Plant-based push from meat-selling king, Kingsley Smith

Kingsley Smith built his reputation with his meat-heavy Kingsley's restaurants scattered across Sydney, but he's on the way to becoming a pin-up for vegetarians.

Smith, who it's fair to say knows his way around a T-bone, has brought one-time Claude's owner-chef Chui Lee Luk into the fold at China Diner, the Bondi and Double Bay restaurants he owns with his wife Natasha Stanley.

The result is a new plant-based section to the China Diner menu, an unheard of offering when Smith was peddling meat and more meat at Kingsley's.

"Chui's been great. We've got rid of a lot of the dishes with heavy soy but I have to say I was a little thrown when I walked in and she pushed for the idea of a plant-based line-up," he says.

The restaurateur says his epiphany came when he walked out of the meeting: "There was an ad on the side of a bus for a dairy-free, vegan Magnum ice-cream. It was telling me something."