Jay Murray has been at the helm of the steakcentric Grill 23 & Bar in the Back Bay for 17 years. But not everyone is eager to dig into his porterhouse. His wife, Erika Lally, and older son, Owen, are strict vegetarians. “One day, when Owen was 4, he just decided he wasn’t going to eat meat anymore,” says Murray. Owen picked Nov. 1 so he could have one last carnivorous feast at their neighbors’ annual Halloween Chinese takeout party. His son is now 13, says Murray, and “he’s been steadfast in his refusal to eat meat ever since.”
But the chef is used to catering to vegetarian tastes ever since he followed his wife (then girlfriend) to Illinois. She has been vegetarian since she was a teenager. “My dream was to go to the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, but my heart wanted to go to Chicago,” he says. At the time, he had a book under consideration with a publisher. When that fell through, he took a cooking job and has been in the business ever since.
“When I was younger, Erika would leave me a list of weird ingredients on a chalkboard — we worked different hours — and I’d have to cook a meal using all of them.” He thought it was fun at first. “Then it became less fun as we kept adding people to the family.” Happily, he isn’t the only one in the the household with carnivorous cravings. Younger son, Sam, 9, loves nothing more than a big, juicy steak.
Keeping his wife in mind, Murray offers a different vegetarian risotto every day and suggests diners mix and match salads and sides. Right now his favorite veggie option is a colorful burrata appetizer, with citrus fruits like tangerine, mandarin, and blood orange segments, along with spiced pistachios and pistachio butter (pictured above).
At home, the chef often finds himself making two meals. Some vegetarian specialties are pierogi tossed with miso butter, and a staple he calls pan-bread. “It’s evolved from making dough, to going to the store and buying fresh pizza dough,” he admits. “You bake it in a nonstick skillet, with rosemary, sea salt, and olive oil.” Another tip for feeding a house divided: “Patience, all I can advise is patience. Patience, and eat out.”
Grill 23 & Bar, 161 Berkeley St., Back Bay, Boston, 617-542-2255, www.grill23.com
CATHERINE SMART