AuburnChick's Adventures

Tonight, we went to a local hibatchi restaurant.

We’ve always enjoyed watching our food being cooked.  The entertainment is fun.

Everything was going along swimmingly.

I had ordered vegetable hibatchi and had swapped out white rice for the fried.

Remember, I am a vegan.  I don’t eat anything animal-related.

As the cook began preparing our food, I smiled.

Until…

He started messing around with the vegetables.

The first problem:  He slid the vegetables over to the area he’d just used to cook steak, seafood, and chicken on.

Not cool.

Sure, he had scraped the grill, but still.

The second problem was when he grabbed a pat of butter and stuck it in the middle of the vegetables.

I started seething.

The Mr. quickly looked over at me.

He knew that this was a problem.

Butter has milk in it.

I am lactose-intolerant.

I seethed.

The third problem occurred while the cook was stirring the vegetables.

Guess what he used?

Yep.

The same utensils he’d used to cook the meat with.

This is obviously not a restaurant that thinks about vegetarians or vegans.

Perhaps nobody has brought these types of no-no’s to their attention.

I picked at my food after it was served.  I had lost my appetite.

I realize that people don’t mean to cook in non-vegan-friendly ways, but seriously…if a person orders a no-meat dinner, shouldn’t that be a red flag?

One would think that further questions should be asked…

Are there allergies?

The restaurant industry is making strides to become more friendly as far as offering alternatives for those of us who choose (or don’t choose but must live with) certain diets.

Restaurants can go further.

If a person asks for steamed broccoli, don’t steam it in butter, and don’t add cheese to the top before serving it.

Ask before sprinkling cheese on anything for that matter.

Let customers know if something is cooked in beef stock.  A lot of soups that are advertised as “vegan” have an animal base and, thus, are not.

What happens to me if I eat non-vegan friendly food?

What’s the big deal?

I get sick.

As do others like me.

I watched a coworker get violently ill a couple of years ago after she’d eaten a salad that did not have cheese on it.

There was cheese in the dressing.

I learned this last weekend when I ate at the same restaurant and had the foresight to ask what was in the dressing.

I had to choose a different dressing altogether.  Actually, I think I went without because there wasn’t a viable option available.

But I didn’t get sick after dinner.

People wonder why I don’t eat much.

Consider yourself educated.

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