A couple of weeks ago, a few friends and I considered an impromptu meetup at a New
York coffee shop known throughout the community for their vegan
friendliness as both purveyors of vegan goods- employing an on-site vegan baker from the time of their inception, and regular host of vegan events.
Schedules and train delays conspired against it, and so a solitary friend wound up enjoying an iced soy latte with a vegan sugar donut
all by her lonesome. As vegans tend to do, she posted said snack on
social media and purchased a donut for each of the vegan friends she was on her way to meet.
Across town, I was en route to an early dinner when I received a troubling text from a friend who had just seen the post and happens to be the former vegan baker at said coffee shop,
The baker immediately contacted the coffee shop to alert them to the fact that they were misrepresenting non-vegan items as vegan. The response was swift and relatively aloof, citing a likely mistake by a new staff member. But if the baker hadn’t delivered vegan goods to the coffee shop in over a month, why would a new staff member assume the baked goods were vegan and/or have any idea who the former baker was? Once she further relayed that the recipient of the misinformation and non-vegan donut was a well-known, social media-savvy member of the vegan community, the response was significantly more concerned and an email of apology went out immediately- to be received moments after the victim of the event finished expelling the offending donut.
It’s not as though we don’t already know that vegan ingredients aren’t always taken seriously in the food industry. If Starbucks accidentally squirts whip on your latte they think it’s okay to just scoop it out. Many omnivorous restaurants wouldn’t hesitate to remove the chicken from your salad in the kitchen and give you back the same contaminated leaves. But, it's not a question of purity. Particularly if you’re an establishment that has built much of its customer base on vegans, aren’t you more than a little responsible for the information you impart?
Food for thought. I'd love to hear yours.
[UPDATE: through the power of hashtags on the interwebs, I was able to find that the incident at this establishment was not an isolated one and has reoccurred since.]
Across town, I was en route to an early dinner when I received a troubling text from a friend who had just seen the post and happens to be the former vegan baker at said coffee shop,
“Text her…I haven’t delivered to them in over a month…She’s eating a non vegan doughnut right now.”
A blizzard of text messages ensued in all directions: sent, received, and forwarded until all three vegans were able to piece together that- despite having been told that “all of the donuts” were vegan and even specifying the previous vegan bakery by name, the coffee shop was- in fact, no longer carrying vegan donuts at all. One furious baker, one queasy friend, and me- the stunned facilitator, all stopped in our respective vegan tracks for a moment to catch our breath.The baker immediately contacted the coffee shop to alert them to the fact that they were misrepresenting non-vegan items as vegan. The response was swift and relatively aloof, citing a likely mistake by a new staff member. But if the baker hadn’t delivered vegan goods to the coffee shop in over a month, why would a new staff member assume the baked goods were vegan and/or have any idea who the former baker was? Once she further relayed that the recipient of the misinformation and non-vegan donut was a well-known, social media-savvy member of the vegan community, the response was significantly more concerned and an email of apology went out immediately- to be received moments after the victim of the event finished expelling the offending donut.
It’s not as though we don’t already know that vegan ingredients aren’t always taken seriously in the food industry. If Starbucks accidentally squirts whip on your latte they think it’s okay to just scoop it out. Many omnivorous restaurants wouldn’t hesitate to remove the chicken from your salad in the kitchen and give you back the same contaminated leaves. But, it's not a question of purity. Particularly if you’re an establishment that has built much of its customer base on vegans, aren’t you more than a little responsible for the information you impart?
Food for thought. I'd love to hear yours.
[UPDATE: through the power of hashtags on the interwebs, I was able to find that the incident at this establishment was not an isolated one and has reoccurred since.]
This is so infuriating. This place does not deserve the patronage of the vegan community. Thanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteThank YOU for your kind words. I hope they take it more seriously in the future, but that doesn't seem to be important to them.
DeleteI have a dairy allergy. This would make me sick for a month. People like this are the reason I hardly ever go out to eat.
ReplyDeleteOh crap, that's horrible. I've had the very same thing happen before with people confusing dairy free with vegan and when their mistake was pointed out not seeming to care much. So disappointing.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that always gets me is that people in the food business should be really conscientious of food allergies and they seem instead laissez faire.
DeleteI have a feeling I might know which coffee shop this is.... and that's a horrible shame. I've been confused by their bakery items when I've gone there the past couple of weeks, so it's awful to hear that this is a real issue :(
ReplyDeleteWe all know we have to do our due diligence, but when a misrepresentation problem persists, it makes you wonder why a company has involved themselves in the vegan community at all.
DeleteWondering why you don't name the establishment?
ReplyDeleteMy intention isn't to skew their Google results; I've given enough information that people who are affected by this issue- namely NYC area vegans, can easily determine the establishment in question.
DeleteGot it - thanks. We were just visiting NYC a few weeks ago but I think we managed to avoid this place, thankfully. We did, however, visit Paulie Gee's based on your blog post, which has had me swooning ever since I read it. SOOOO wonderful. We went back the next night, too! (We were staying within walking distance, which made it easy.) Thanks for that!
DeleteIt's off the beaten path, so I'd be surprised if you found it. However, it's pretty entrenched in the community, so they've given people a false sense of security. I'm so glad you loved Paulie Gee's! In Ricotta de Vegan is my fave.
DeleteBummer about that place. The only donuts we scored were at Dunwell, so I know we were safe. And yes, the In Ricotta de Vegan was insane! And the one with jackfruit meatballs was great. Honestly, everything we had there was great - both times!! Thanks again.
DeleteThis is why I hate restaurants and never eat out. I make my own meals.
ReplyDeleteCreating every morsel from scratch isn't feasible for everyone, but good for you!
DeleteIf I thought I might ever get there, I would demand to know the name, but you're off the hook for now.
ReplyDeleteOh GEEZ! So sorry you had to deal with this!!!!
ReplyDeleteGrrr!
http://MyBlissfulJourney.com
Urgh, this is the worst! Especially coming from somewhere that appears to have been an active part of the vegan community - why would they want to hurt their customers like that? It's disappointing for ethical vegans, but dangerous for people with allergies.
ReplyDeletePrecisely!
DeleteI went there on 10/17/15 and was correctly informed of the switch. I'm glad I asked - and that they didn't mislead me - but I am very disappointed that they stopped offering vegan doughnuts. That was the main reason I went.
ReplyDeleteHappy to hear they improved their communication, but still missing the vegan donuts as well.
ReplyDelete