Update: Bamboo Garden wants to work with the vegan community for greater transparency
SEATTLE, Washington, April 26, 2016 -- Word spread fast through the vegan community about local restaurant Bamboo Garden serving animal products to customers without their knowledge (read the original story here). Over in Vegan City (Seattle) on Facebook, emotions were running particularly high.
Sally Smith and her small group of friends were relieved when they read today that two members of the aforementioned Facebook group were able to do what they were not: Meet with Bamboo Garden to make a plan for greater transparency going forward. I am reposting their update with permission:
[We] met with Bamboo Garden for two hours today. I am still typing up my notes but I wanted to give you a quick update.
First, I want to thank the anonymous whistle-blowers who painstakingly collected the evidence and presented the expose that helped us learn that something wasn't right. Second, I want to thank all the skeptics, the folks who questioned whether Bamboo Garden was really vegan and the folks who asked for more proof that Bamboo Garden really served eggs and dairy. Both groups led us to reach out to Bamboo Garden to confirm that yes Bamboo Garden is not all vegan despite having a menu that said "only the fortune cookies contain eggs" and "All 'meat', 'poultry', and 'seafood', menu items are made from vegetable protein products." Third, I want to thank everyone who helped spread the word that Bamboo Garden is not all vegan by sharing this news on Facebook and review sites.
The BG staff said that they saw the posts on Yelp and they were concerned by the negative reviews. Whether you never loved the food at Bamboo Garden or ever plan to go there again or not, we should all be proud that our community raised its voice and it was heard. One of the staff said that it "hurts their heart" that people think they would intentionally mislead their customers about their ingredients, and they want to make amends. I know some people feel Bamboo Garden is forever ruined, but I plan to be an ally to them, and I will watch how they respond to this crisis and adjust my rating of their restaurant accordingly.
Now, here's my update:
With the help of three cooks and two serving staff, [my buddy] and I read the ingredients list of every packaged food item they had in the kitchen, and then we read through the entire menu and audited the ingredients of each dish to sort all 120 menu items into three categories: Vegan, can be made vegan, and vegetarian. I am typing up my notes and using them to create a revised copy of the current menu so Bamboo Garden has a template for a menu that will be clear as to what is, can be, and isn't vegan.
[My friend that went with me] is using his advanced veganizing skills to research ingredients Bamboo Garden can consider using to add more vegan dishes to their menu. Stewart Rose of the Vegetarians of Washington reached out to Bamboo Garden today as well and he is helping them to maintain their kosher certificate and identify wholesale restaurant suppliers that can bring more vegan food items to Bamboo Garden. Ultimately, I think we would all love to see Bamboo Garden one-hundred-percent vegan, so if you want to write to Bamboo Garden you can tell them we want them to continue working to clear up the confusion over their menu, and we would like to see all their food vegan, even the fortune cookies!
When I reached out to Smith and friends today, they were relieved the restaurant is willing to work with the vegan community, but they also expressed frustration that after many hours of work and multiple contact attempts, staff wasn't willing/able to give a straight answer or agree to a plan of action until after the story went public.
When I contacted her today, Smith said, "We are cautiously optimistic that our investigation will bring the changes we hoped for."
What do you think? Email Bamboo Garden to let them know. They can be reached at bamboogardenseattle@gmail.com (their old email address, "chinesevegan@gmail.com," was switched out in the three days the news went public; messages sent to the old address may or may not reach them).