Vegetarian Special Request

No doubt lots of folks rolled their eyes at the title of this post. Another picky vegetarian.... Relax, it's kudos, not a complaint.

My man and I ate at Bourbon's Bistro last night and enjoyed a fantastic meal. I eat fish and veggies and always wind up with salmon or pasta. Entree-wise, the selection for me at Bourbon's is fine with some salmon and a triple bean burger. I just didn't want fish and I wasn't keen on eating with my hands. I noticed that the chef put a special line at the bottom of the menu that read something like, "If you're a vegan or vegetarian then let us know and I'll make something special." I never know if the chefs who write that kind of stuff really mean it so I asked our server and she assured me the chef was down with special requests. I've only done the special request thing one other time so, I went for it. I always put myself in the chef's hands too; I just tell the server "surprise me." It's OK to make requests but not to cross over into "pain in the a%*" territory.

WOW! The dish exceeded my expectations. Perfectly prepared fresh veggies that were full of flavor - roasted beets, tender parsnips, this arugula salad thingy that rocked, and this mushroom & cauliflower combo were artfully displayed on my plate. Mike from the old Barrett Bar made a swell Old Fashioneds (4 of 'em for our table of 2, actually) and those made the experience even better.

So, to end the post, are there any other places that fulfill the vegetarian "special request" well? I ask this knowing that chefs all over town are cursing me right now as I suspect these dishes take a bit more time to prepare. But, I can't imagine with the profit these dishes must bring in. Willfully, I pay between $15-25 for a plate full of veggies.

I would be hard pressed to think of any of the better places that wouldn't accommodate your request. It would be made much easier for most busy kitchen guys to make something special if they knew ahead of time. Asking for something special at 7:00 on a Friday night unannounced is kind of tough for some. Just saying, call ahead and mention something when making reservations. It helps to let chefs know so they can bring something nice in besides the usual mushrooms or pasta....

[Robin Garr]

Varanese's menu also indicates explicitly that the chef "will create a vegetarian dish upon request." I expect you could call at a not-so-busy time and find out if they're talking about a grilled portobello with fancy plating or something more creative.

Hillbilly Tea has a lot of good vegetarian and vegan options right there on the menu, no special request required. Ramsi's as well. We ate at the new Dragon King's Daughter in New Albany on Saturday night, and they also had a lot of vegetarian options on the menu, even on the gluten free menu. Zen Garden's entire menu is vegetarian.

I generally go to places where I already know there are veg*n options on the menu, so I haven't had experience with making special requests off menu.

I can't imagine with the profit these dishes must bring in. Willfully, I pay between $15-25 for a plate full of veggies.

Surprisingly, not much actually. I'm sure most of you have noticed how much produce prices have gone up in your local grocery store and the restaurant industry as seen this as well.

I'm always amazed when someone I know thinks that "because I'm buying at wholesale I can get it a lot cheaper" or "I can't believe how much it costs to go out to eat these days, restaurants must be raking it in".
I'm here to tell you that no it's really not that much of a break buying wholesale and profit margins are slim on the best of days. By adding in all of the associated overhead, the perceived profit from your plate of veggies is really not that much more than if you had ordered a normal protein based entrée.

I may give them a try then. I have so many allergies now that eating out is like navigating a minefield. A plate of veggies with no corn or corn byproducts or mushrooms is hard to come by.