| rev:text
| - To be incorrect is forgivable. To be incorrect and arrogant about it is something else.
(That's called a teaser)
I was responsible for planning a small bachelor party for a good buddy. We had daytime drinks at a nearby bar, so for convenience, Harbord House seemed a reasonable nearby dining option. I called ahead to see if they could accommodate a vegan diner, and they said they could, listing the veggie chili as a vegan menu option.
We got there, were promptly seated, and began ordering our mains. I notified the waiter that I was looking for something sans dairy and egg ingredients, and asked about the chili. He said the corn bread that it came with had yogourt in it, which could not be removed.
"That's fine," I said, "I'll just have the chili with a side of regular bread."
I turn and proceed talking to my friend next to me, when the waiter interrupts: "You want bread without dairy and egg ingredients in it?"
There is a momentary pause as I affirm with myself that, yes, that was essentially what I was saying. "Yes."
"Think about that," he says, quite rudely.
I think about it.
Yes, that is what I want. I do not see a problem. Does... does this full-grown man believe that bread always, or even often, contains dairy or egg? I'm reminded of the Aziz Ansari comedy bit about 50 Cent learning that grapefruits exist. I understand that *some* bread contains egg, fewer dairy, but, man, I eat bread all the time. I read bread ingredients all the time. "Think about that" implies that my request for bread without dairy or egg was ridiculous.
"Does your bread have dairy or egg in it?" is all I can come up with as a response.
He doesn't respond with "yes," which to me is telling about what he knows about how their kitchen prepares bread, but with this instead: "Bread has egg in it."
I looked around momentarily at my friends, who are non-vegan, and were giving me a "who is this guy?" look. I don't want to get into an argument about bread. The tension here is already absurd for a simple request such as this.
EVEN IF ALL BREAD CONTAINED EGG AND MY QUESTION WAS ABSURD (which it wasn't), "think about that" is an entirely inappropriate response to a request like mine. It was not said jovially, or in good fun.
There is a pause as I again process how to deal with this fellow while diffusing the situation. "If your bread has egg in it, I'll pass on the bread."
He attempts to compromise, "We have pita bread in our kitchen. We don't make it in house, so I don't know what's in it."
"Pita bread," I say, "usually has no egg in it. I'll get the pita bread, please."
He leaves with our orders, and I ask my friends if I'm nuts here, or what? They take my side, saying that that was weird and tense, and that the waiter was just wrong - egg in bread is not so common as to warrant incredulity and rudeness at my mere suggestion that I get some without.
The rest of the food and experience was three-star worthy. A mediocre vegetarian chili I wouldn't go back for.
I called and spoke to the manager a few days later. He agreed that it was inappropriate for the waiter to give me a "Think about that", and apologized. I regret not asking, for the record, whether or not their bread actually contained egg. The waiter was too indignant, when I asked, to give me so much as a "Let me ask the kitchen for you."
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