the tragedy of vegetarian restaurants

I hate vegetarian restaurants. I hate anything that has to do with politics, religion, or philosophy being involved with my dining experience. I don't need a lecture on maintaining mother earth and the carbon footprint of that cow I ate for breakfast. Especially when your menu is filled with mock duck, fakin' bacon, meatless loaf, or anything with TVP. Stop trying to make me feel guilty while I am eating your food. You are promoting a lifestyle diet, and not food. It doesn't add to the atmosphere of your establishment.

Anything trying to be something else is just awful. Even things like turkey bacon. You are only allowed to eat turkey bacon if you are muslim. And I bet you could take the belly off of a lamb or goat and make a much better bacon substitute. I think you have more options and a better result trying to make something the best it can be rather than trying to make it into something that it isn't.

When I was in Singapore we ate out vegetarian all the time. I don't speak Malay, or Mandarin, or Tamil, and yet I always knew what was vegetarian. If it is and and Indian restaurant and you see Shiva, you know it's vegetarian. If it is Chinese, you know it is Buddhist friendly, but I bet they serve meat as well. The point is that if they were veg friendly, they told you, and that was it. There was no lifestyle elitism with it.

I would rather go to a restaurant that has a selection of vegetarian items on the menu than a veg place. J & I have several regular places. I can eat everything on the menu, and she has multiple options. And the food is generally better, because that is all they are thinking about in the kitchen. I swear her favorite veggie burger is from a VERY meat heavy establishment.

So I was very happy to read this interview with the chef of Dirt Candy. She gets it! Yeah! Vegetarian food that is just about food. I want to go.