White Wine And Vegan Pumpkin Seed Spread.

A Buschenschank with a difference.

We went out to a local, well almost local Buschenschank yesterday and had a fabulous time. It is one of the nicer ones around, in atmosphere, food, wine and ambiance but after last night it has garnered another description...innovative.

The other day I saw a documentary that did get my attention beyond its sixty minutes with the outcome of ( at least for a little while ) a few of my eating habits being changed. Yes, meat has been sidelined in our kitchen and we've been feasting on delicious meat free dishes. Of course the true test of one's convictions arrives when going out for a meal at a Buschenschank....a place enshrined with meat dishes.

Fair enough, I was going to skip a day of healthy eating and order something with only a touch of meat. A Grammelschmalzbrot. We arrived at the place and ordered wine which left me enough time to dilly dally over the menu. Oh, I do that regardless of what I eat or not eat. Gemini.

Funny how our mind, once it's set chooses to ignore the obvious. I was on the brink of ordering my Grammelschmalzbrot when Bob asked me to take a closer look at the menu. He of course was privy to my menu planning...

There it was, sandwiched between Schmalzbrot and cream cheese spread. Oh yes, even printed in capital letters;

Vegan pumpkin seed spread.

To say I was stunned is an understatement. How wonderfully progressive of this Buschenschank to put something a bit more inventive than a cheese bread for non meat eaters. Of course I ordered it but I savoured the idea of it even more.

When it was time to pay the bill, the owner came over to cash up from us and as I was so happy I firstly thanked him for their innovative drive and also ask him why they'd thought of it.

" Quite a lot of people ask for a vegan dish and we've put one on the menu. "

Those are the rare moments when realize why among a string of establishments within walking distance, this particular one, Herczeg Buschenschank..., full of customers, and even rarer, happy customers.

Biggi