Redemption For Red!!

Whether you're a vegan or not, dining out these days can be quite a challenge sometimes. However, it should never be a miserable experience - after all, isn't the point of dining out based on the fact that you want to take some time off from cooking, and enjoy a great meal (and enjoy being with great company as well)? Even though it definitely can be more of a challenge for vegans, vegetarians, and for those with food allergies/dietary restrictions to dine out, it can be done, when venturing to the "right" restaurants (i.e. ones that cater to a wide variety of people's tastes and lifestyles).

As I have shared before in previous posts, I have been quite lucky when it comes to finding veg-friendly meals in a wide variety of local dining establishments: vegetable-stir fry dishes at both Stir Crazy and Ricky Ly's Thai Gourmet, a pasta-vegetable dish at Giovanni's; but then of course there was that ill-fated meal at Red - not only was my meal less-than-satisfactory (you may recall me describing it as looking like "Cinderella's pumpkin carriage after suffering a tragic accident on the way to the palace ball" - and it didn't have much flavor either), but the service was quite rude as well (not only to me, but to my family as well).

Now granted, since Red is a steakhouse, I know that I should not expect to go there and find a vegan section on the menu; but the fact that nothing at all on their menu is vegan- or even vegetarian-friendly (or food-allergy friendly, for that matter!), is unacceptable in today's society, in my opinion. And thankfully, I am not the only one who thinks this - my entire family (bless their hearts) expressed outrage about the fact that there were no alternative dishes available on the menu, for people who may not want to eat what the restaurant is known for (i.e. their steaks). Since I care more about the company I am with when dining out, I just decided to forget about this lousy meal experience at Red (especially since the reason we were at the restaurant was more important - it was my grandfather's 90th birthday!).

I thought that my encounters with Red (which can also be referred to as "A Vegan's Worst Nightmare") were through, after this one experience; but little did I know that my great-aunt (my grandfather's sister) had chosen Red as her "restaurant-of-choice" to celebrate her birthday, just a few weeks ago. When my parents revealed this piece of information to me (carefully, since they knew I would not exactly be thrilled about it), I must admit that my aunt (whom I deeply care for and adore) was not my favorite person at this moment - however, this is for her birthday, so there was no way that I was going to miss the celebration.

I tried to figure out what I could do, in order to avoid consuming another "Cinderella-pumpkin-carriage-gone-wrong" entrèe: should I just eat before/after going to the celebration dinner at Red? bring food with me? I was definitely at a loss, as to what I should do so that I could not only enjoy the company of my family for my great-aunt's birthday, but have a decent meal as well. I felt quite selfish about wanting to be accommodated (especially at a steakhouse restaurant), but I should not have to forgo a meal in the name of a restaurant's ignorance to dietary restrictions/lifestyles! Fortunately, my dad came to the rescue (as always, haha) - after informing the restaurant of our previous meal (both the food and the service), and that there is no reason why someone who can't eat their "main attraction" can't have a meal-option available to him/her, my dad told me to expect a phone call at home, from Red, a few days before my great-aunt's dinner celebration. Unsure of what to expect from this mystery phone call, I remained hopeful that something good would come out of it.

When I received the phone call, I was quite shocked at how successful (and long) it was - not only did the head manager of Red deeply apologize for how I (and the rest of my family, for that matter) was treated and served for dinner the night of my last experience there (and he told me how funny my description of the dish was, as well, haha), but he then handed the phone over to the head chef. The head chef was extremely nice and said that he has cooked vegan meals before (hmm... then put some of those vegan meals on your menu, please!!), and that we could work together to create the perfect meal for me to enjoy, during my upcoming dining-visit to Red. After spending about 45 minutes on the phone with the chef, we came up with a meal that sounded delicious - however, I wouldn't know how it tasted (or looked, for that matter) until my great-aunt's birthday celebration dinner.

Once we arrived at Red, I felt like shouting, "There's a vegan is in the house!!" - but I resisted, so that I would blend in somewhat ;0) After everyone else ordered their meals, and my dad informed our waiter of my "specially-prepared entrèe by the chef," it was finally getting closer to the verdict here (whether or not Red/the chef could satisfy "unconventional" customers' tastes). Once my entrée arrived, everyone was impressed with how it looked (as was I); and everyone waited as I picked up my fork, and went in for the first, crucial bite - the one that would either destroy Red's chances at being tolerated by me, forever, or the one that would make me want to actually dine at this steakhouse, voluntarily. So, which one ended up being the verdict?



The verdict was the one that would make me want to actually dine at Red (a steakhouse, remember) voluntarily!! Now I will be the first to admit that the photograph does not do the contents of my "special vegan meal" justice - it really did have a much more appealing presentation that did my previous meal at Red (no resemblance to a crashed pumpkin carriage! whoo hoo! haha).

Nestled on a bed of simmered, four-spiced lentils (my favorite legume!) was a hearty medley of sautèed swiss chard, garlic, and a cipollini-onion compote. You may notice that there is a yellow ring, framing the lentils - that is the extra-virgin olive oil used to sautè/cook everything. To say that the chef at Red isn't shy with using olive oil in his dishes, is an understatement - there was at least one bottle's worth of olive oil used on my dish alone; but hey, I need the calories, and olive oil is chock-full of healthy monounsaturated fats - so I forgive the chef for drenching my plate in olive oil :0) Words cannot even begin to describe just how delectable, flavorful, and satisfying this dish was; and I'm actually looking forward to going back to Red, just to eat it again!! A vegan wanting to dine in a steakhouse? Is this a joke? No, I'm afraid it's not - the meal was just that good (as was the celebration for my great-aunt's birthday!! the whole reason for going to Red in the first place!).

At the end of our meals, the chef came out to our table, to see how everyone's meals were - but then he said that he especially wanted to know how "his vegan customer" liked her meal. I informed him just how much I loved it, and that I really appreciated him calling me at home, ahead of time, to make sure that he completely understood what vegans can/cannot eat (and understood what type of meal/ingredients that I wanted to consume). Even though I did not want to go anywhere near Red in the first place, let alone return for a second visit, I am quite happy that I got a chance to dine there again - congratulations to Red for redeeming itself!! Hopefully more restaurants like this one (i.e. "Vegan Nightmares," like steakhouses) will consider other potential diners/customers - even if these restaurants decide not to focus on vegan diners, they should at least focus on diners who have food allergies/dietary restrictions. Hey, if Red can do it now, then so can a lot of other restaurants!!

**I just wanted to give a heads up to all of you that my next post will for sure be dedicated to the fabulous Thanksgiving feast that occurred today; so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, I hope everyone had a lovely, delicious Thanksgiving holiday!! :0)