Hypocrisy: Vegetarian Selling Veal

It's bothered me many times at work. Peddling meat. But that's my job, even if I don't believe in eating meat as a personal choice, I'm still going to sell it to others. When I was looking for a serving job, I tried to find one at a vegan or vegetarian friendly restaurant...but most of those places are so small, that there's hardly ever any openings, and even if there is, I probably couldn't make much money at those places or have a flexible schedule. I tried one of the bigger veggie places, a chain called Real Food Daily... but they weren't hiring or at least they weren't hiring me. So.... I sell meat.

Source

I figure that working at an Italian restaurant is at least better than working at a steak house, which I could certainly never do. I've never tasted 85% of our dishes, but I know the ingredients and their flavor profiles and I ask my co-workers what they think of every dish. So even though I don't eat meat, I know what to recommend. And I certainly recommend vegetarian dishes whenever it makes sense.

But I still feel guilty about it.

And I never feel more guilty than when I sell veal (which, by the way, I never suggest). Even one of our chefs isn't comfortable with veal and says that he tries to avoid eating it whenever he can. Surprisingly, there are a lot of people who don't even know what veal is...usually they're under the age of 30.

INNOCENT GUEST: Excuse me, um... but what is veal?

Now I'm wondering if I'll get in trouble or offend them if I tell them what it really is... Baby cow that's been trapped in a cage and not allowed to move. Apparently ours is fed "real" food and not a 100% milk diet which is supposed to be better for the calf?
ME: It's a type of beef?
INNOCENT GUEST: So, it's like, a different cut?
ME: Ummmm... no. It's a calf.
INNOCENT GUEST: A calf?
ME: A very, very young cow. 
INNOCENT GUEST: Oh. Does it taste better?
ME: (cringing) Um... I don't really eat it. Um... It's a very thin cut, so it's supposedly more tender. 
INNOCENT GUEST: Oh.

The other day, a girl ordered her boyfriend the Veal Chop for his birthday. It's an 18 oz, giant slab of baby cow with the bone still in. I can't think of anything more upsetting or disgusting. They were very excited about it because he had never had veal before and apparently it "melted in your mouth." Again, I had to feign enthusiasm so as not to be rude. Most servers would be thrilled that someone orders the Veal Chop because it's the most expensive dish on the menu.

The other day, an older gentleman and I had the following exchange.

OLD GUY: Ooooo... I'll have the picatta.
ME: Chicken picatta?
OLD GUY: No, veal picatta. Baby cow! Moooooo! Yum.

I did not crack a smile. He assumed I would find this amusing. He was NOT amused that I ignored his remark and moved on to his friend's order. What else could I do? It's my job.

So that's it. My confession. I'm a big vegetarian hypocrite who would someday like to make money by NOT selling meat.

Source

Tim Gunn, please love me!

I adore Tim Gunn.

LOVE. 

Tim Gunn has been promoting his new book around Los Angeles and I KEEP MISSING HIM! I check his Facebook page too late and miss out on his random appearances. A few days ago he was in Santa Monica at the Borders. Missed it. And a few days before that, he was filming at CBS for Craig Ferguson. And guess where I was????? Working NEXT DOOR! I was a mere football field's distance from Tim Gunn and I did not see him.

Tim Gunn, don't you like Italian food? We can be very vegetarian friendly! I know you're into PETA and all that and SO AM I!!!! However, had I actually waited on Tim Gunn, I probably would have fallen to pieces.

...Like the time Eric Idle came in and I kept getting his songs stuck in my head and was whistling in the kitchen and then became paranoid that I would whistle by his table. It's a good thing I wasn't his server because I probably would have said something idiotic.

Post Cold Recovery Part 2

More vegetarian noms today! Hooray! This past week I really, really spoiled myself. I don't think anyone needs even ONE cupcake a week, but sometimes I can cram 3 or more into fewer than seven days. Let's call it a special talent.

Not too far from my place, in Franklin Village, near the UCB theatre, there is an amazing little place called Locali. It's a tiny health food convenience store and deli. I LOVE it.

You can get tons of gluten-free, vegan, free range, organic goodness there. They carry special dietary items or green household products. It's one of the only places where I can find vegan marshmallows at a decent price, and that's what I was craving when I went there. But of course, I couldn't resist. I had to get a Veggie Reuben. Being the German Midwestern girl that I am, I adore sauerkraut and I really do get cravings for delicious messy Reubens. Locali's is THE BEST.

I'm proud of my little camera phone!

Even my LP loved this. He doesn't eat pork or beef, but he thought this was better than most turkey reuben options. Locali didn't end up having any marshmallows in stock, so I'll have to check back sometime soon (perfect excuse!)... but I was able to get this vegan, gluten-free S'MORE cupcake!

It wasn't the best gluten-free cupcake I've ever had. Lark (see previous post) does a flour-less chocolate cupcake that's incredible. It tasted more like a muffin, and I didn't really get much of a S'MORE flavor, but the marshmallow-y topping was scrumptious.

And that's why I LOVE L.A. because I have such a variety of amazing places to try and so many option available to me. I'm a lucky vegetarian.

Post-Cold Recovery

I am a big baby about being sick. HUGE. I stomp around the apartment all day in my pajamas and over-sized bathrobe, demand that my life partner buy me giant cartons of no pulp, low acid orange juice, and I SULK. Big baby. Luckily, I don't get sick very often and this last cold lasted a very, very short time. Even still, I decided to milk it, and spent the past week being lazy (and not writing, obviously) and treating myself to over-priced vegetarian goodies! Hooray!



While I was just getting over my cold, I took a trip to Sunset Junction for a pick me up. The photo on the right is the view from where I parked. I live really close to this area, and if I'd been feeling better, I probably would have biked.

First, I decided to visit Flore Vegan Cafe. Flore Vegan is a super small cafe. If you like people watching and can stand some traffic exhaust, I recommend sitting outside. But the inside is cozy and funky. Like if your Goodwill loving grandmother decided to decorate a vegan restaurant. I've been here with vegan friends before and everything is usually pretty tasty and not too expensive.

I got a big fat Veggie Club with potato salad and a Fresh Ginger Ale. The tempeh "bacon" they used was especially good, but the drink was my favorite part. It had a strong ginger flavor with a lot of kick and it even eased my crushing sinus pressure headache! The ginger ale made me feel SO much better that I decided to reward myself with some cupcakes.   Yes. That IS how my mind works.

I went to Lark Cake Shop, which is my FAVORITE place for cupcakes in Los Angeles. Yes, even more than Sprinkles, which is good, but overrated. I got a vegan Chocolate Orange cupcake. Even though I'm not vegan, this is still one of my favorites. I also tried the Coffee Cake cupcake for the first time. It was tasty, but was pretty much just like coffee cake in cupcake form. I don't know why I was expecting anything different. I wish my photo did it justice. But just look at the gorgeous chocolate frosting! It looks like a rose!

Tune in tomorrow for more tasty treats! I really spoiled myself this past week!