I had to move to Kansas City to eat less meat. If you had told me close to three years ago that, in the land of the corner burger store and more ribs than the Flintstones, I'd be eating beet and goat cheese pasta on a regular basis, I'd have slapped the A-1 from your hand and saved it for my T-Bone.
But here, my meat consumption has ebbed and flowed. Some weeks, there are flank steaks and heaping bowls of chili. Others are full of sweet-potato-and-black-bean burritos and green-apple- and-white-cheddar grilled sandwiches. Either way, I feel like I'm eating well.
But in the process I've noticed that there are still few good options for vegetarians in Kansas City.
As regular Fat City readers already know, I'll gladly overindulge in
thick slices of country bacon. Who could pass on a perfectly prepared
BLT? But what I don't quite get is that vegetarianism is often
seen as a repudiation of the city's meat-based culture.
But Kansas City seems to be undergoing a bit of a food revolution -- at least in terms of the number of choices for vegetarians and vegans. The Mixx and Ingredient are pushing the salad and sandwich customization movement. Noodles & Company, which lists meat as an add-on ingredient to all of its dishes, is coming to the Plaza. Waldo Pizza offers a completely vegan pizza with vegan mozzarella.
If you want to see more vegetarian options in Kansas City -- VegKC.com has a fairly comprehensive guide and forum.
Would a plethora of vegetarian options in Kansas City really erase the cultural identity of generations of grillers and smokers?
[Image via Flickr: angela thrust]
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I'll make a deal w/ ya' ABE, you kill it, gut it, and cook it and I'll not call you a mindless glutton hellbent on contributing to our planet's overburdened ecosystem.
People can eat what they want to eat. I don't want a vegetarian telling me I'm an animal hater for eating meat, and I won't tell a vegetarian they are a malnourished hippie.
Also check out www.VegGuide.org, which has over 30 listings in KC; you can write reviews and read reviews there as well.
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