I happened to chance into the Native Foods Cafe in Westwood a few minutes ago and was startled to see my old friend Dieu from freshman year. 

“Hey Melanie,” he said. “Dieu!” I exclaimed. “How are you?” We embraced momentarily and he told me how he had just taken a tough exam for his eight-week Spanish course. I shared that I was on my lunch break and was looking for a quick bite to eat.

“Have you ever eaten vegan food?” Dieu inquired. I glanced back at him, considering that we were at a fairly healthy, hippie locale. “What, is this place vegan?” I said, taken aback. 

“Well, yeah,” he said, looking at what must have been a horrified expression on my face. “I shouldn’t have told you.” 

“Wow,” I said. “I think I’m going to go.” 

“No, wait.” Dieu prodded. “Just stay and try it. Get the special.”

I looked at the special, chalked carefully onto a side board. A bacon cheeseburger. I hesitated. A cheeseburger with no meat? What? What was this mystery “tempeh” that was supposed to replace the 100% beef patty? After ordering, I peeked into my take-out box and waved at Dieu, who was now engaged in conversation with a friend. 

Two large halves of a cheeseburger greeted me. They were stuffed with carrots, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, and odd slices of what must have been the tempeh. I nibbled carefully. The tempeh tasted like a very thin overcooked pancake, but the rest of the burger was pretty delicious. The vegetables meshed nicely with the light tomato sauce, and the bun was perfectly airy. After removing the rest of the tempeh, I munched happily on one of the halves back at my work office. 

Overall, quite a positive first time eating vegan food! I’m glad I didn’t back out of trying something new.