Great Chefs Cook Vegan

Wow, I think I'm getting addicted to yoga...who'da thunk it? I wish I could spend a couple more hours doing it today but I have other stuff to do.

Anyway, I have this new cookbook called "Great Chefs Cook Vegan", and last night I brought the book with me when my bf and I went to Palo Alto to eat at Tamarine for the first time. We didn't have a reservation, but we thought we'd give it a go anyway. Just as we drove by and said "oh, there's Tamarine!" we saw a parking spot right there. Well, not saw it so much as my bf and his vehicle seemed to sense it and as one they turned into it and there we were, parked!

The restaurant looked kind of crowded but we saw some seats at the bar so we sat there and found they have some very delicious red wines.

The bartender was super nice and he helped us order everything vegan and he was very interested in the book we'd brought. He's been working "in the industry" for quite a while and has worked with some great chefs, and he knows people all over the place, like at The French Laundry where I guess he got engaged...wow, we can't even get a reservation and he got engaged there!

He gave us some great tips for dining out in general and because of him we are eating at Jardiniere in San Francisco tonight, and as he was telling us about different restaurants he's worked for and eaten at, and all the things they could and would do for vegans and others with "special dietary needs", which basically consist of great chefs using their considerable skillllzzzzz and making something special on the fly, I found myself thinking "maybe we've been going about this all wrong!" (And also thinking about how books have been good conversation starters for us almost every time we've brought one.)

By "this" I mean eating out as vegans. Rather than trying to figure out what restaurants ARE vegan or vegetarian or raw or what restaurants have a few dishes on the menu that are vegan or scanning the menu for items that we can request be served separate from their meat components, perhaps we just need to be paying attention to who the chefs are at each restaurant and what their reputation is for accommodating people. It's not the menu that matters, it's the people, both front and back of the house.

So, that's my new theory, I guess we'll see how it goes!