The vegetarian option

If there's one thing that most American restaurants are spectacularly bad at, it's the 'vegetarian option'. Menus seem to treat people who don't eat meat as an afterthought, offering such predictable dishes such as vegetarian lasagna or vegeburgers. Boring! Where is the chef's imagination? Are they incapable of cooking without meat or fish?

Or does the restaurateur not realize that non meat eaters, once they have found really good vegetarian food, will patronize that restaurant over and over again? But come on, how many people are we talking about really? Well, we could Google and find out how many vegetarians there are in the world, but let me give you a real life example. A year ago, I worked in an office with ten people. Of those ten, three were vegetarian. Another two were carefully watching their weight and their diet, therefore open to the idea of a meat-free meal.

Although I realize that our office is not exactly representational of the population at large, that's 50% of our staff who would have appreciated vegetarian restaurant meals. But let's say that only ten percent of your potential guests don't eat meat. That's like having a restaurant which can cope with 100 covers per evening and totally ignoring ten people.

I have found that it's a mistake in a restaurant to declare that you are vegetarian. The average unimaginative chef assumes this means that you eat vegetables only. Vegans eat vegetables only - which will be the subject of another post, watch this space.....

And it's not difficult. You have a talented chef. Meat-free dishes are easy and economical. Many can be easily produced with a little forethought. If you chef tells you that he needs inspiration for vegetairian meals, just show him (or her) this list to get their creative juices flowing;

Thai vegetable curry with lemongrass rice
Spinach and ricotta conchiglie
Mushroom croustades
Fresh spinach and avocado salad
Baked squash with parmesan
Corn cakes with broiled tomatoes
Griddled pineapple and mango on toasted panettone with vanilla yogurt
Asparagus rolls with herb butter sauce
Sweet potato roulade
Onion and thyme tart
Spanish asparagus and orange salad
Balti baby vegetables
Glazed carrots with cider
Broccoli and chestnut terrine

.... I could continue all day.

Comments

[Eddie Griffin]

Good piece! And some good points well made.

I think the problem lies with the word 'vegetarian' which sounds vaguely scientific and focus-groupish.

To be honest I think the problem lies as much with the Maitre'D and the restaurant owners as much as the chefs. If there was just a little flexibility in the menu, that would be enough. And at least have enough dialog with the kitchen to allow for the odd freak like me who might not want shrimp all over his salad.

The fact is that in your average restaurant the V word is not welcome or planned for. The routine of a set menu it seems should never be broken and unless the establishment has a friendly attitude and a helpful sensibility then those of us who'd rather avoid eating animal every night can have a happy night out. Too often he very word inspires an involuntary rolling of the eyes. I actually had the response "There's always one..." when I raised the V question...Nice!

The thing is, I actually LIKE simple vegetables, expertly cooked. I'm not against meat eating in the least - certainly not like a non-smoker is to a smoker. I just want the opportunity to taste simple food done well, and vegetables that are not thrown away as sides but form part of a balanced meal.

I say that 'I'm on a special diet at the moment' and this provokes a look of understanding rather than disgust :-)