While on the subject of pizza. Suggestion for anyone.

We continue to have pizza store after pizza store pop up here. However aside from a few specialties and variations in style it's all the same choices.

Someone needs to take a page from Pizza Luce in Minneapolis and bring some new choices to the game for vegetarians. There is not any place where you can faux pepperoni or sausage for your pizza much less on sandwiches. And if a vegan wants vegan cheese, forget about it.

There is definitely a market in this area for such to be added to the menu but NO ONE has stepped up to the plate. Someone please do so. I'd do it myself if I had a even the smallest inkling on how to run a restaurant.

For reference a link to the Luce menu:
http://www.pizzaluce.com/Online%20Menu/appetizers.html

I really doubt that there are enough veggie/ vegan types out there for someone else to open another establishment that caters to this crowd. The little place on Barret and Eastern PRKY didn't make it very long. Heck I can't even remember the name of it. I hate to be the harbinger of bad tidings but setain, tofu, fake cheese and soy juice(Milk comes from mammals, not beans!) are kind of expensive as compared to the real thing. For a restauant to keep those, and other vegan friendly items to make(as of now) a very small portion of the dining public happy isn't very business savvy. I'm sure I'll get a deluge of non-meat eaters out there saying that this isn't the case, however maybe in the future this might not be the norm but I don't really feel that it would be a profitable venture at this time

Well the place I posted the link to doesnt do this exclusively either it's offered in addition tot heri regular fare. I guess i didnt make my point clear enough, someone needs to pick up these OPTIONS not do these exclusively.

As for the failing of Benedict's there were many many contributing factors the least of which was it being meatless.

[Robin Garr]

I really doubt that there are enough veggie/ vegan types out there for someone else to open another establishment that caters to this crowd. The little place on Barret and Eastern PRKY didn't make it very long.

I'm inclined to agree, particularly since pizza is a particularly easy dish to enjoy in a vegetarian version at just about any place that makes it. Just leave the meat off. If I'm not mistaken, mozzarella doesn't even use rennett, so it's acceptable to vegetarians who eat cheese.

I've always suspected that hardshell vegans don't like food anyway, so there's not much of a market there ...

Well the place I posted the link to doesnt do this exclusively either it's offered in addition tot heri regular fare. I guess i didnt make my point clear enough, someone needs to pick up these OPTIONS not do these exclusively.

As for the failing of Benedict's there were many many contributing factors the least of which was it being meatless.

Well the thing is, fake cheese doesn't really melt all that great,tastes even worse and is slightly more expensive than real cheese. However the shelf life for fake cheese is very long because it is full of processed vegetable oil and other strange and wonderful additives to make it somewhat resemble the real thing. Maybe some one who owns a pizza joint wouldn't mind having this on hand for the few folk who actually enjoy eating this stuff. Some one help out the veggie/vegans would you so we don't have to listen to the constant whining from these people.

rennet is used to coagulate MILK, to make cheese curd which is necessary in the production of Mozzarella. Now, you can create a vegan rennet from either the following fig tree bark, thistles, etc. But it does not exist commercially.
But is totally necessary to make Mozz.

We (Meridian) now offer soy mozzarella , but there are not a lot of takers.

We also make our own Mascarpone, and we will (when occasion rises) make our own Mozz!

OK fake cheese aside (and Luce has two options one that they make themselves which is more like parmesan), the fake meats optiosn owuld be a nice addition to a pizza menu somewhere in the area. When I make a pizza at home i put a good half pound of faux pepperoni, sausage and ham on it. Not all of of meat free people like jsut veggies on oru pizza. Plus during lent I imagine it would be a boon for those going meat free due to their religious regiment.

Oooh , my bad, I forgot about Kosher cheese, that is produced by a fermentation process... suitable for vegetarians!

We have a vegetarian friend who likes to quest for faux meats. she and my husband made abreakfast pizza w/ "gimme lean" sausage and none of the meat eating friends even noticed! It should be an option, it's not like the stuff goes bad quickly!

The best vegetarian pizza ever is presently being reheated in my oven! Deep dish spinach and garlic from Chicago's finest... Giordano's. Imagine my delight when I awoke this morning to find a suprise in the fridge from my DH who was in Chicago yesterday evening! The smell as it warms up is killing me.... I don't care what kind of cheese (rennet/no rennet), this is the BEST VEGETARIAN PIZZA EVER! Now...to decide which beer to pair it with... any suggestions? I probably have another 10 minutes or so until it's hot.

