Restaurants

Most friends of mine who are chefs, which is quite a lot of them, relish the challenge of catering for vegan diners – BUT it is considered courteous to let them know in advance if there is a large party of guests with any specific dietary requirements. I do my research beforehand – most menus are online nowadays – to save the agony of asking a thousand questions once I’m seated and hungry. When I have the menu in my hands, I use it as a shopping list of ingredients, and cobble together starters and sides, ask for dishes without the meat/fish/cheese if possible, or simply point at some things I like and ask very nicely if the chef could make something vegan with those flavours. A little politeness and a big grin goes a long way, and always tip generously for the effort. Who knows, whatever comes out of the kitchen could end up on the menu!