GREENWICH, Conn. — Gabriele’s Italian Steakhouse is the latest restaurant to join the international Meatless Monday movement.

Gabriele’s will participate in Meatless Monday, starting in March, by offering meat-free specials every Monday. For their first Meatless Monday on March 2, risotto primavera and trenette with a truffle puree was a big hit on the menu.

“Every restaurant, even a steakhouse, has an opportunity to provide their guests with what is an increasingly more popular request--excellent meat-free options, and promoting healthy food can go hand-in-hand with growing a successful business,” said Tony Capasso, Gabriele’s maître d’ and managing partner.

“We offer great meatless options on our core menu, but with Meatless Mondays we are extending our offerings and looking forward to creating new dishes.”

Ashley Rhinehart, manager of food and nutrition at The Humane Society of the United States, ““Choosing meat-free options just one day a week helps improve our health, benefits our environment, and spares animals from factory farms. We’re thrilled that Gabriele’s is the latest restaurant to show that being healthy can also be delicious.”

Meatless Monday was started by the U.S. government as a resource-saving measure during World Wars I and II. In 2003, it was revived by The Monday Campaigns in association with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to reduce meat consumption by 15 percent for personal health and the health of the planet.

“The American Heart Association recognizes the role of plant-based foods in a healthy dietary pattern, as evidenced by our recommendations that emphasize fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and nuts,” said Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association. “Use Meatless Mondays as another opportunity to eat a well-balanced diet.”

According to Environmental Defense Fund, if every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetables and grains, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off of U.S. roads.

Public figures, celebrities, and athletes—including Beyoncé, former President Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, Russell Simmons, Russell Brand, Carl Lewis, and Arian Foster—have recently touted the advantages of eating less meat.

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