Vegan in New Orleans

Vegetarian and Hungry in New Orleans




A virgin in a whorehouse is less of an anomaly than a well-fed vegan in New Orleans. Sure, New Orleans is not unique as cities go when it comes to its less than warm embrace of Vegan cuisine – but come on, we are a city known for its food industry and culture. And, despite popular perceptions, we do not all eat boudin and suck crawfish heads.
Now this is where much of my readership might choose to roll their eyes, yawn, and turn the page to...anything but some tree-huggin’ rant about not eating critters or enjoying their dairy by-products. And if you must flee to another page so be it, but if you stay with me I will be honest and confess my lust.
I love nothing more than to stick my head inside a bag of fried chicken and inhale deeply, but I promise you I will not eat your chicken.
I became a vegetarian in 1973 in Mobile, Alabama. My parents fully expected me to die within months from malnutrition. I knew absolutely nothing about cooking and my interest in vegetables was limited to broccoli smothered in Velveeta Cheese. Dining out involved lots of grilled cheese on white bread, pasta with butter (olive oil was not yet a main staple in Mobile restaurants), or iceberg lettuce drowning in French dressing.
Possessing now, through trial and error, a bit more knowledge of nutrition I can look back and wonder how the heck I survived those early and many years of ignorant consumption. I certainly could never have made it as a Vegan at that point.
For those unfamiliar with this whole veggie thing and without going into really strict ideology I will sum it up simply. Vegetarians refrain from eating any critters. Yes, that also means no seafood. Vegans take it a step further to exclude all animal by-products (dairy, leather, etc.) period. I could go into all the reasons but there are many and for very personal reasons many vegans approach this diet in somewhat different ways. Got it? There will be a quiz – nay.
Okay, where were we? Oh yeah, my complete lack of culinary knowledge or skills early on. I would not recommend plunging into vegetarian waters without some knowledge of what to eat – not merely, what not to eat. A little research will carry the novice a long way. If I had taken the effort to peruse a few cookbooks back then I might have found some healthy pleasures in preparing critter-free food.
Restaurants, then and now, in Mobile as well as New Orleans are just more trouble than usually worth it. Hold on!! I have just pissed off a ton of chefs and restaurant owners. There are many who try and succeed in offering veg friendly dishes. And I will give more kudos to them later. But face it; this region just ain’t too savvy when it comes to accommodating taste buds that look for lower-on-the-food-chain yum yums.
Ah, but there was a time when one could forget they were in unfriendly waters and dine in a cafe that could and did rival any New York or San Francisco vegetarian eatery. And I had the extreme pleasure to work there for four of the five years it existed. Olivia Smith owned and operated Old Dog New Trick Cafe on Exchange Alley within the Quarter.
If very lucky, you just might get a chance to work for someone you truly respect. This was my experience at Old Dog New Trick. Finally I could serve food that I believed in. Make no mistake; I can waitress my way around a side of beef and even sniff longingly at it, but all to the chagrin of my personal ethics. At ODNT I not only found food to lust after – I could eat it!
But food was only a part of that crazy alternative café; we were given creative license to sing, dance, and camp it up. Once a week we had wig day. We all dressed in diner drag – beehive wigs, gigantic bosoms, polyester harvest gold and white uniforms with smart little aprons. Terence and Brad were especially fetching. And for a few hours I was empowered with big hair and size 44 D bosoms (I could fit an entire Sunday newspaper inside my thrift store brassiere – light weight padding).
I was forty before I ever really began cooking. I’d prepare meals for myself but they lacked variety and imagination. Olivia’s ODNT kitchen introduced me to a world of foods and skills I had never been exposed to. Not as a cook, but simply as a waitress I gleaned skills and techniques. Before this I had never even eaten tofu, much less tempeh, polenta, soba, udon, miso, seitan, and never knew kale was edible (had only seen it used as garnish). My palate was on its way. My ability to create food was given birth.
This segue back to Olivia’s is more than a sentimental nod to a place in time. As the vegetarian and vegan market grows stronger and larger, New Orleans reverts to more of a 1970’s Mobile culinary attitude. In the early to mid 90’s I knew of four or five vegetarian cafes in New Orleans – now we have zero. So, come on New Orleans, let’s see some faith in the spending ability of meatless diners. Hell, forget that, when Old Dog was open customers of conventional dietary needs and desires made up at least half of our customer base. A resourceful and innovative chef can wow most any audience without the use of animal products. Need proof? Give Bayona’s (430 Dauphine, 525-4455) Susan Spicer and her gifted team a little notice and see what vegan haute cuisine is all about.
I refuse to let our city, which prides itself on having a food culture, beaucoup restaurants, and an international tourists base, off the hook for its lack of even one restaurant dedicated to meatless cuisine.
Short of opening our own (Boyfriend, as you may recall, is a chef) vegan/vegetarian joint – and if anyone out there wants to invest in us we will – all I can offer in this column for those interested in dining out sans plated critters is to support those chefs that do try to offer a choice albeit limited. Amelie, Angeli, Bayona, Bennachin, Gumbo Shop (yep, that’s right – vegan gumbo), Mona’s and Restaurant 13 all offer respites from meat without resorting to the tired, obligatory pasta prima vera and those god awful sprouts.

Google vegan/vegetarian dining in New Orleans or email me for more choices or cookbook suggestions at HYPERLINK "mailto:Debbie@whereyat.net" Debbie@whereyat.net