Vegetarian Options

[jordyn]

Hello chefs:

I confess that I haven't actually read Anatomy of a Dish yet, but based on the descriptions here and in the media, I think I understand that it has a real emphasis on building dishes with vegetables and the foundation. Based on recent visits to Verbena, though, there seems to be not very many (I think only one) actual vegetarian entrees on the menu. Also, for each of my last several visits to the restaurant it seems to have been the same choice, even while the rest of the menu changed, as one would expect for a restaurant so closely tied to the adjacent greenmarket.

Do you find that there is simply not enough demand for vegetarian entrees to justify spending a lot of time creating new choices, or are there other factors involved in this phenomenon?

[VerbenaNYC]

Dear Jordyn,

It is not that the phenomenon of no change has been affected by the factors or variables you stated. Quite the contrary, when a restaurant develops dishes by which it can be identified it can be very dissappointing for a customer who relies on signature items to be unavailable upon repeat visits. This is the case in the vegetable strudle.

We try to encourage our staff to make our repeat customers aware that we will create new dishes on a spur of the moment in order to please their desire for variety and our desire for creative outlet. In fact we offer an eight course "fete du Marche" menu for our customers that want to really try what we believe best shows the seasons bounty and our creativity. These menus of the moment are not just meant for animal consumers. And yes our sommelier is happy to pair the dishes each with a 2 or 4 ounce pour of a wine or beverage that will help to increase the enjoyment of the meal.

You must forgive us though with turnover comes the constant challenge of training and retraining the staff to know these special nuances of what we like to offer. We appreciate that you have brought this to our attention and look forward to your next visit when we hope that you will be pleasantly surprised!

Further, to ensure that you get some new stuff, let the reservationist know that you are requesting the vegetarian options upon your visit.

Thanks for the great feedback.

Michael and Diane