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Monday, November 15, 2010

Feed Me. Please.

This is an open letter to any non-veg restaurant out there. A little tongue in cheek perhaps, but it's true, all of it.

Dear Restaurant Owner:

I visited your establishment recently, upon hearing pretty good things about you. After being seated, I began scanning your menu. There was nothing on the menu that I could eat. Nothing. I am a vegan, and I'm not the only one out there, this I know to be true. I am in the service industry myself, and thus understand how it can be challenging to meet the needs of special customers. However, I personally go to great efforts to insure that people get healthy food that tastes good, and meets any restrictions they may have. Why can't you do the same for me, especially when you're in the food industry full time?

I went to my local health food store today. They have a very small lunch counter which offers juices, daily soup specials, wraps, and other simple items. I went in for a cup a soup. My plans changed as soon as I sat down. My friend Bonnie was behind the counter whirling up fresh vegan pesto in probably the teeniest food processor I've ever seen. She asked me if I would like some pesto, how I could I say no to such a delight? In less than 5 minutes, she served me a fresh pesto wrap, full of chopped veggies, sprouts and even vegan cheese. I am not exaggerating, it was less than 5 minutes from order to table.

I thought about this pesto as I was eating it. I began to wonder, why is it so difficult for mainstream restaurants to keep something tasty on hand for vegetarians and vegans. With Bonnie's beautiful pesto, one could make a wrap (as she did), a pizza, hot pasta, cold pasta salad, and even mix it with vegetables, and serve it over some plain rice. If you really wanted to get exotic, this could be mixed with baked or sauteed tofu. Some tofu comes shrink wrapped already baked. Slice & serve. For real.

Bonnie's pesto had the following ingredients: fresh basil, walnuts, olive oil, organic garlic, and a small amount of a brand called "Galaxy Foods" vegan cheese. The vegan cheese costs me retail $3.99. There's a lot of pesto one can make with 1 very small can of that vegan cheese. That can of vegan cheese is refrigerator stable for months.

It does not take much for you to keep a $2 box of shelf stable soy or rice milk on hand for your vegan customers. With that $2 box of shelf stable soy or rice milk, you can make vegan olive oil mashed potatoes, vegan "cream" sauce for pasta (again merely substitute olive oil instead of butter), and I could even get a cup of coffee not black for once. You could chop tomatoes, saute them with onions, olive oil, white beans, and spinach, serve over rice or pasta. Garnish it with a slice of orange or two. Dessert? How about some peaches or pineapple placed on your grill for just a couple minutes, or some fresh berries served with a little fresh chopped mint? Its not complicated, I swear it! You do not even need a recipe, trust me!

There is a restaurant down the shore in New Jersey called "Via Roma." Its a pizza and pasta place. Its very clean. Its cute. Its not fancy at all, but there is obvious pride in the dining room, I could tell by little touches, and again, the cleanliness. We stumbled upon it through a recommendation by a friend last time we were up that way. We learned this unassuming pizza & pasta restaurant has a completely separate vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free menu. We ate there 3 times in 2 days. It was that good. In speaking with the owner, we learned his thoughts that it seemed a somewhat natural progression to offer these special menus IN ADDITION TO the regular menu, as so much of his food could be so easily adapted anyway. Why not expand the business model, and be able to attract more customers? Makes sense to me. Let me also tell you this, Mr. Restaurant Owner who does NOT cater to us special folks: from 1800 miles away, I have sent at least 6 people to Via Roma in the last 2 months BECAUSE of their special menu. Not a bad track record.

Please, won't you consider adding veg options to your menu? Not just upon request, but how about taking the step to put something on the menu, printed. It doesn't have to be fancy. You don't have to use astronomically priced ingredients. You just have to offer us tasty food, and show you care about us.

We were in Key West yesterday after the powerboat races. It was Sunday, about 4:30pm. The vegetarian restaurant (The Cafe') is closed on Sunday, we missed Help Yourself by 1/2 hour, and the Italian restaurants did not open til dinner hour. In all of Key West, we were stumped by where to eat for dinner. We ended up eating at Willie T's, which has a vegan burger on their menu. Printed on the menu, a permanent fixture. They cared about us by doing that, and we showed our appreciation by going there. It was hard to believe we were in a city and had such a difficult time finding vegan food.

Please, won't you consider putting a vegan option on your menu? Having a vegan option covers both vegetarian AND vegan concerns. Print it on your menu. Show us you want our business. Please, don't make us sit down, scan your menu, see nothing and begin to wonder "do they or don't they" or worse, find out you really cannot accommodate us in any way, and we get up to leave. Its happened. A lot. And, I'm not picking on any particular town with that statement. It's happened all over the country for me.

Please I promise you, I will patronize your business. Plus, I will tell my friends and my customers.

Very truly yours,

A non-customer,who really WANTS to be a customer

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