teany and veganism and dairy.
yes, we at teany serve dairy products. most of our menu is vegan, but we do in fact serve dairy products, so as to accomodate people who are not vegan.
manhattan has many restaurants that are strictly vegan. and they are great. but they also tend to be places that non-vegans refuse to go.
i’m sure that every vegan has at one point had to deal with recalcitrant friends who have refused to go to a vegan restaurant.
when we opened teany we wanted to open a restaurant where vegans could take their non-vegan friends, and where their non-vegan friends could come and not feel like they were compromising.
we want teany to be a place where veganism and vegetarianism seem tasty and fun and lighthearted, and not didactic and judgemental.
most of my non-vegetarian friends refuse to go to vegan or vegetarian restaurants because they find vegan restaurants to be humorless and lacking in food that tastes good.
i personally love humorless vegan restaurants, but there’s room in the world for strict and didactic vegan restaurants (like the wonderful angelica’s kitchen) and restaurants (like kate’s joint, or teany) that are primarily vegan but also accomodate non-vegans (and people who even occasionally like to drink alcohol).
people can judge me and criticise me as much as they want. many people associate veganism with rigidity and judgementalism. and many people reject veganism and vegetarianism because vegans and vegetarians are always trying to make meat-eaters feel guilty.
i’ve been a vegan and an animal rights activist for 17 years, and after 17 years of veganism i’ve learned that no one can be shamed into becoming a vegan or supporting animal rights. people are smart and they will make their own choices based upon the information that’s put in front of them.
animal rights and veganism and vegetarianism will never spread beyond the cult level if we continually ostracize and alienate people who disagree with us. one of the goals with teany was to put a kinder and more relaxed face on veganism and vegetarianism.
i’m sorry if that offends some of you, but that’s the ethos behind teany.
a friendly and tasty and non-didactic, non-judgemental vegetarian restaurant that is primarily vegan.
one of my favorite things is when a vegan brings one of their meat-eating friends into teany and their meat-eating friend says ‘wow, i never knew that vegan and vegetarian food could actually be good.’
moby
p.s-i’m reminded of the simpsons wherein lisa becomes a vegetarian.
when she finds out that apu is a vegan she says to him ‘you must think i’m a barbarian’, and he reassures her that he does not and that he doesn’t judge people for their choices.
we are all guilty of things that other people can judge us for (not recycling, driving cars, buying clothes and products made unethically, paying taxes, etc). it therefore seems the best course of action to resist judging others when we are all guilty of something worthy of harsh judgement.
compassion and understanding are good things, and the advancement of animal rights is going to have to be predicated upon compassion and understanding in order for it to yield great things.