Thursday
Sep242009
Tomato Wars, again
Thursday, September 24, 2009 at 11:14AM 
I'm sorry but I have GOT to talk about the damn Tomato Wars again. Seriously, this is getting out of control. They're everywhere! EV-UH-REE-WHERE.Case in Point (1):
At the dinner segment of a bachelorette party last weekend and my friend scoured the menu for something that did not require any omissions. She didn't want to have to do the whole "Can I have the Blah Blah with no yadda" thing, so she ordered a sandwich whose description did not include any offenders. Sandwich comes - big giant slices of tomato all over it. That she had to pick off. And that were not on the menu's description of the sandwich. Offender!!
Case in Point (2):
At lunch with a different friend. I ordered a gourmet grilled cheese that boasted three kinds of cheese and chopped basil on ciabatta. Yum. Sandwich comes and it is slathered in diced tomatoes. I'm talking someone took two ice cream scoops full of diced tomatoes and plopped one on each half of the grilled cheese. It took me half my lunch just to scrape them all off and out of the many ciabatta crevasses. Offender!
Since when are tomatoes a garnish you don't have to mention? I've used the "I'm allergic" excuse before to get someone to remake something for me, but usually I just scrape and grumble. But what if I really was allergic? What about those people who are? Can they not count on menu descriptions anymore? Must they ask about tomatoes on every dish they order?
Tuna salad: Does it have tomatoes?
Fried chicken: No tomatoes right?
Belgian waffles: Are you sure it doesn't come with tomatoes?
Creme Bruleé: No tomatoes please.
If I ever open a restaurant, I'm going to make it a Tomato Free Zone. Tomato byproducts are ok---gotta have my ketchup. But tomatoes diced, sliced, chopped or whole? Those offenders are BANNED!
Reader Comments (6)
I've been reading your blog for over a year and this is the post that brings me out of hiding, how sad. I too do not like tomato's and there is no worse way to ruin a good thing. If it's not on the menu do not put add it on for me, kay thanks. Well, that's my rant, thanks for reading. Congratulations on your engagement, I'm super excited for the two of you and I love the way you guys are doing it - YOUR WAY!! ?
Amen sister!
You make me want to cry. I LOVE tomatoes. Would eat only tomatoes for the rest of my life, if I could!
I'm with Amber, but I have to admit, I'm picky about my tomatoes, and restaurants generally as a whole do not give you good tomatoes. Still, a good tomato is a very good treat. Me and Em will buy a package of cherry tomatoes and eat them like they are grapes.
Thanks for coming out of the woodwork with your comment! Hey, the Tomato Wars are serious business, I don't blame you for de-lurking on this post. Hope to hear from you more!
This made me laugh out loud specifically the part about potentially needing to ask if belgian waffles might come with tomatoes because as a vegetarian, I've realized that I also need to make sure there isn't some weird meat substance hiding on my plate somewhere. You'd be surprised.
But I actually asked someone once if the pancakes had meat in them. He looked at me like I was crazy and said, "they're pancakes" and I specifically pointed out the part in the description that said it contained some sort of "special ingredient". he just repeated, "they're pancakes" and I said, "so your special ingredient isn't bacon?"