It was because of the pumpkin ravioli.
With walnuts.
Drizzled in white truffle oil.
Well, no.
It might have been the wild mushrooms.
In a parcel of pastry.
With greens and garlic.
I DID IT. I guess is my point. I checked into the Phoenix Inn in Olympia and as I received the key the desk clerk told me that room service was done by the restaurant across the street and that I would find their menu in the room. I asked if they had many vegetarian items and was told that they had several 'specialty' dishes and then she confided to me that Olympia was a mecca for vegetarians.
I couldn't find the menu in the room so I called the number listed in the directory of hotel services and the nice young lady went through the menu. I was tempted by the vegetable tart and even more by the curried vegetables with fried tofu. But I love mushrooms and Joe loves ravioli so that was settled. As we were wrapping up I told her our room number. She told me that it would have to be picked up tonight as she was the only one on shift.
Mushroom Strudel. Gone.
Pumpkin Ravioli, with walnuts, in truffle oil. Gone. Gone. Gone.
We never get food like this for room service. Ever. An evil plan formed in my mind. I tried to stop myself, I did. Really. I did.
But the words came out of my mouth, "Oh, well, we'll have to cancel the order, I'm in a wheelchair and it's just to difficult to get out and over there."
There was a dramatic pause, then she said, "Hold on a minute." I heard her cover the receiver and then call to someone else. "There's a guy at the hotel in a wheelchair, think we can get the food over to him?" Someone answered in the distance, back on line she said, "We can get that over to you."
I thanked her. Hung up. And giggled. It worked. I know I shouldn't have done it. Using my wheelchair. I know it was across the street but Joe's foot is still bothering him badly. I know we should have just thanked them and then called for a pizza.
But ....
The parcels of pastry were good.
lol but the alternative was delivered pizza. Glad you enjoyed your meal. I'm not a vegetarian but your description sounded delicious - now where can I find tofu and someone who would deliver it to me.
ReplyDeleteMyr
LOL... I giggled because we have used what we like to call our Special Needs Pass. Like last Christmas eve, when we were taking a trip to see our daughter in California. When we got to our layover stop, we were told our next flight was cancelled. After standing in a very long line to pick up a hotel voucher and find out when we could fly out the next morning, my husband was told that if we split our party of 5 up, they could put us on 2 different flights to get us out that day.
ReplyDelete"We can't," my husband informed them, "my wife and I are traveling with our children; our youngest has special needs and" The woman cut him off and said, "Oh! Well, go see the lady at that desk and we'll get you all out today on the same flight" 20 minutes later we had our new tickets.
Sometimes things are just worth it. Like the pumpkin ravioli... my mouth is watering over how your dinner must have tasted last night. mmmmmmm
Back when I was 14 years old, I was traveling cross country by plane by myself for the first time, coming back home from summer camp. (Mom had traveled with me part of the way up there, to help me get to my connecting flight and to make sure I understood how to make the connecting flight by myself on the way home.)
ReplyDeleteI was nervous about figuring out how to get from the plane to the luggage pick-up area on the return trip home, so my parents had told me that they would be meeting me right at the gate the minute I got off the plane. (This was WELL before the events of September 11 '01, so security was strict but not nearly so draconian back then as it is now. So they had no immediate reason to think there would be a problem with this idea.)
Well, apparently when they got to the airport and tried explaining to security that they were meeting their daughter at the gate, the security person initially wasn't sure that a 14 year old needed that level of attention. But then my Mom said, "She's deaf," and he suddenly decided to let them through.
My Mom was amused by it because she didn't see what my being deaf should have to do with anything -- I needed support not because I was deaf but because I was 14 and inexperienced with independent airline travel. But, she did play the "disability card" when it suited her (and our) purposes ;-)
I wish I could have been there to sample that food -- sounds delish!
Myr: If you have access to Chinese delivery (or Thai or Vietnamese) then those restaurants usually have tofu somewhere on the menu. Though those restaurants probably wouldn't have vegetable tarts or pumpkin ravioli.
Dave, since you are in Phoenix: I was there once too, maybe 10+ years ago. I got to a speciality Chinese restaurant somewhere there (sorry, can't remember the name or precisely where in town). It still stands out in my memory because, very unusually, they actually had "vegetarian lobster" on the menu, and I remember that was really good. I've only come across one other restaurant since then (was in the DC area, but it has closed down now) that offered its own version of vegetarian lobster, but it wasn't as good.
(For people unfamiliar with vegetarian cusine: by vegetarian lobster, I mean made from plant foods to emulate the general taste, texture, and appearance of lobster. For beef, chicken, pork, etc. they usually use some combination of soy and wheat gluten products; for veggie fish I think they use other things like yam flour or some such, not sure.)
Our handicaps get used against us so often, I guess it is ok for us to use them to our advantage once in a while. (especially when it come to procuring good food!!)
ReplyDeleteThe question is, how big a tip did you give them?
ReplyDeleteThe fact is, you had more trouble getting out than others... I find that sometimes it is simply common sense to play the disability card. If it is an appropriate need, why not?
ReplyDeleteoooh! welcome to Olympia! I wish I had known you were around here. Oly really is a kind of Mecca for vegetarians/vegans. I hope the rest of your time here is as delightful as your meal was!
ReplyDeleteAnything for pumpkin ravioli.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear they accommodated you; Olympia really is one of the friendliest places around...I enjoyed your presentation today! I hope you enjoyed yourself. Blessings & Peace, Jeanette
ReplyDeleteI wonder if they deliver out of country? the choices sound so goooood - pumpkin ravioli-yum! Hope your bringing goodies and left overs home! (and yes even I have done the poor me card) - you know the one like I can't wait any longer my blood sugar is dropping, I've been know to have seizures and I'm feeling...... (front of line baby) Its so wicked! MDN
ReplyDeleteYou picked tofu over pizza???????
ReplyDeleteSounds wonderful! And I bet they were glad to do it for you--sometimes it's nice to leave your workplace/building during the middle of your shift.
ReplyDeleteTo me this is just "good karma".....the universe giving back in such a yummy way!
ReplyDeleteBad Bad Bad!! lol But I can't say I am not BAD too! My daughter had DS and is very small even for a person with DS. She will be 18 in a few months but she still gets served kids menu's and I don't say a thing, cause they are much cheaper!! lol And the other day when asked what her age was, i lied, which I normally never do if I am asked. But I wanted that cheap meal. It was 4.99 versus 11.99 for the same thing. Now the fun thing is that she wants to buy lotto tickets when she turns 18, I can't wait to see the look on people's faces when she whips out her ID!! lol I will just have to hide it when we go out to eat.
ReplyDeleteI don't know you you get LeanCuisine frozen meals in Cananda but they have a Butternut squash meal with pinenuts that is too die for, it also has extra veggies added.