I am a fresh vegan. I was an omnivore until 2015, then a pescatarian, and finally a few weeks ago, a vegan. Or as vegan as I can manage at present. It's hard to make a hard stop. I still wear my old leather belts but I consume almost zero animal products now.

This weekend I went to San Diego with my supportive, omnivorous wife. Here's how I got on with the food.

Thursday

After cheating on the plane with a delicious bloody mary (anchovy), I had no more lapses.

Our first meal was the golden jewel of the trip, for me at least. A friend had recommended KINDRED whose website is as magnificent as its food and atmosphere. KINDRED is a vegan-only bar and restaurant. Vegan food can be perceived as dull and tasteless, but honestly I've rarely eaten better restaurant food. My wife liked it just as much as I did. The staff were friendly, attentive and chatty. The food was as follows:

Chargrilled seitan skewers with chimichurri, harissa and horseradish aioli. These skewers and the combination of sauces were delicious beyond words. I must try to make them myself.

Front: 'Soul Crush': Cornmeal Crusted Gardein, Celery Root Parsnip Mash, Broccolini, Creamy Beer Mac, Tomato Lemongrass Velouté
Back: 'Farro From Beyond': Gochujang Maitake Mushrooms, Garlic Fennel, Five Spice Dates, Lemon Horseradish Hummus

Everything in KINDRED had an otherworldly feel, including a huge mythical beast on the wall which I almost didn't notice even though it was the size of an armchair and five yards in front of me. They served the check in a Choose Your Own Adventure book.

Five stars.

Friday

Honestly the bar had been set very high by KINDRED. We were offered a high-pressure sales breakfast by our timeshare, whose business model requires them to upsell you every time you stay there. We tried to resist but they also offered a $100 pre-paid AMEX card for our troubles. We said yes.

The only thing for me to eat there was... dry toast. They did have a strawberry reduction thing for the waffles so i spread some of that on it. But yeah, a little disappointing. I have no photo.

Next we went to the Donut Bar which apparently has vegan options but I only found that out later. I ate nothing, but my wife had a Homer, which looks good (but wasn't particularly soft) even though it is made from animal horror.

The Homer

For lunch we walked to the quite exquisite Balboa Park. The restaurant opposite the visitor centre, The Prado was fantastic. The waiter looked like Wes Bentley and he knew that the veggie burger had parmesan in the patty. He suggested the Market Salad. . Along with a carafe of white wine sangria, this was a delicious way to dine, despite my limited options. It included avocado plus red and golden beetroot. I was deeply satisfied.

Wes Bentley took this photo. His real name was not Wes Bentley.

Later we Ubered to the Ballast Point brewery in Little Italy. I assume beer is all vegan, although I may be wrong. (I kinda don't want to find out.) I had a flight of these beers:

Unite Gose (an experimental brew), Pineapple Sculpin (a classic flavour that's hard to find in the Bay Area) and Peppermint Victory at Sea stout (which was good enough to warrant buying a growler)

For dinner I called the Wine Vault & Bistro, a highly rated restaurant with wine paired set menu. I asked if they could make their menu vegan. Cory, the woman who answered the phone, was delightfully helpful. She initially thought it might not be possible but put me on hold while she asked the chef. The answer was yes! I had been extremely daunted about asking this question. I wanted to be able to take my wife somewhere posh without making a fuss. This proved that veganism¹ is becoming more accepted by the day. Thank you Wine Vault & Bistro!

Sadly, after all the beer, we fell asleep. But not before leaving a voicemail to cancel our reservation. It's on my list for next time.

Saturday

Brunch was almost a problem. Little Italy had a farmers market that catered for every diet you could imagine bar cannibalism. I Yelped for an hour trying to find a place that would suit both my wife and me. There is a fully vegan spot—Café Gratitude—but my wife wanted meat, so we tried the Queenstown Public House, a New Zealand themed bar/restaurant. It is frankly beautiful. Leafy and bohemian with a professional approach and attentive service. Unfortunately it was the least vegan friendly place of the trip.

I tried to order the cauliflower steak sandwich with no dairy, but was told it was 'full of dairy'. While I was grateful for the tip, I had only one other option: a deep fried green tomato salad. It was actually very tasty but I couldn't help wonder if the breadcrumbs had been attached with egg. Also I'm never sure if the deep frying oil has been used for meat. I also had shoestring fries, which presented the same concern. But I was hungry, so I asked no further questions. The waitress did also tell me that the aioli dip had dairy in it, which I appreciated.

As a side note, I would have had the bloody mary if it was not made with a mix (anchovy in the Worchestershire sauce again) and had a honking great stick of bacon in it! My wife had one and thoroughly enjoyed it though, even if it was slightly on the strong side.

For early dinner before the Lifehouse concert on the USS Midway aircraft carrier(!), I turned again to Yelp. To my joy, there was an Italian restaurant on the next block that had a whole separate vegan menu! Seriously there was one sheet with the main menu and drinks on the back, then another sheet with soley vegan options! It is called Civico 1845. I do not have photos, but I ate:

Vegan Caprese: Tomato and rice mozzarella. It was as good as the real thing if not better. The lack of animal cruelty in this dish was palpable.

Gnocchi with eggplant and tomato sauce: This was good but not great. There was too much of it and the sauce lacked seasoning. The worst thing was that it was so huge there was no room for the vegan tiramisu! It's nice to know that vegan tiramisu is a thing though.

Coronado Islander IPA

Analysis

San Diego is fairly vegan friendly in that it has standalone vegan places as well as vegan options in animal places. It was a lot easier than I expected and I think that trend will progress, from what I have seen.

Thank you, San Diego! Thank you, my wife! Thank you for reading.

¹ This word has a dotted red line underneath..!
² As another side note, I'm kind of ok with the deep fat fryer being used for meat as well as non-meat foods. My veganism is about not supporting the animal industry. I am not averse to the taste of meat. As long as there is only a deep, deep byproduct of the meat remaining, I'm semi-ok with it.