Just so you know, even though its so unlike myself to stick to anything that I say I am going to do (see previous posts) I did start my 30 day vegan trial.
Its the 10th day and every thing is going smoothly. I haven't been craving anything that I cant have, which is actually quite surprising to me. Working at the Cheesecake Factory, the hardest thing for me has been just being careful about picking in the food.
Yes, we pick in the food. At every restaurant there is a large percentage of workers picking in the food. Sure, there are still people who abstain from it, but the majority don't. Don't freak out though, its only small things like fries and chips. At the Cheese, most of the servers eat the fries that fall off the plate. I know I keep a very sharp eye out for the stray fries and even being the clean freak that I am, compulsively wiping up every spill and giving dirty looks to the servers that slop ketchup, drinks, etc on the line, it pleases me to no end when the fry cooks carelessly dump fries on the plate, letting fries fall off. I usually stop what I am doing to feast on these fries.
In the bakery, before my diet change, I would constantly snack on the various toppings from the cheesecakes that were unfortunate enough to have fallen off the cheesecake. Just so you know, I would never eat directly off the cheesecake. Every thing I eat is excess or unserveable. Quite often a cheesecake will have a slice that is too small or got damaged in some way, those are the cheesecakes I pick off of right before I throw them in the trash, a hard thing for me to do. I usually do something overly dramatic like choke on a sob and look the other way while I dispose of it. Or I would just ask the managers if I could take it home for myself or my roommates. Even though we're not allowed to take home or eat the unserveable desserts, they sometimes let us anyway.
So now I have to be careful that I don't just pop a piece of something in my mouth. The only thing I can eat in the bakery now is the strawberries. Strawberries! We have 40+ desserts and there is only one dessert that can be modified to Vegan standards. Bowl of Strawberries no whip. Surprising.
I've thought about asking my GM or maybe writing to Corporate to ask if we could start incorporating more Vegan friendly items in our menu. Like offering soymilk as an option for our espresso drinks. Or tofu dishes. We have really great Chefs constantly working to create delicious items for our menu and twice a year we add new things to our already 200 item menu so I think we should be able to offer healthier, animal friendly dishes also. If you agree with me (you should) then go to www.thecheesecakefactory.com and let them know! Also, while your there, you should suggest a new restaurant location in St George, Ut. Just do it.
