Vegetating (Mexico City, Mexico)

August 8, 2011

I've heard mixed reviews about this place, but my body is demanding that I atone for my recent spate of meat-eating madness. So here I am, lunching at the vegetarian restaurant on Molina.

The salad bar boasts fresh greens and beautiful, ripe, red tomatoes; slices of cucumber; alfalfa sprouts and pea shoots; yellow squash and zucchini slivers with onion, tomatoes, and grated cheese; amaranth and granola for sprinkling. The vegetables are all raw and refreshing.

I take the recommendation of the waiter and order the cream of celery soup. It doesn't sound all that interesting but turns out to be light and pleasant. I take the recommendation of the pigeons hopping off the balcony railing and onto the table where a couple has left some of their bread, and I nibble on a whole-grain roll that's big enough to feed two humans and three pigeons.

A pastate de zanahoria, a block of shredded carrots bound together in a creamy souffle, follows. It is my favorite part of the meal. My main dish is two huge soy meatless balls, bathed in a pool of thin tomato sauce.

I return to the salad bar for a dessert of fresh chunks of watermelon, cantaloupe, and papaya. I've already downed practically a full carafe of watermelon water. I am happy. And no animals have been sacrificed on my behalf.