I’ll order chicken liver pâté to slather on toast anytime I see it on a menu, but like seemingly everyone else in this era of healthyish eating, I’m also trying to cut back on animal products where I can. So when I saw carrot pâté on the menu at Parkside, the North Center restaurant from the team behind the delightful L&M Fine Foods, I jumped at it.

Topped with pistachios and microgreens, the velvety spread has the same lush mouthfeel as chicken liver, but it’s loaded with sweet carrot flavor. Slices of grilled Aya sourdough and housemade pickled blueberries and pear butter are served alongside to deck out your toast.

“I started working on the concept of vegetarian charcuterie when I was at the Violet Hour, and chicken liver pâté is a classic,” chef Justin Kaialoa says. “I thought, How can we do this without chicken livers?” He nailed it on his first try, swapping carrots into his chicken liver pâté recipe — which calls for garlic, onions, thyme, and bay leaves, plus some cream, butter, and cognac for richness — and adding toasted cumin.

“I was trying to make pâté more accessible, since a lot of people are going plant based, but I didn’t know how people would receive it,” Kaialoa says. “Now it’s never leaving the menu.” Bonus: You can also snag it to go from the restaurant. $14. 2201 W. Montrose Ave., North Center