Vegetable stock really is an acceptable alternative, y'all

If this is starting to look like some sort of vegetarian review of Nashville restaurants, I apologize. I hope to get back to cooking soon, but I've been catching up with friends quite a lot. I do intend to make some sort of concoction with butternut squash and phyllo in the near future, so be on the lookout for that.

In the meantime, my whirlwind week of dining out ended yesterday with a trip to Bistro 215. It was a friend's birthday and Bistro 215 gives diners a free dinner on their birthday, so it was a natural choice. Also, the weather was just the right temperature for dining al fresco. I was a little hesitant about dining outside since Tennessee's recent ban on smoking in restaurants has forced the smokers outside, creating a suffocating cloud of smoke on most patios, but Bistro 215's patio was amazingly and thankfully smoke-free.

After being seated, I asked for the special vegetarian menu. Oops, I'd gotten Bistro 215 confused with its neighbor, Green Hills Grille. But the server pointed out the three vegetarian options at the end of the dinner menu. I opted for the vegetable napoleon since I'm a fan of polenta and rarely make it at home since it has a tendency to pop and I've burned myself on it.

When the entrees came, it was another server who brought our food--luckily for me. He asked me if I was a vegetarian and when I said yes, he informed me that the polenta was made with chicken stock. He asked if I wanted it or a substitution, noting that he was also a vegetarian and didn't eat it. Of course, I said I did not want it and was really disappointed. But he helpfully suggested a few items for me to choose from to replace the polenta and I settled on some asparagus.

The meal was quite good, but I'd really wanted the polenta. Our original server said he wasn't aware that the polenta was made with chicken stock and apologized profusely. I suppose that it really only occurs to the most diligent of vegetarians to ask about every single ingredient used in food preparation. I really don't want to be the kind of person who wants every restaurant meal to come with a Nutrition Facts label and a list of ingredients, but I'm starting to think that I really need to ask more questions. It reminds me of when I ordered mushroom barley soup at Noshville and when it arrived at the table, I could see the oil slick floating on top and asked for a manager who confirmed that the soup was made with a base of animal stock.

Is that really so necessary? Vegetable stock is very tasty and is an excellent base for soups as well as seasonings for grains (such as a wild rice blend that I like to use as a stuffing for acorn squash). Perhaps one of our advocacy groups could spend just a little time and effort on some sort of chef education program to promote the use of vegetable stock instead of animal stock in food preparation and make restaurants safe for vegetarians. Vive le revolucion!

It would also be nice if chefs and restaurateurs educated themselves on what foods are and are not vegetarian. For me, it's pretty simple. If there is a trace of dead animal in an item, it's not vegetarian.