Speed Dating Gets Specialized

Chris recently posted this picture taken somewhere in my neighbourhood on a file-sharing site…

Fressen

— the location of the vegetarian speed dating night — is a vegetarian

restaurant on Queen Street West, not far from my house. Speaking as a

happy eater of meat, I like the food there; it’s good enough to change

vegetarian dining from sanctimonious misery to a tasty and satisfying

side-dish-only meal. Fressen is also German for “eat”, or more

specifically, “eat heartily” or “gorge”. Not without some frickin’ meat, bubby.

I once dated a vegetarian and often took her here. In between bites of

their delicious portobello “steak”, I’d tease her — a biology major in

college — by reminding her that evolution would never have happened

without carnivores: “After all, it doesn’t take much brains to sneak up

on a carrot.”