After years of testing and regulatory hurdles, Australian startup Vow has launched its cultured (or ‘lab-grown’) Japanese quail in Australian eating places.
And I’ve lastly had the possibility to style it.
As a expertise journalist, dwelling prepare dinner, and self-proclaimed foodie, I’ve saved an in depth eye on the choice meat area for a few years.
My previous adventures have included sneaking into closed taste-tests of Not possible’s pork at CES and sampling plant-based rooster engineered by an ex-Boeing scientist in a backstreet Seattle lab.
So since Vow first introduced its cultured Japanese quail product, referred to as ‘Cast’ in early 2024, I’ve been impatiently ready to present it a strive.
Vow itself has had a notable trajectory. Launched in 2019 with a mission to create “meals by no means eaten earlier than,” Vow has raised greater than $80 million from buyers including Blackbird Ventures and Sq. Peg. This included a $73 million raise back in 2022.
Alongside the way in which, it constructed Australia’s largest cultivated meat facility and have become the primary firm authorised by Meals Requirements Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) for the business sale of cultivated meat.
Earlier than showing in Sydney eating places, Cast (initially referred to as ‘Morsel‘) had already debuted internationally at Singapore’s Mandala Club in late 2024, starring in a headline seven-course omakase. Vow’s profile additionally rose globally because of PR stunts just like the “woolly mammoth meatball”.
All of that is to say that after years of anticipation, I used to be, frankly, ravenous.
Vow’s Cast Gras x Maiz: Innovation on a plate
My expertise with Vow’s cultured Japanese quail got here within the type of ‘Cast Gras’ at Maiz, a standout amongst Sydney’s present wave of Mexican eating places.
Situated within the coronary heart of Newtown, Maiz is understood for reinventing genuine Mexican classics and flavours with a contemporary twist.
Because the identify suggests, Maiz is a love letter to corn itself, with the menu highlighting house-made moles, blue corn, and seasonal produce.
It’s among the finest consuming experiences I’ve had in Sydney, even past the classy dish.
For the Cast Gras, Maiz takes a holistic reasonably than purely plant-based strategy. The dish is served as a part of a $56 dish: a blue corn huarache gives the bottom, topped with flat iron steak, wealthy huitlacoche bearnaise (a sauce comprised of prized Mexican corn fungus), charred spring onion salsa, and a shiny barbacoa (slow-cooked) glaze.
Once I requested, the chef instructed me he spent a few week designing the most effective dish to showcase the distinctive flavour profile of the classy quail.
From the primary chunk, Cast Gras impressed. Regardless of trying like a slither of mushroom, the feel was exceptionally comfortable and spreadable. It was paying homage to bone marrow however embodied deep umami and fungi-forward notes that paired completely with the steak and earthy sauce.
For me, it evoked the comforting indulgence of a Sunday roast, however with the intense, layered flavour profile of Mexican delicacies.
The choice to pair the classy quail pâté with steak, reasonably than presenting it as a vegan different, makes the idea accessible for mainstream diners and presents the dish as a real collaboration, in addition to an moral substitute.
It additionally follows within the footsteps of Mandala in Singapore, which supplied diners a savoury cannoli crammed with ‘solid parfait’ and black pearl caviar, in addition to a ‘Hokkaido Wagyu Sando’ – a milk bun topped with A5 Hokkaido wagyu and Cast Parfait.
I additionally appreciated the ingredient as a substitute for conventional foie gras, which even some meat eaters (together with myself) nonetheless keep away from for moral causes. Cast Gras affords the richness of traditional foie gras, however with out animal cruelty, making it a much more interesting choice for anybody involved about moral consuming.
It’s additionally value noting Maiz isn’t the one venue in Sydney at present serving Cast’s cultured quail.
The launch has shortly prolonged to a number of main Sydney eating places, every placing its personal spin on Vow’s flagship product. You’ll discover it at Kitchen by Mike within the CBD, Nel in Surry Hills, and at The Waratah.
Australia’s regulatory future with cultured meat
The journey towards regulatory approval for cultivated meat in Australia has been prolonged and detailed.
FSANZ’s June 2025 clearance for Vow’s cultured quail required years of scientific and meals security assessments, public consultations, and amendments to meals codes.
Australia now stands alongside Singapore, america, and the Netherlands as one of many first international locations on the earth to approve this new class. Trade observers hope this opens the door to broader acceptance and funding in different proteins, with the regulatory template more likely to be adopted by future candidates.
What I’m hoping is that the Cast Gras and different merchandise within the cultured meat class develop into greater than a curiosity.
My expertise at Maiz confirmed that when expertise meets considerate cooking, you get a dish worthy of hype and prepared for severe diners.
Nonetheless, as we’ve got seen with most meat options over the previous 10 years, pricing nonetheless stays a barrier to adoption. Cast Gras is firmly within the high-end realm of the meals scene, and that’s mirrored within the restaurant costs.
That’s to be anticipated given how new it’s. However my hope is that sooner or later, cultured meat and meat options typically will develop into extra fiscally accessible for meat and non-meat eaters alike.
However for now, I’m satiated with the concept the arrival of cultured meat within the mainstream implies that the dialog round meals, innovation, and sustainability goes to get much more attention-grabbing.
Disclosure: The creator reviewed Cast Gras as a visitor of Vow.
- This story first appeared on SmartCompany. You may read the original here.
