Veggie Life in the Triangle

This week's Independent Weekly focusing on vegetarian dining in the Triangle. I haven't flipped through it yet, but I look forward to doing so this weekend. I had to copy and paste the Indy's reason for doing the issue - I just love the exchange they had with the waitress. It's amazing what people think is veggie and what is not (or what is vegan and not)!

Slim pickins' 02/06/08

At a lunch meeting in a Durham restaurant a few weeks ago, Indy Editor Lisa Sorg and I sat down to plan this week's Dish issue. Our waitress caught Lisa's attention with a yummy, vegetable-filled description of the soup du jour. A longtime vegetarian, Lisa knew to ask: "Is it vegetarian?"

"Oh yes," the waitress assured us. "It's made with chicken stock, though, so it's vegetarian but not vegan."

Exchanges like that are one of the reasons we decided to examine local dining options for vegetarians, vegans and even those carnivores among us who occasionally crave a meatless meal.

Our diagnosis: We could use a few more options. More veggie-only restaurants. A wider variety of regular restaurants that offer truly "veggie-friendly" fare. Waitstaffs that know the vocabulary. Chefs who embrace the challenge of non-animal-based cuisine.

—Jennifer Strom

I also must agree with the "wish list" below: - my comments are in yellow

Vegetarians'
Wish List Café

(A restaurant that doesn't actually exist in the Triangle)

TODAY'S SPECIALS

Soup not based on chicken broth
(this is actually hard to find at most places!!)

Beans without lard or ham hocks
(I must admit, this is one of my 'don't ask, don't tell' moments at Mexican restaurants - although I am sure that slight nausea I feel after a meal may have something to do with refried beans. I am trying to get better about requesting black beans - which in most Mex restaurants are made meat free - but it is tough to make the switch)

A variety of sandwiches featuring something other than portobello mushrooms
(may I also add that we also don't always want eggplant at an Italian restaurant, either)

House-made veggie burgers cooked on a meat-free grill

(please please please stop serving Boca burgers - gross)

Side orders fried in veggie oil
(again, I usually don't ask...)

Salads without bacon bits
(bacon bits are the least concern - next time you go to a restaurant, see how many salads - besides the house salad - that aren't topped with meat. when did that switch happen???)