My non-vegan colleagues get me

In July I moved to a new department at the college. I miss my former colleagues–I went vegan on their watch!

I had a lunch date yesterday with one of them — and another met us in the parking lot to give me a belated birthday card she had been holding for a few weeks.

Cute, right? Even better–the coaster inside the card.

See? They get me.

Back to the colleague meeting me for lunch. She wanted to make sure we went to a restaurant that could provide a decent vegan meal. Avli, a Greek restaurant in Bayside, NY (Queens) delivered!

This is the second time I’ve eaten at Avli and the second time I ordered the falafel wrap. I can firmly state that this is one of the best falafel wraps I’ve ever had. They use a flour tortilla, which I prefer over pita, because I want to really taste the falafel and the tahini sauce (pita falafel wraps are just way too dense and heavy for me).

Dessert?

Dark, black coffee.

See? They get me.

Avli
38-31 Bell Blvd
Bayside, NY 11361

EDITED TO ADD: Today I share my initial thoughts on the Bob’s Red Mill animal testing scandal on BlogHer.com: Vegans who love Bob’s Red Mill products face a moral dilemma

Anonymous

very sweet. xo
http://twitter.com/therawproject Christine

What a cute card, that’s so sweet! And the falafel wrap looks divine, yum!
http://www.forthehealth.com Faith @ For the Health of It

Aww, how sweet of her! Understanding colleagues are the best. Mine are awesome at making sure that if we go out to eat, there are veg options for me – it makes it so easy!
http://eathikesleeprepeat.blogspot.com Mountain Girl

Re: Bob’s Mill – The university may be notorious for animal testing, but what about the
nutrition department? I don’t believe the automatic leap should be made
in assuming that the money will be spent on things that include animal
testing. From the donors’ side, it should be pretty easy to stipulate
the acceptable and unacceptable uses of the money. Good to raise
awareness of this issue though.
- http://jlgoesvegan.com JL
  
  They actually do obesity (nutrition) studies on animals: From their own site: “OHSU’s Research
  Studies in humans and nonhuman primates are beginning to uncover answers to many of the questions surrounding obesity.” http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/about/news_events/news/2011/obesity-research.cfm
  
  I am anxious to see the response. I am a professional fundraiser for a higher education institution and will be skeptical if they suggest suggest they can separate the $25 million from any animal research costs, based on how their research center appears to be set up.
  
  We’ll see!
http://www.tiedyefiles.com Kaitlyn@TheTieDyeFiles

How awesome! I love when my non-vegan friends are so accommodating :) Happy belated birthday!
http://getskinnygovegan.blogspot.com GetSkinny GoVegan

Very Cool. My friend got a job in Bezerkeley and they took her to Cafe Gratitude for their first lunch meeting!!
Ick, just saw the Bob’s red mill thing. Yikes.
Just another of the gazillion moral dilemmas………..
- http://jlgoesvegan.com JL
  
  LOL, so true. If we dig really deep I’m afraid we could find some really dirty stuff about many allegedly ethical companies, businesses, etc. But I guess we (or I) do the best I can with what I DO, in fact, know.
http://veggieecolife.wordpress.com Sara (The Veggie Eco-Life)

I love the card! I think it’s so lovable that your colleagues understand you, it’s now always like that.
http://www.serenityinthestorm.com Katie @ Serenity in the Storm

Thanks for the heads up about Bob’s Red Mill. Interesting dilemma, and I will definitely be keeping my eye out for how this unfolds.
http://vegancrunk.blogspot.com Bianca-Vegan Crunk

Happy birthday, JL!!! That card is adorable!!
http://www.lifestylesofthechicandvegan.com Vko

I want that card!! So sweet- they really do get you which is so nice. Those are super sweet colleagues, but of course, they were easily inspired because there is nothing not to love about you and yum on the falafel wrap…..and boo on Bob’s Red Mill, hoping they change their minds since we’ve all been so vocal- so unfortunate….but yes, yet another difficult vegan issue, I wonder how most vegans feel about Silk being owned by Dean Foods- a huge dairy conglomerate…
http://idreamofgreenieblog.com Bess

That is SUCH a good point about how using a pita as a base weighs down the wrap and detracts from the flavor…love the idea of a simple tortilla.
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