Miscellaneous Food Related Ramblings – User's blog http://hungrydesi.com Just another WordPress site Mon, 13 Jun 2011 03:03:01 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.0.11 Are “No Substitutions” Policies Ok? http://hungrydesi.com/2011/06/05/no-substitutions/ http://hungrydesi.com/2011/06/05/no-substitutions/#comments Mon, 06 Jun 2011 03:30:11 +0000 http://hungrydesi.com/?p=2663 As a lifelong vegetarian, I almost always ask for substitutions at restaurants. If the answer is no, then fine – so be it. But I also almost always call ahead to ask if the chef is cool with making substitutions to accommodate a vegetarian diet. If the chef won’t do it, then you probably won’t find me dining there.  (If the restaurant tells me that they serve a number of salads when asked about vegetarian options, you also probably wont find me there.)

This past week Gordon Ramsey and an 8-month pregnant Victoria Beckham dined at Gjelina in LA and were apalled by the restaurant’s strict enforcement of its no substitution policy.  The LA Times Blog reported that Beckham ordered the smoked trout salad and requested the dressing on the side and the grapefruit/avocado/red onion/lemon garnish left off. The restaurant denied her request. Gjelina’s menu clearly states that “Changes & modifications politely declined.”

Chefs and restauranteurs are entitled to make their policies. If they don’t want to make any substitutions, then that’s their choice. As diners, we vote with our feet (and mouths). If patrons find Gjelina‘s policy intolerable, they will stop going there and Gjelina will go out of business. If Gjelina offers such a good dining experience that diners will tolerate the policy, then Gjelina should be able to enforce its policies.

What do you think – are restaurants justified in having and enforcing no substitutions policies? And if you think restaurants should accomodate substitutions, how far is too far?

]]> http://hungrydesi.com/2011/06/05/no-substitutions/feed/ 2 Help Feed 1 Million Children http://hungrydesi.com/2008/10/12/help-feed-1-million-children/ http://hungrydesi.com/2008/10/12/help-feed-1-million-children/#comments Sun, 12 Oct 2008 13:44:55 +0000 http://www.hungrydesi.com/?p=282 As many of you know, R and I have been longtime supporters of The Akshaya Patra Foundation.  Akshaya Patra feeds almost 1 million children across India for $28 per child per year.  Many of these children are encouraged to attend school because this is their only meal of the day. 

Akshaya Patra has made it into the final 5 of American Express’ Members Project.  They are eligible to win up to $1.5 million but are currently in fifth place.  Please vote – the deadline is Monday, October 13, 2008. This last round of voting is limited to American Express card members. If you are an American Express card member:

  • Visit www.membersproject.com (which is also linked to from www.americanexpress.com). Our project is titled “Feeding 1 Million Children Daily“
  • Click on “Log In” in the top right hand corner
  • Enter your log in information (same information for viewing your American Express card account
  • Click on our project “Feeding 1 Million Children Daily”
  • Click on the “Vote For This Project” link
  • Once you have voted, you will see a message thanking you for voting.
You can learn more about Akshaya Patra at www.foodforeducation.org. 
]]> http://hungrydesi.com/2008/10/12/help-feed-1-million-children/feed/ 2 Hello world… http://hungrydesi.com/2008/09/13/hello-world/ http://hungrydesi.com/2008/09/13/hello-world/#comments Sun, 14 Sep 2008 01:09:41 +0000 http://www.hungrydesi.com/?p=44 After much raving about cooking blogs and swapping recipes with family and friends, I’ve decided to start my own cooking blog to share the vegetarian recipes that I test out in our kitchen. R has graciously agreed to support my blog by volunteering to eat anything that I make.  How kind.

You’ll mostly find vegetarian, Indian recipes in my cooking journal, but there’s bound to be non-Indian dishes featured here too.  Of course, if there’s anything you want me to recipe test or any variations to the recipes that you’ve tested, please let me know.

I find that many people don’t cook because either a recipe looks too hard or looks like it would take too long…I hope my cooking journal makes you realize that it’s not that hard afterall.

Happy eating!

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