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Abstract

h cost, all those ingredients are not cheap. It’s also something of a niche. Running a restaurant profitably is hard enough, doing it as a Vegan restaurant you have to be pretty damn good to survive. So by the law of markets Vegan restaurants, especially in highly competitive places, are really good places to eat.They also tend to have character and the clientelle somehow just seem more interesting than most restaurants. If I am travelling for work I am normally eating by myself so pretend to be looking at my phone but am generally eavesdropping on neighbouring diners, and they are facinating.New York is amazing for Vegan/Vegetarian food, LA I am less familiar with but I have had nothing but great experiences there and so much choice. London is great. There is even an amazing Vegan restaurant in Barcelona of all places — litteraly the worst country to be a Vegetarian or Vegan in the world with the possible exception of the Philippines. Look up <a href="https://www.yelp.com/biz/sésamo-barcelona-2">Sesamo</a>.<figure id="2327"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*H4vT0JoiF4MhMUnbfsjKCg.jpeg"><figcaption>Sesamo R

Options

oasted Cauliflower Photo Ben Soppitt</figcaption></figure>But San Francisco, home of free love, Armistead Maupin, hippies, radical thinking, the Beat Generation, Grateful Dead — almost nothing. I know there is Greens but I find the food and atmosphere boring and it’s overpriced for what you get.So what happened? was there once a vibrant scene but all the Vegetarians/Vegans left?Or was it always like this?I find even in decent restaurants on the whole Vegan/Vegetarian options are much more limited and less imaginative than I expected. Maybe like London 20 years ago.How come San Francisco is so progressive in so many ways but not here?<figure id="bb69"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*wCXcEKsvEIzt-BpSv08u_w.jpeg"><figcaption>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/Ji_G7Bu1MoM?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Joseph Barrientos</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/search/photos/san-francisco?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure></article></body>

Why are there no good restaurants* in San Francisco

*Vegetarian/Vegan

Moving from Singapore to San Francisco in 2015 I had two big surprises:

The weather is awful
The vegan/vegetarian restaurant scene is almost non-existant

I was expecting the endless summer that California has somehow tricked the world into believing (I now know thats more an LA thing). I was also expecting to find my spiritual food home. I was bitterly disapointed on both.

When I visit cities I always Yelp Vegan restaurants and try them out. I am not quite Vegan but have been Vegetarian over 40 years. But I love food.

Vegan restaurants are high cost, all those ingredients are not cheap. It’s also something of a niche. Running a restaurant profitably is hard enough, doing it as a Vegan restaurant you have to be pretty damn good to survive. So by the law of markets Vegan restaurants, especially in highly competitive places, are really good places to eat.

They also tend to have character and the clientelle somehow just seem more interesting than most restaurants. If I am travelling for work I am normally eating by myself so pretend to be looking at my phone but am generally eavesdropping on neighbouring diners, and they are facinating.

New York is amazing for Vegan/Vegetarian food, LA I am less familiar with but I have had nothing but great experiences there and so much choice. London is great. There is even an amazing Vegan restaurant in Barcelona of all places — litteraly the worst country to be a Vegetarian or Vegan in the world with the possible exception of the Philippines. Look up Sesamo.

Sesamo Roasted Cauliflower Photo Ben Soppitt

But San Francisco, home of free love, Armistead Maupin, hippies, radical thinking, the Beat Generation, Grateful Dead — almost nothing. I know there is Greens but I find the food and atmosphere boring and it’s overpriced for what you get.

So what happened? was there once a vibrant scene but all the Vegetarians/Vegans left?

Or was it always like this?

I find even in decent restaurants on the whole Vegan/Vegetarian options are much more limited and less imaginative than I expected. Maybe like London 20 years ago.

How come San Francisco is so progressive in so many ways but not here?