As vegans, we can all agree that vegan restaurants are our safe space where we don’t need to worry about accidentally being served any animal ingredients that might sneak into our meal. Nor do we need to ask the staff a gazillion questions about the availability of vegan options, stare into the confused faces of the service staff, feel like an inconvenience when trying to order our food, or settle for a custom, sad-looking salad that costs over $15.
The next best thing to a completely vegan restaurant is a restaurant with an extensive vegan menu that is on par with its non-vegan options. They give us some vegan cheeses, a diverse selection of plant proteins (none of that cauliflower steak business), and most importantly, dessert options! Fruit cups and sorbets are no longer acceptable as a vegan dessert option. What I observed was that there are non-vegan restaurants that do an excellent job of curating a vegan-friendly menu and get plenty of business from both plant-based and non-vegan diners, predominantly because they offer an inclusive dining space where both groups can enjoy a good meal.
On the contrary, there were non-vegan restaurants that failed or refused to see value in offering vegan options. “We’re not a vegan restaurant.” “We don’t get requests for vegan options.” “We have vegetarian and gluten-free options. Is that okay?” These are some of the standard replies I get, and I need to hold myself back from asking, “Is Monopoly money okay?”
I knew that I had it in me to help the latter category of restaurants bring down their barriers and offer delicious plant-based eats, and encourage them to welcome a new demographic of dedicated repeat customers. Because let’s be real, if a restaurant announces even one vegan option that is worth our while, we are COMING with our troupes in tow!
I searched for consulting firms in this specialty, finding almost nothing—until I discovered Vegan Hospitality. This experience shifted my perspective and set me on a new path.
Enter Vegan Hospitality, which, back in 2021, was focused on training consultants across the world to help hospitality businesses build high-quality vegan experiences. Even though, instead of being a job to apply to so that I can get paid to do what I love (sign me up, am I right?!), it was a training course that I paid for, something clicked into place in a way that very few things in that period of my life had. Mind you, this was during my quitting grad school crisis, and the 90 days of training were some of the most meaningful and enjoyable times during that phase of my life.
What I thought would be a conventional course that you pay for, is filled with modules, information, and a “hey, you did it” certificate at the end to lend some professional credentials I would need to move forward with confidence, turned out to be something completely different in the best way.
The Vegan Hospitality training, led by whom I always refer to as my fairy god mentor, the Founder, Meredith Marin, thoughtfully and expertly incorporated mindfulness practices throughout the curriculum. And as someone who was not expecting to be moved by a hospitality consulting course, it was possibly one of the best and most transformative experiences for me.
Sundays (the day of the weekly training class) became something I looked forward to. That's not a small thing when you're in the middle of a difficult period of your life, questioning your choices, trying to figure out who you are outside of the identity as a future PhD recipient you'd forced yourself into for years (more on that saga coming up). Having something that felt like yours — that felt purposeful, authentic to me, and not trying to fake it — matters more than I can articulate. But as the sage adage goes, don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened. It was time to fly and try not to fall on my face.
I hopped through the post-course hoops to get officially certified, and here I am, ready to roll, help the industry get it together, and build a planet-friendly hospitality culture that does good by all the living, sentient beings with whom we share this planet.
