Fondue [publisher's letter]

This month’s feature article on page 14 made me think of my vegetarian friend and our restaurant escapades. Back in the day, being a vegetarian wasn’t as easy or appealing as it is today, with the vast variety of options now available, especially on restaurant menus. I recall my friend often getting a feeble salad consisting of iceberg lettuce and a few shavings of carrot, plus dinner rolls and a little butter. Yup, that was a wonderful dinner out for her!

The one exception was my favorite fondue spot, the Grizzly House, in Banff, Alberta, which is hard to imagine since it was primarily a meat-based restaurant. Starving after a day of hiking, we decided to test it out to see if my friend could patch together a decent meal. We told the waiter that she was a vegetarian, and he said that he’d see what he could do. Off he went to relay this to the chef, strangely positive about it all, which, in turn, left us optimistic.

Well, it started with a salad, more substantial than her usual fare, and then came a fondue―tons of bread, and a big pot of gooey, wonderful Neuchâtel (cheese, wine and kirsch). We were off to a great start, and although I wasn’t a vegetarian, I certainly partook when she asked if I would like some.

But that wasn’t it; the waiter came out with another fondue specifically for my friend called bagna cauda (vegetable fondue), and, wow, were there vegetables—a great variety, heaped high on a large plate, to be cooked in a broth or eaten raw if preferred. There were lots of leftovers for the doggie bag, and that’s after I helped her make a decent dent in the vegetable mountain.

Along with the meat I had ordered (which, naturally, she didn’t help me eat), we ended up with such a ridiculous amount of food that we got the giggles—well more like a bout of hysterical laughter over the whole affair. Who knew that this would be such a dramatically different experience from her usual restaurant outings!

In the back of my mind, I had a feeling that my favorite restaurant would look after my friend, and they didn’t disappoint. I miss my visits to Banff, hiking, playing tourist, and, of course, fondue dinners. I still have one of their signature place mats―a hand-drawn Banff townsite, with all kinds of sayings written here and there. One saying comes to mind, “Everything in moderation, including moderation.” We certainly didn’t live by that rule that night on our fun vegetarian adventure!