Business Lunches

It's not easy being vegetarian in Texas. We are normally good at "spotting our own kind" - finding places with a reasonable selection. But there are times where we aren't making the decisions. Business lunches are a perfect example. I once had to go to Chamberlain's Fish Market & Grill with my team to entertain a client and it was very obvious that I would be having the dreaded "vegetable plate". I love vegetables, actually, but I do like to have a real entree option too. So the first thing I learned is that Chamberlain's has a distorted perception of "vegetable". They consider rice, mashed potatoes, and french fries as vegetables. Can someone give these people a food pyramid diagram? I digress...anyway, I ordered steamed broccoli, asparagus, mashed potatoes, and french fries. The broccoli arrived as a slender head of steamed broccoli. A head of broccoli! My bad. Was it too much for me to expect that you would actually cut the florets off for me? We vegetarians don't exercise the butter knife in our cutlery unless it's for butter. And my goodness, can you at least please put some salt, pepper, and/or butter on this steamed head of broccoli??? How can you even call yourself a chef?????

Vegetarians are totally unwelcome at many establishments (probably due to my sarcastic attitude) and we are a nuissance to many chefs (especially in TEXAS!).

We vegetarians must coexist with the omnivores but sometimes I wonder why they even let us drink from the same water fountain as they do.