The Chaister will be visiting New Orleans two times in the next six weeks. Yes, I am so incredibly jealous!
As a very strict vegan, she wants to know where to eat. Omnivore here doesn’t have this problem, but I do recall it was very hard to find restaurants in NOLA for my fanatically vegetarian mother, brother and sister-in-law. At least back in 2004.
Any NOLA dining recommendations for vegetarians and vegans?
Vegan Donuts by VeganWarrior CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Oh, boy. You know this isn’t going to be easy.
Cafe Bamboo (downstairs from the Dragon’s Den) is vegetarian and has several vegan specialties, I believe. Nearby, 13 Monaghan has a few vegan selections.
Garage Pizza uses tempeh for rice bowls and such. And I understand Nirvana has some vegan selections.
I have no idea if your friend is worried about ‘cross-contamination’ (a spatula that may have touched something vegetarian being used again for something vegan), but I would wager this isn’t the town where you’d want to ask too many questions about that.
Ya might want to ask veganeers G-Bitch & dsbnola (at Bark, Bugs, Leaves & Lizards) about the dining out options.
Cafe Bamboo (under the Dragon’s Den) is the only truly vegan restaurant in town now. Green Goddess (Exchange Place) is veggie-friendly and I believe will take it seriously enough to do it right. Many of the New Orleans-style places don’t put meat in their beans & greens (Praline Connection, Dookie Chase, Willie Mae’s Scotch House), but I don’t know how careful they are with spatulas, etc.
I’m kind of don’t-ask-don’t-tell about utensils, etc, but that’s just because it’s not a spiritual thing for me; Bamboo has no animal products on the premises, so it’s certainly the safest. Any restaurant with a decent chef will do something up, but again, I don’t know how confident to be about contamination.
Thanks for the quick responses, guys! I will pass these recommendations on to Chai. Can’t wait to eat at Green Goddess the next time I’m in town.
Indeed, Cafe Bamboo is The One. [Had their faux po-boy a couple times during French Quarter Fest–can’t go wrong.]
Back to the Garden near Lee Circle, but that’s just for lunch.
Here’s my recent blog post about veggie dining in NOLA. I’m a strict vegetarian, and things were actually better than I thought! http://kidsplayingwithskulls.blogspot.com/2010/03/new-orleans-pt-3-food-drink.html