Had to make this topic because I just heard that Eleven Madison Avenue in NYC went fully vegan, and that was in my to do list next year for fine dining with the wifey.
I am actually reconsidering a few dining options based on this latest turn.
So am curious, would you all go to a fine dining establishment based only on vegan options?
I have done this with the wife in Berlin a few years back.
Cookies and Cream (1 star michelin)
Was a strange menu, but with the advent of meatless options I think many areas could be improved.
As to the question, probably not, not at the cost of an 11 Madison.
Unless the people I am with will only go vegan.
Not that I wonāt like the food, just that I am sure I would consider it a full fine dining experience that I would want at a restaurant of that level
I have choices in where I go out to dinner.
I would not choose to go to a vegan-only restaurant.
Heck, I went to a vegan wedding reception (free āfoodā), and on the way home, we went to a restaurant and paid for regular food. Not that the āfoodā was bad, it just didnāt sate me. (It was also one of our favorite restaurants, and it was on the way home.)
āVegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter-faction, the vegans, are a persistent irritant to any chef worth a damn.
To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demi-glace, or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living.
Vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food. The body, these waterheads imagine, is a temple that should not be polluted by animal protein. Itās healthier, they insist, though every vegetarian waiter Iāve worked with is brought down by any rumor of a cold.
Oh, Iāll accomodate them, Iāll rummage around for something to feed them, for a āvegetarian plateā, if called on to do so. Fourteen dollars for a few slices of grilled eggplant and zucchini suits my food cost fine.ā
Anthony Bourdain (RIP)
Iāve had some amazing vegan food in my day, but I expect an upscale place to use the philosophy above.
One of my favorite restaurants in my city has a tasting menu format, and they always have a full vegetarian option. I havenāt tried the veggie version myself, but others here rave about it.
I donāt mind an occasional vegan meal. I prefer that it doesnāt pretend to be meat. Or anything itās not. I donāt mind a veggie burger, but letās just call it that.
I donāt like it when Iām asked to pretend cauliflower is rice or anything other than cauliflower. But that tends to happen more with the gluten free crowd.
I like Daiya pizzas, for example, but I donāt buy the ones with fake meat. For some reason the fake cheese doesnāt bother me as much.
I donāt have the fine dining budget some of you fortunate folks do, but if cost werenāt an issue, I would be fine with experimenting with āartificialā protein sources. I think they have a way to go yet, but I am not at all opposed to them.
