Vegetarian Alternatives
We think it's pretty clear by now that Seattlest is squarely in the "omnivore bordering on carnivore" category when we write about food. So we should not have been surprised when a vegetarian wrote us asking for some suggestions. We shouldn't have been surprised, but we were, mostly because we're selfish narcissists. (We're working on that...honest.)
Seattlest admits to knowing little or nothing about vegetarianism when going out to eat in Seattle. So we improvised: We asked the person asking us for vegetarian suggestions out to eat.
Amy Duchêne is a managing editor for Squash Magazine here in Seattle (that'd be "squash: the sport" rather than "squash: the vegetable", in case you were wondering about the irony there). We sat down to eat at one of the premier vegetarian restaurants in Seattle: Cafe Flora. After starting with their fruit and cheese plate (Amy is a vegetarian, not a vegan), we talked about eating out in Seattle.
Amy became a vegetarian sort of by accident, as she found out that she simply didn't like the taste of meat. As many of her friends were already practicing vegetarians, it took no effort to cut meat out of her diet completely. But going out to eat was a different matter...at first. Chinese and Thai restaurants seemed to cause the biggest issues, as even their veggie dishes come with fish or oyster sauce.
There are restaurants that cater to vegetarians. The aforementioend Cafe Flora has wonderful meals, including their take on the French Dip, which consists of Caramelized onion, Swiss cheese & portobella mushroom on a baguette with roasted garlic-mushroom jus. Seattlest cried silently at the joy that was their Butter Squash Polenta, a sage polenta with saute of roasted butternut squash, oyster mushrooms, winter kale and brown butter with Point Reyes Blue cheese, topped with a fig balsamic reduction.
But Amy says that there are wonderful options at non-vegetarian restaurants. Pasta at Ciao Bella comes to mind, as well as an above average veggie-burger at the meat haven that is Red Mill. There are also many alternatives at Pike Place Market, too numerous to mention here.
The trick to finding these places comes in several parts. First, define what you're willing to accept. Some vegetarians would shudder at eating cheese, or biting into a veggie burger made off the same grill as their meat counterparts. If this is you, have patience. There are places in Seattle that cater to you.
The final piece of advice is to feel free to ask for alternatives at your non-vegetarian restaurants. Seattle, being the bastion of diversity that it is, understands that there is a segment of population that doesn't eat meat. There's not a question surrounding viable alternatives that restaurants haven't heard already. Ask for the grilled chicken salad without the grilled chicken! Find out if they make their veggie dishes without fish sauces.
As far as other vegetarian restaurants in Seattle? Carmelita, at 7314 Greenwood Avenue North, serves excellent vegetarian International and Mediterranean foods. Looking for Oriental? Judy Fu's Snappy Dragon has many options available, including a Crispy Eggplant in Tangy Hot Glaze that makes us very happy indeed.
The meal at Cafe Flora was wonderful, and we will go out there again. Good food is good food, regardless of policies and politics. It wasn't enough to convert us solely to a veggie-only diet. But if it did, we would certainly take Amy's advice: Options are available througout Seattle, but you have to be diligent in your search for food, and you have to work with restaurant staff in order to get what you need.
Now pardon us...there's a Key Lime layered cake with white chocolate creme anglaise with our name on it.
