A Pleasant Surprise

Just recently, my wife & I attended an event held at a renovated estate that is hosts many formal events.

We knew that the menu was most likely “fixed” and, assuming that, would almost certainly be animal-based.

We, being vegan, were perplexed at first. Do we attend and eat whatever we could deem as suitable (for us)? Do we eat “our” meal before hand? What to do, what to do?

Fortunately, my wife took the initiative and called the business, explained our food related concerns and, after a few emails, we were told that we could easily be accommodated and were instructed to contact a certain person upon arrival.

I should back up and say that my wife also made it clear that were in no way demanding that we be treated special. Also, we did not want to be the reason that the host & hostess accrued any extra cost due to use. Likewise, we knew that they would be charged for “a” meal for us and it would be money lost if it was not eaten.

So, instead of an “attitude” from the caterer, we were pleasantly surprised with a seemingly joy to be able to this for us. They went above and beyond to make sure that we were provided with not only a vegan meal but delicious vegan appetizers during the cocktail hour.

The wait staff continually checked in with us asking how the dishes were and we more than eager to tell them and anyone who had a hand in the dishes just how amazing they were. We actually felt a tinge bit of guilt as our dishes were much tastier than what the rest of guests had.

Actually, I paid little attention to what everyone else ate, but I did see the standard bacon-wrapped scallops and meat kabobs. What we had the pleasures of eating were dishes such as:

Cocktail Hour
Marinated tofu kabobs,
Spicy portabella mushroom burgers,
Grilled & chilled vegetables (asparagus, orange peppers & eggplant) &
Bruschetta

Dinner
Spinach salad with toasted walnuts and balsamic dressing
Vegetable lasagna (a lasagna like I’ve never had before…with no pasta!)

What was also amazing was that the wait staff presented each dish to us with intimate knowledge of the contents. It seemed like they actually knew what vegan was (they took great pleasure in pointing out that the breads were dairy-free).

We made sure that everyone there knew just how much we appreciated the service and we even asked (if the Chef would oblige) for recipes of all of the outstand dishes.
A gracious thank note is on the way!