Photos: The Gadarene Swine in Studio City

A hummus dish at the Gadarene Swine, a new vegan restaurant in Studio City. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Oct. 24, 2014 1:41 PM PT

Chef Phillip Frankland Lee’s new Studio City bistro, The Gadarene Swine, may be the first purely vegan restaurant ever opened by a frankly carnivorous chef, an animal-free zone populated by hummus with seaweed chips served in clay planters and dips served in simulated birds’ nests.

Blackened cauliflower can be ordered a la carte and is served on the tasting menu. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Robert Max, left, and Lana Inderman enjoy dinner at the Gadarene Swine. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

A meal often starts with sourdough with a reduced tomato puree. The dish is similar to the charred, half-baked rounds of sourdough with uni served at chef Phillip Frankland Lee’s other restaurant, Scratch Bar. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Phillip Frankland Lee helms the kitchen while his wife, Margarita Lee, serves as pastry chef of the restaurant. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Japanese eggplant skins with diced vegetables is a dish only available on the tasting menu at the Gadarene Swine. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Lee, from left, prepares a dish under the watchful eyes of sous-chef David Bowles and chef de partie Ricky Hernandez. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Vegetables in a Box is a tiny crate of crisped potato plunked into a drift of blackened eggplant puree and filled with thin disks of asparagus, kernels of sweet corn, pickled shimeji mushrooms, and whatever happens to be on hand that day. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Margarita Lee pours hot olive oil, from a candle made from an orange, over her version of tres leches. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)