Sydney’s Iconic Chippo Hotel Is Officially Australia’s First 100% Vegan Pub

The Chippo Hotel in Sydney has long been one of Australia’s leading institutions for belting live music, cold beer and a stellar environment to catch up with mates – and now, with the official relaunch of its kitchen, it’s been named Australia’s first-ever fully vegan pub.

It comes after the venue’s ownership was transferred to Bhavani Baumann (aka Mama B), who took over from Brett Strauss as its publican earlier this year. Baumann is somewhat of an icon in Sydney’s vegan foodie scene, having previously managed affairs at Marrickville’s Green Lion and the Subway-esque Sanga bar in St. Peters.

“It was always my dream to do it,” Baumann said in a news.com.au report. “I always wanted to have a whole pub be vegan [and] to help create a world I am happy living in.”

Baumann’s palette stems right back to childhood, it was reported, as she’d been born into an “all-veggie” family. She explained that her push to go fully vegan came after she watched a documentary on the dairy industry, leading her to tell her husband she’d be making the change for good: “I had tahini on my pizza that night and I’ve never looked back.”

Baumann affirmed that The Chippo’s new menu still deals in “classic pub fare”, albeit “reimagined” for the modern vegan palette. Highlights include a classic chicken parmigiana (sidenote: if you say ‘parmi’ instead of ‘parma’, log the fuck off), bangers and mash, and a vegan spin on a true fast food icon, the ‘Zinga’ burger. Baumann said of the initiative: “Most of our customers, I’d say 75 per cent, are non-vegans. They just needed to try the food to realise it’s tasty and that it fills them up.

“We’re not trying to be a health food establishment. It’s not just kale and greens. People come here, eat the food and leave satisfied.”

Joining the menu will be some interesting new dishes that Baumann calls “fancy” and says will bring some “class” to Sydney’s vegan pub-feed offerings. “We’re reinventing vegan dishes,” she noted, “adding fancy things like vegan caviar and waffles and cheese boards.”

To that end, The Chippo’s beverage offerings have been expanded to feature a fully vegan wine menu, and cocktails using vegan substitutes like aquafaba (the liquid you get when you soak chickpeas in water, used in pace of egg whites).

The new menu, Baumann says, has already gone down a treat with The Chippo’s locals – some of whom have stepped up to help renovate the venue since she took over it. She explained: “One of our regulars is a props and stage manager for a theatre company and he’s come in, in his own time, to help fix our pool table lighting. I think it’s important to make everyone feel like this is their second home.

“The Chippo is a community where everybody is welcome, and as a heritage location that holds a special place in Sydney’s heart.”