I just don't understand it. Toronto is a city that fancies itself cosmopolitan; if a restaurant doesn't have a tendency toward the uppity, it's sloughed off as a place for college kids and hippies and is pretty much alienated from the 'scene.' But, as long as I've lived here, the ostensible 'scene' does occasionally include the class of people who pass on eating dead animal or its highly coveted entrails. And yet, it's almost impossible for a vegetarian in this city to be a foodie. Overpriced and under-flavoured restaurants like Fresh barely scrape on the surface of what can be done with meatless cuisine. And good spots like Herbivore know what to do with a little bit of tempeh but are not pleasurable places in which to dine.

Lately, burger joints are popping up everywhere, but there hasn't been a new vegetarian spot for what seems like at least five years. So when a veggie-craving public waits the said amount of time for a new restaurant to open, it wants something exciting. Unfortunately, One Love Vegetarian, the mostly take-out, new Caribbean veggie joint that popped up in the annex, isn't really filling a void.

That being said, One Love Vegetarian, a restaurant that started as a kiosk at The Harbourfront Centre is definitely both affordable and tasty. But again, the restaurant is mostly take-out, with seating for about 8-10 stoners to sit and gaze at the 'crazy' Caribbean owner's cook.

So, I ask, why are vegetarians forced to eat their corn soup (one of the restaurant's specialties), or bean curd with rice avocado and plantain in front of their TV's, or standing on the street, or in ill thought-out, unkempt spaces? Does having a conscience necessarily mean you care not about style, or design, or comfort?

It's high time for vegetarians to take their seats at 'the front' of an upscale restaurant, proudly order off a menu, without having to scour the list, make substitutions and endure undeserved attitude from the server. I await a vegetarian supperclub and when it opens, I'll cover it. That is a promise. – E.H