SAN MATEO, Calif. — Even before opening my restaurant, Wursthall, here a couple years ago, I knew that taking vegan and vegetarian options seriously — with both traditionally vegan foods and modern meat alternatives — would be a central element of its success.

Though sausages form the backbone of the menu, my team and I believed that people who don’t eat meat should be able to dine in mixed company without feeling that they were second-class citizens, or that their meal consisted of a series of side dishes, as they so often do at restaurants.

For me, a food-science writer who is a chef on the side, this meant testing, and lots of it.

Until recently, the faux-meat options — plant-based alternatives designed to replicate the flavor, texture and appearance of meat — have been abysmal. All that changed when two companies, Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, introduced a new generation of vegan meat substitutes developed with tens of millions of dollars of funding and years of scientific research.

[Read the results of our taste test of plant-based meats.]

Both companies claim that their products behave just like beef — with meaty flavor, juiciness and bloody red color — and unlike other products, which come preformed as patties or meatballs, can be deployed in all kinds of recipes that call for ground beef. Some supermarkets even stock them in the meat department.