Raw Vegans Must Hate Salt

I went to 118 twice. Once by myself. Once with another person. The food met my expectations both times, but I left wanting. Craving. I'm almost positive it's because I just wanted something gushing with flavor: salty, spicy, sweet, sour. That leaves something to be said about this place. Anyway, this is an exact transcription (minus the typos I made while trying to be stealthy) of my first experience at a raw vegan restaurant.

Friday, July 16 at 12:59 PM

So I went to a raw vegan restaurant for lunch today. I don't know how I find these places. Anyway, I thought "mushrooms! yum!" I forgot... RAW! Friggen raw mushrooms. Nut cheese sauce was good, though. Without it it'd be a mass of raw veggies for $13. Yea, $13. Instantly I craved cooked food. I had half a mind to ask if they'd cook it (the mushrooms). Oh wait, no stove!

I think raw veganism is a very restrictive diet. Apparently to make the switch you have to go cold turkey and just stop eating cooked foods because they're like an addiction. Heck, why did mankind invent fire to cook food then? Natural my ass.

A lot of the people here spend their time chatting about their diet. Talking about the difficulty of keeping balance of sources of nutrition, fats in raw nuts... lifestyle. I feel like I've immersed myself (not very well) in a new culture...

Everything is a substitution for everything. I find it interesting that most of the foods are vegan alternatives for "regular" dishes. Word association with foods seems to be important... It's "like a taco" and hence becomes a taco alternative, rather than saying what it really is (veggies on a flaxseed banh trang).

[[On a tangent, word association seems to be important because of the psychosocial/categorical associations we have with foods. For the person who is looking at this type of food for the first time, it's comforting to see words like nachos and pasta, familiar words that can be easily associated with, in this case, a food. I suppose they'd also make more money giving dishes names and associations rather than the following substitution: the portobello soft tacos I had could have easily been called "marinated veggies on flax paper with nut sauce." In fact, if we took the dishes literally, every dish would be a variation of marinated veggies with some kind of nut sauce or garnish. Ah, raw veganism. I digress.]]

All the patrons are really skinny; I wonder if they are raw vegans or if they are like me who is here to take in the atmosphere and discover this lifestyle. What kind of people turn to a raw vegan lifestyle? I think they know I'm an imposter; unlike a couple other guests, I wasn't asked if I wanted any dessert.

Some lady was excitedly planning a raw vegan birthday bash for her mother. Another lady can't have something so she's had to make many modifications to her meal with the waitress. I wonder how people come to have so many food allergies. Could it be upbringing? Dylan is allergic to peanuts when none of us have ever been anything other than lactose intolerant. Hmm...

So I left, still hungry. Although, I'm unsure if I'm hungry or if my appetite is hungry.