True Grit(s): Dirt Candy

It seems only fair that a blog about vegetarian food should have an all-vegetarian restaurant as its inaugural member. That is not to say that I consider all-vegetarian restaurants to be far superior to catering to vegetarians than others - quite the contrary in fact. I feel that some all-vegetarian restaurants can tend to be quite patronizing towards their very specific clientele versus regular restaurants that try very hard to be creative and interesting towards all comers. However, considering it was the most recent new restaurant I have been to as well, all the pieces seem to have fallen into place for Dirt Candy to become the first entrant.

No Meat, No Fish

Food, as we know it, has come a long way since the time of the earliest humans. Its eating is no longer limited to ‘raw, off the bone’ – in fact, it can now be eaten seasoned, steamed, fried, grilled, roasted, braised, sautéed and even, albeit occasionally, burnt. One no longer needs to hunt for what they eat – we can now have our food served up in a restaurant, delivered, canned and even ‘zapped’ in a microwave oven. Our lexicon now even contains a question that not so long ago could only have had one possible answer – “Do you ‘eat to live’ or do you ‘live to eat’?” Yes, food as we know it has come a long way. And yet, it seems there is one aspect of it that has remained unchanged through out this evolutionary cycle. Ever since the time Neanderthals have been biting into mastodon meat, a vegetarian at the table is usually eating alone.