Losing the taste for vegan restaurants | Letters

Adam Williamson and Fr Colin Patey on the difficulties of eating out in vegan establishments. Plus a letter from Joe Cocker

Isobel Lewis’s article on vegan restaurants suggests two reasons that they may be closing: general problems in the hospitality industry and a shift in cultural values (The plant-based problem: why vegan restaurants are closing – or adding meat to the menu, 2 September). Surely, it’s missing the real reason? I am vegetarian, but I rarely eat in vegetarian or vegan restaurants because I rarely dine out alone.

People usually want to dine with their partner, or their friends. Quite a few people are vegan, but far fewer couples are likely to both be vegan. Even fewer friend groups are all vegan. To me, requesting that my non-vegetarian friends dine out at a vegan restaurant would be as selfish as it would be for them to request I eat at a steak house. We might occasionally agree on one or the other just to see how it goes, but most of the time we’ll go to a restaurant that caters to all our diets. This is why vegan-only restaurants find the going tough.
Adam Williamson
Vancouver, Canada