What can I eat here? Italian Rest.

[LemonFlower]

I have to go to a fancy business dinner with my husband and would really rather not stick out like a sore thumb. Can someone please help me out with this menu? Tomorrow will be a week raw for me and I'm not even considering eating anything cooked. Help!!

http://www.amicitownsquare.com/cuisine.cfm

Thanks so much,
Katy

[Coriander74]

First of all, call the restaurant and explain that you're a raw vegan and you'd like to know how they can help you :)

Here are some suggestions:

ITALIAN SAUSAGE STUFFED MUSHROOM 7
FIELD MUSHROOM CAP WITH ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND MOZZARELLA WITH MARINARA
*Ask for the mushroom raw and plain

PEPPERS ‘NINO’ 7
ROASTED RED PEPPERS FILLED WITH MOZZARELLA AND BASIL SAUTÉED CRISP WITH A HINT OF MARINARA
*Ask if the red peppers are roasted on site, and if you can get them plain with olive oil and basil

BURRATA WITH RED & YELLOW TOMATO SALAD 9
PUGLIA’S VELVETY MOZZARELLA ATOP GREENHOUSE TOMATO AND BASIL SALAD
* Leave out the cheese and sounds good!

Actually, all the salads sound good and you can ask for extra veggies on them if you like.

Any veggies you see on any of the entrees, see if they can be given to you raw. There's lots of options! Now I'm hungry! LOL

[juliebove]

They also have melon or pears with prosciutto. Just ask for no prosciutto.

[exurb]

strangely enough prosciutto is totally raw, though not vegan, it is cured raw, not smoked and not cooked. I mention this just in case that is something you want to consider, you could get that as your appetizer with or without
the offending raw non-vegan item. Then get a salad as your main, you could ask for it to be main course sized. Parmigiano Reggiano is also raw. If it's a good Italian restaurant, their olives and olive oil are also likely quite raw.

[SmilingRawDancer]

I would just be bold and ask for a salad with everything raw veggie-wise that they have.

If I go to places with grilled chicken salads, but I know that they have avocado's on site...I ask for an avocado instead of the chicken.

[exurb]

LOL so would I.

But then again, I'm used to sticking out like a sore thumb.;)


Parmigiano Reggiano is made from raw cow's milk. Only milk produced between May 1 and November 11 is used in producing the true Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese It is raw, not vegan.

Ok enough of this anyway.

[exurb]

I was hoping my request for that to be enough of that could be respected. I would go to edit my post but the entire post has been quoted so I can't do that.

The thread starter LemonFlower is 1 week raw and has stated that it is important for her to not stick out like a sore thumb.

Reality is that certain social situations are tricky while being raw. Going out to dinner with just your hubby or friends is one thing, I usually ask for a salad of all raw things, or I get a glass of wine and a little something to nosh on, and the food is not a big part of the evening for me. (BTW, red wine is raw, a good choice for an Italian restaurant and blending in ).

Reality is for LemonFlower that unless everyone is raw vegan and you're going to a raw vegan restaurant, you have certain choices as to what will have to "give". Either some attention will be drawn, you can ask for something specific to be prepared, or you can order the rawest thing on the menu and eat the parts that you know are raw.

When I look at that dinner menu, the only two dishes with any rawness whatsoever to them are the prosciutto melon (you can not eat the prosciutto or ask them to leave it off), and only one of the salads gets close to being raw, the one with the dried fruit, walnuts and (gasp!) gorgonzola. It's an option if you want to order off the menu to get that salad and just don't eat the gorgonzola, or order that and ask them to leave out the gorgonzola. I'd probably ask for the gorgonzola to be left off.

Or, you can make a big deal of everything, ask if they dehydrate their fruit under 105, whip out your raw crackers out of your evening bag, etc... and have fun while your whole table gets into asking you questions about your raw veganness, and have your husband act toward you like you've ruined his career. To me there are times when I enjoy discussing the way I eat, however, at a dinner table with others eating their food is not the time at all.

[LemonFlower]

Thank you guys so much for the info! I just got back from my night out and I had a great time! I had a glass of wine and then I had a salad for an entree - hold the cheese please. The walnuts were raw and it had beautiful dried figs and greens. No one said a word about what I ate and it was fun, fun, fun! I found I had a much better time enjoying the company of the people and the food was totally not important. Of course, I had a smoothie a couple of hours beforehand so I wasn't very hungry.

Thanks again,
Katy

[barose]

Glad it worked out! I love fresh figs so that sounds like a nice treat. :)