VegEscape to Louisville in current VegNews Magazine

I just wanted to give a shout out to all of the restaurants and forum members mentioned in the March/April issue of VegNews Magazine.

The article is not online, sadly, but does mention :
Vietnam Kitchen
Dakshin
Zen Garden
Jamie's 14k Cupcakes
Sweet Surrender
Annie May's Sweet Cafe
Heine Bros
Morel's
Ramsi's
Rainbow Blossom

No mention of Roots/Heart & Soy?

[Robin Garr]

No mention of Roots/Heart & Soy?

Who's the byline? Local free-lancer or visiting writer?

Sam Hartman, president of the Louisville Vegetarian Club wrote it.

[Robin Garr]

Sam Hartman, president of the Louisville Vegetarian Club wrote it.

Well, he knows his stuff, then! Too bad he's not on HotBytes. I wonder, too, about the apparent oversight of Roots/Heart and Soy, though.

president of the Louisville Vegetarian Club

Hmmmmm....This gives me an idea.

president of the Louisville Vegetarian Club

Hmmmmm....This gives me an idea.

Are you going to start a meat club?

Opened two weeks ago, I went to the all vegetarian place two doors down from Papalino's near UofL and had fake chicken lemongrass and fake crab balls- very good! The crab balls were totally out of the ordinary, and less than $2 if I recall correctly so it was a no-brainer to satisfy the curiosity. They were white/pale in color and had the texture of very very firm hot dogs (or brats? Definitely a strong skin and dense sponge interior, and nothing like the vegan dogs or anything else vegan I've had before), served on a leaf of romaine with a Cajun veganaise- served piping hot and it took a while for them to cool off. That's always a good thing for me- tepid food is such a turnoff. The lemongrass was great, too, and very healthful. Option of brown rice and tons of colorful veg and mock meat. Not friggin' bad at all if that's your thing.

I would also like to encourage the meat lovers to go down to Rainbow Blossom and get a Morels Philly Cheeze Steak wrap...warm it up and enjoy...delicious.

Maybe I'm just weird, but I don't understand (and don't eat) things that are made to taste like what they aren't. It just seems weird to me to object to eating dead animals, and then go and eat plant stuff that's made to taste like...dead animals. Just seems hypocritical.

Maybe I'm just weird, but I don't understand (and don't eat) things that are made to taste like what they aren't. It just seems weird to me to object to eating dead animals, and then go and eat plant stuff that's made to taste like...dead animals. Just seems hypocritical.

Are you just being "jokey" or is this an earnest attempt to understand the appeal? If it's the latter, who are you addressing? I am a carnivore, but I genuinely relish the flavor and texture of faux meat. It's not exactly healthy by my standards, but I absofrigginlutely thinks it's delicious. Maybe you can expand your taste and give it a try? Or if you have, and just don't like it, give the rest of us a break? The tired jab at vegan feaux meat without a good punch line has become such a yawn. "We get it! We're totally transparent and unpatriotic hipster imposters!". The avoidance of nasty shit from the commercial meat industry is also a HUGE added bonus to an already delicious food substance, but carry on.

I've been vegetarian for 30 years. I enjoy faux meat products for some of the same reasons you enjoy meat products - familiar, simple and frequently quick to prepare, good source of protein.

However, our visit to Green Leaf was not as satisfactory. The soup was served quite literally boiling. It bubbled for a long time in the styro cup. I even got a half cup of ice to try to get the stuff to a reasonable temp. The pasta is the soup was cooked into submission as you might imagine due to the boiling.

The veg spring roll was excellent. Crispy, non-greasy.

I guess I should say I understand there are different reasons to eat vegetarian. If you're a vegetarian for health reasons, but still like and miss the taste of meat, then, fine, eat faux meat to your heart's content. If you're a carnivore but, like Robin, you like veg dogs just as much as meat hot dogs, more power to you.

But if one is a vegetarian because one objects to killing/eating/using animals on ethical grounds (or even if that is one of multiple motives), eating faux meat is hypocritical. It's a way of getting around one's principles on a technicality without actually violating them, but without the inconvenience that consistently living by them would require. It'd be like Roger brewing a batch of beer intending to make it taste like Bud Light. Or a PETA member wearing faux fur.

BTW, not at all trying to be jokey or score cheap points. I do genuinely want to know if vegetarians don't find this inconsistent, and what their reasoning is. There may well be something I haven't considered.

No, I don't find that eating faux meat products inconsistent with my vegetarianism. I don't see ANY difference between eating tofu, rice and grains or a commercially prepared product that is made with those ingredients. The final form of the food product (shape, color) is not even relevant.

My shoes aren't all made of hemp either. I sometimes wear "man made leather" shoes. Not in the least inconsistent with my principles.

I only make decisions about what I eat and wear for myself. You are free to eat/wear whatever you want. I am in charge of only myself.

I went vegan for health reasons, but also object to the use of animals for my own personal purposes in a way that harms them. However, that doesn't mean that I am required to dislike the texture of something meat-like, and I don't understand why that is hypocritical. It just means I don't want it to come from something that had a face and a heartbeat, when it can be created and be just as satisfying when it's plant-based. Stanley from Morels has explained this many times because he gets asked a lot why they use meat-like names to describe their soy products...and it's because if they called it a formed soy protein link instead of a veggie dog even the vegans would steer clear.

Like Leah said, they are a good source of protein, just like meat, and they have a familiar texture. Some vegans do choose to steer clear of faux meat because they never liked meat in the first place. However, I think you'll find most have no problem with it...we aren't eating it "just because it's faux meat," we eat it because it tastes good and has nutritional value. Actually better nutritional value than aniimal meat. And although it does taste good, I do not think it tastes exactly like meat -- it always has a different flavor.

The soy curls Stanley uses in the cheeze steak and has used in the past in other products are absolutely delicious...the texture is great and the flavor is even better.

I respect your right to choose to eat meat; I just ask that others respect my right to choose plant-based alternatives.