Vegan cafe

Back in Austin for a week, doing things with the daughter. Today as I waited for her to get her hair cut, I popped in to a little coffee place down the block. The pastries looked divine, and I ordered a tuna salad croissant (for some inexplicable reason) and a decaf iced latte. I was asked my choice of milk for the latte and I went right to "whole". But they don't have cow's milk. I had the choice of soy, almond, oat, coconut, hemp, or rice. The person behind the counter helpfully suggested oat and I said "Sure!"

So now I'm sitting waiting for my order and I see a sign that says Everything is Vegan here. I am now both trepidatious and curious about what my "tuna salad" is going to look/taste like...

After eating...

It was delicious. It was chickpeas. It tasted like tuna if you don't actually eat tuna. There are lots things on their menu like "chicken salad", and "sausage kolaches", "ham and cheese croissant" "taco meat something-or-rather (I was so stuck on the words "taco meat" that I stuttered to a stop there and missed the bread type). Not sure _why_. Are they targeting non-vegans to show how like meat their non-meat (and non-dairy) items are? I would think it would be a turn-off for the vegans that eat here being constantly reminded of things they choose not to eat. Or is the assumption that vegans secretly crave meat? I am truly curious, so I go ask the owner.

The answer is simple--and I should have thought of it. Most vegans aren't vegan from birth. They know the flavor profile of ham. They know the difference between "taco meat" and ground beef. They make their own vegan "ham" at the restaurant, and the owner said that they would have no idea how to describe the flavor as other than "ham". It's not to convert people, it's not to trick people (which I absolutely NEVER thought), it's all about description. Apparently on the menu (as opposed to the small card in the pastry case which I saw) it says "chickpea tuna croissant". Were it me, I think I would call it "Chickpea of the Sea salad"--but maybe that's showing my age and millennials wouldn't get it.

Oat milk, however, is something I can totally get behind. It is really yummy and turned my decaf latte from standard to sublime. The haircut went well too!