Can Impossible Foods and its plant burgers take on the meat industry?

Impossible Foods is on the cusp of big things. But as the company lines up its first burger chain, it still needs to show it can convert the meat-loving masses

I sat down to have my first Impossible Burger, the plant-based meat substitute that has received a lot of press and nice reviews from high profile chefs and their customers. My burger, topped with caramelized onion, dill pickles, lettuce and a special sauce, was cooked medium rare. It looked like a conventional burger, complete with the pinkish 'meat' in the middle. It was hard to tell the difference when I bit into the burger and washed it down with a milkshake.

I was at Bareburger near New York University yesterday to hear executives from Impossible Foods announcing their first restaurant chain. It's a big deal for the Silicon Valley company, which only launched its first product, the Impossible Burger, last year and focused its initial publicity blitz around teaming up with trendy restaurants in New York City, San Francisco and Los Angeles.