365 til 30: Vegetarian Restaurant

Quiet Storm Vegetarian Restaurant

 I am not a vegetarian.  I’ve always wanted to be one though.  The thought of living a cruelty free life, being one with the animals I love, and being healthy from all of the natural foods I would be eating has always appealed to me.  One problem, I love meat.  I didn’t used to, I actually used to be a pretty picky eater, that’s when I tried to go vegetarian before, but I was also picky about vegetables.  Now I just love everything and have resigned myself to a life of animal consumption.  Unless of course a day comes when all of the slaughterhouses close and I would have to kill my own food.  In that case, I would go veggie because I can’t kill anything.  But for now, I get through the guilt by saying, its already  dead so I might as well eat it.  Hypocritical, probably, but it works for me. 

My friend Maren went vegetarian about a year ago and despite all of the ridicule our friends and I give her, she has been able to stick to it.  So in the spirit of doing new and different things before I turn 30 (365 before 30 that is) I decided to try out my first Vegetarian Restaurant. 

I searched the internet for a veggie only place, no meat involved.  I found a restaurant called ‘Quiet Storm’ over in one of the trendier parts of the city and Maren and I set out for an all vegetarian feast.  

The restaurant was on a quiet part of a main street.  We walked into the diner looking place where only a few tables were occupied.  The customers were what would be expected at a vegetarian restaurant, hippy/hipster/artist and smelling of patchouli.  Our waitress with trendy glasses greeted us at the door and sat us at a small table.  

Determined to taste as many things as possible for the most thorough review, I told Maren we were doing the full shebang, appetizers, entrees, desserts.  We started off with Muhammara, a Middle Eastern pesto-like spread of sweet and spicy red peppers, walnuts, and olive oil, which was served with pita slices.  It was ridiculously delicious.  We couldn’t stop talking about it, or eating it for that matter.  For our entrees, I ordered the Cubano, which was a pressed sweet roll stuffed with Tempeh bacon, Seitan ham, mozzarella, pickle, mustard, and garlic mayo.  Once again, ridiculously delicious.  I’ve never had Tempeh or Seitan, and I’m still not 100% sure what they are but that sandwich was one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten.  It was also served with really good chips and really good salsa.  Maren got Falafel, which was just OK.  For dessert we each ordered a Chocolate Almond Cupcake that was provided by a local bakery.  It too was scrumptious.

Muhammara

Cubano Sandwich

The menu had more than just sandwiches.  There were different faux meat dishes pretty much mimicking anything you could possibly want in meat form.  I told our waitress that I could be a vegetarian if it all tasted like this, and she told me that it could, I just had to learn how to cook it.  I pondered the idea and realized the temptation for meat would be

Falafel

Chocolate Almond Cupcake

too great for me to ever go through with it, but for that moment in time, I felt like a true vegetarian.  The restaurant was awesome, not to mention reasonably priced, and I definitely plan on visiting again to try some of their other dishes.

My friend Leigh Ann also went vegetarian not too long ago.  She however, is a full on vegan activist.  I told her about my vegetarian restaurant experience and she agreed to answer a few questions for my humble blog.  She also included a vegan recipe on the off chance I want to attempt veggie cooking.  Thanks Leigh Ann!

Me - Why did you decide to go vegan?  It was pretty all of a sudden it seems because I remember you used to eat meat.

Leigh Ann - I have always been a huge animal lover, and felt bad about eating meat.  When I was in grade school, my dad was watching a "Faces of Death" movie and I saw a cow have its throat slit.  I became a vegetarian but ended up going back to eating meat shortly after.  I always thought of vegetarians and vegans as being unhealthy.  A few months back I started friending animal rights websites (on Facebook) and learning a lot about factory farming.  I watched a video that was called "I'm scared, I don't want to die", and I could not get it out of my mind. I starting researching, I wanted to know how healthy eating meat really was and I was shocked by not only how unhealthy it is for us, but how bad factory farming is for the earth. And I was shocked at the conditions in which the animals are expected to live.  I googled "Why be a vegan?" And a site came up that was so informative, I even passed the link around to friends. I decided I couldn't continue to support an industry that is not only ruining our earth and also allowing animal cruelty.

Me - Why vegan/no animal products at all, rather than just vegetarian?

Leigh Ann - While researching and watching videos, I also started learning about the skinning process, how most of the animals are only stunned and skinned alive. The cruelty in diary farms, it's all just as bad as eating meat.

Me - How long has it been since you had meat/animal products?

Leigh Ann - I didn't keep track of when I started, and it has definitely been an ongoing process so I'm not sure to be honest!

Me - Was it hard and/or still hard eradicating all animal products from your life such as leather and other stuff that we use everyday?

Leigh Ann - YES!  The food was almost the easiest part for me to give up because I love all the new healthy food I get to eat and I've always loved veggies.  However, ALL of my makeup was tested on animals, my soaps, shampoo, hair dye etc.  My coat was wool, I had shearling boots (which I feel TERRIBLE about now).  Not to mention it's seriously shocking how many products are not only tested on animals but also contain animal products, so that was definitely a learning process.

Me - How did your family/friends react to this decision?

Leigh Ann - Strangely enough some friends acted negatively, and would pretty much joke about it, so I try not to talk about it around people.  A few of my friends and my wonderful boyfriend said that they really respected it and thought maybe one day they would make the change :) My family is happy as long as I'm healthy and taking vitamins!

Me - How has it affected your health?

Leigh Ann - It was really odd, at first my stomach seemed to be a bit more upset than usual and my skin broke out, almost like I was detoxing or something. Now, I’ve lost ten pounds and my skin has been the clearest it has ever been! I was never one to leave the house without makeup but now I do all of the time!

Me - How has it affected your psyche?

Leigh Ann - It has somehow made me feel better about myself, and I really don't know how to explain that. I've never really had so much passion towards something. It has also made me feel very bad about how animals are treated, and it can weigh on my mind at times.

Me - How has it changed your life in all ways not just health (as per the videos often posted on your Facebook Wall)?

Leigh Ann - It has made me more aware of the damage we are doing to our planet and the suffering the animals go through. They are tortured, have terrible unnatural lives, and are torn away from their babies. I wish I could save them all from the pain they go through. It's not the happy little farms I had imagined growing up.

Me - You are obviously involved in a cause, what are your hopes for the future with the cause and your part in the cause?

Leigh Ann - I try to sign as many petitions as I can and pass on what I'm learning to others.  I want to find ways to physically get out there and help out as much as I possibly can. I'd love to know that I made a difference in the way animals are treated such as installing video cameras in slaughterhouses, banning the seal hunt etc.

Me - What are some of your favorite vegan dishes/restaurants?

Leigh Ann - Right now I am obsessed with Rosemary Seitan. I love plain popcorn with vegan soy butter melted all over it :) I haven't been to any vegan restaurants yet, but I love the Mad Mex Veggie burrito with tofu sour scream and soy cheese. Delicious!

Here is a recipe for Leigh Ann’s current fav.

Rosemary Seitan

1 package "chicken style" seitan, drained

6 tbsp soy butter

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp dried rosemary leaves, crushed

1 tsp dried thyme 

1/2 tsp dried sage

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Grease a 9 x 13 pan with 1 tbsp olive oil.  Preheat oven to 350.  Arrange the seitan pieces in the bottom of the dish ( I like to cut mine up a bit).

In a small saucepan, heat remaining olive oil and add soy butter to melt.  Once melted, add the garlic, rosemary, sage, and thyme. Allow to simmer for a few minutes.

Pour the melted mixture over the seitan pieces and bake for 20 minutes, turning once (leave in about 5 min longer if you like it a little crispy :)