Sep
22
Review of vegan joint leaves me gritting my teeth
I’m having one of those days where everything that I read is setting my teeth on edge. It is driving me crazy that people are so callous about their use of animals. It’s so absurd. Take this article by The News-Sentinal Restaurant Reviewer, Cindy Larson, as an example. Larson talks how she has chosen a new vegan restaurant for her review, but is hung up on the faux meats that were served in some of the dishes. Cindy doesn’t like faux meats. And that’s when the article gets irritating. She goes on to say:
“Finally, after procrastinating as long as I could, I took a tiny bite of the faux beef. Flavorwise, it wasn’t bad, although I suspect the soy-based product contains a lot of salt. As for the texture: very tender. Probably more tender than any real beef I’ll ever eat. I’ve tried faux meat a few times; it’s just not for me. It’s not the taste or texture, it’s just me. I can’t get beyond thinking it’s fake.”
The woman can’t get over the fact that the faux meat is fake. Fake! It bothers her that the faux meat aren’t real dead animal pieces.
Her callous treatment of animals is insanely irritating and appalling. There is no logic behind her desire to consume solely animal flesh, it is simply centered around her belief system. She cannot comprehend that the faux meat is simply food, it isn’t a replacement for animal flesh, nor are they meant to be. They are simply another prepared food, not unlike animal flesh. You take a few vegan ingredients, mix them together and you produce a faux meat product. You could do the same with ground meat, by turning it into meatballs or meatloaf. Worse though, she has no comprehension of animals and their right to life. Her taste buds have already told her that the taste and texture of faux meats is tasty. It’s simply her head that won’t process it any further. I don’t know what’s worse; a person who chooses to kill for their own greed and tastebuds, or a person who kills simply because they don’t like the mere thought of fake meat.
I don’t know what’s worse, but I do know that animals deserve better.
Like a fine wine, vegan faux ‘meat’ is something you learn to develop a taste for and appreciate, IMO. The writer of the review had a predetermined outcome before the first bite…
Nice!
Could I have that email, please!
Thank you.
J.
Professional Vegan Restaurant Reviewer for hire.
She sounds frustratingly close-minded, maybe the type of person who won’t try any new or unusual foods “cos it’s too weird!”. Get a grip lady, everything you tried as a child was new. Maybe it’s time to start being receptive to new ideas instead of deciding beforehand that you just don’t like it. People like this do my head in regardless of what the food is – it’s boring and narrow minded. Harsh but true.
But when vegan restaurants offer these soy or gluten products as “beef” or “chicken,” it invites comparison. If it was simply labeled as, say, wheat gluten with broccoli instead of chik’n and broccoli, that would be a different story.
I was so annoyed by her review that I sent an email to her directly since there was no comment option to post to her review. I didn’t attack her, I just tried to heighten her awareness.
If anyone wants a copy of the email I would be happy to send it to you.
Every restaurant review I’ve ever read in a mainstream publication has spit on vegan food. Like “the food was good…FOR VEGAN FOOD.” Never just “the food was good” period. The NY Times finally reviewed Candle 79 a few months ago (I have no idea what took so long, given that it’s probably one of the best veg restaurants on the continent) and pretty much just complained about the seitan the entire time, and only complimented the food in the context of “being vegan”…lame. We need a vegan restaurant reviewer at a mainstream publication! Anyone interested??? Heh.
If she doesn’t like faux meats, why not order dishes which do not contain any? This seems like a rather obvious solution, which leaves me wondering if she ordered faux meat dishes on purpose just so she’d have something to complain about.
I like to say that it isn’t fake, it just isn’t made of animals! We’re not eating fake food here. It’s plant-based, not plastic, people!