I agree with Robin, that most serious Vegan's must not really like food, but even being the meat lover that I am (and rare only, please), this vegetarian pizza really does ROCK!!!!! (ick! did I really write that?)

OK fake cheese aside (and Luce has two options one that they make themselves which is more like parmesan), the fake meats optiosn owuld be a nice addition to a pizza menu somewhere in the area. When I make a pizza at home i put a good half pound of faux pepperoni, sausage and ham on it. Not all of of meat free people like jsut veggies on oru pizza. Plus during lent I imagine it would be a boon for those going meat free due to their religious regiment.

Ok,Ok maybe I'm a little hard on our veggie/vegan friends. I actually enjoy making fun of them... ooops, I mean food for them most of the time. However (strictly from a flavor standpoint)I don't feel that "faux meats" do the real stuff justice and they are way overpriced. And I still don't understand why they make certain items resemble the real animal that it's supposed to come from.

Have the analog cheeses improved over the last 20 years? I was working at Pizza Today magazine circa 1990 when substitute or imitation cheese made its ripple (I wouldn't call it a splash!). It was never wildly or even mildly popular back then and I doubted it would ever become a mainstay in the pizza industry.

I think it's safe to say meatless and veggie alternatives to pepperoni and sausage pies are here to say and the possibilities are limited only by one's imagination.

This month's issue of Pizza Today features at least two articles on veggie alternatives and options in pizza-making. See "Going Green" and "Now Roasting" at the bottom of the main page of http://www.pizzatoday.com

I saw quite a few past articles in a keyword search for "vegetable".

Lois

Some one help out the veggie/vegans would you so we don't have to listen to the constant whining from these people.

I guess this kind pf attitude goes a long way toward explaining why the vegetarian option is often a "portobello mushroom sandwich."

There are a lot more vegetarians in the area than one might expect. Zen Garden seems to do just fine. We also have quite a few Indians here working in IT.

Some one help out the veggie/vegans would you so we don't have to listen to the constant whining from these people.

I guess this kind pf attitude goes a long way toward explaining why the vegetarian option is often a "portobello mushroom sandwich."

There are a lot more vegetarians in the area than one might expect. Zen Garden seems to do just fine. We also have quite a few Indians here working in IT.

When given the opportunity to prepare a vegetarian/vegan meal I find it best to go out and see what the patron wants..

I enjoy doing something special for them and most of the time they are very happy with what I suggest...

I try to do my best not to just make "pasta primavera" or the aforementioned portobello offering....

A couple of my faves might be a Basmati and Shittake Timbale' with a Miso-Ginger Sauce or maybe Black Bean Cakes with a Minted Cucumber and Tomato Relish.

However, what really gets under my skin...(Sorry but I'm going on a rant here) is the holier than thou attitude that some of the people who prefer to eat this way give off..... You know the type ;They say things like "I don't eat flesh" ....

When approached at the table they usually have a laundry list of things that they"couldn't possibly partake of";
Including most normal vegan options that usually includes mushrooms ..."I don't eat fungus", grains,"rice makes me irregular" and several fresh vegetables" I cant eat anything red or orange".....
Most of the time I end up offering them a cobbled together meal of leafy greens and tree bark.
And then they act disappointed that it "Wasn't very good".
Well..I'm of the opinion that we are at the top of the food chain for a reason and that's why God gave us incisors and bicuspids....

As Anthony Bourdain says "Being a vegetarian goes against everything I know to be right about food."
If I seem insensitive to your needs then do every one a favor and call ahead with your strange dining requests.

Most of us in the bizz would appreciate knowing ahead of time if we have a vegan/vegetarian coming in this evening...... That way with a little notice, something other than the "usual portobello sandwich" can be prepared.

It is becoming more mainstream to have a vegetarian offering and I make every effort to make something even the most die-hard carnivore would look at with envy.
However, if the effort is made to accommodate your needs then please don't make me feel bad about my profession that at times may include cooking little birds, baby cows and Bambi.
I guess I sound like the one whining now but I felt I had to get this off my chest. No hard feelings my vegetarian friends. We can co-exist in harmony

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I'm all for vegetarians and vegans. Good for them. But, I don't understand when these folks want to eat fake "meat" and fake "dairy". If you are a vegetarian why do you want faux sausage or faux pepperoni? I don't get it. Fake cheese? um, no thanks.

I'm a non-smoker, and I never once thought, gee I wish I had a faux cigarette right now.