingredient is our macro algae extract and gives our shrimp its structure.
If you think of the kelp forest, kelp that washes up on the beach, and how they can be a little bit slimy.
This is essentially the sliminess that comes from that kelp.
This algae oil right here is very similar to the cooking oils.
that you'll find in your kitchen.
It does have an ocean smell to it.
It's briny, almost umami. If you've ever had a seaweed snack,.
that tastes that you get is very much embodied in this oil.
Many chefs will tell you that you eat with your eyes before your nose and mouth.
So it's really important to make sure our shrimp looks like shrimp.
So as soon as people see our product it needs to read shrimp for them.
The shrimp eat a red algae and that's what gives it its red stripes.
The same is true for why salmon are pink. It comes from an algae.
So we take an extract from that red algae and we dilute it in water.
and then eventually apply it to our shrimp to give us that same beautiful red color.
If I mix all these things together as they are right now,.
you would just get an interesting fishy smelling mush.
So a lot happens behind the scenes.
Fire an order of the vegan shrimp.
It handles like real shrimp.
You can overcook it and you can make it tough.
You know real shrimp does the same thing.
It is the future. It's what we as chefs are looking for, new materials new sources of nourishment.
The algae shrimp is providing that for us.
I'm bringing you the future to try gentlemen.
We have a great opportunity to tackle other seafood.
So other shellfish like crab, scallops, lobster, and then eventually evolving into a thin fish like tuna and salmon.
And so for us thinking about recreating a seafood experience,.
we have to think about algae as the foundation.