This weekend, after a beautiful afternoon watching folks fly kites at Breton Point, I, the Veggie Vigilante, decided to have an early dinner in Newport. My carnivorous companion was in a state of seafood deprivation, and I, feeling generous as well as a tad adventurous, let him decide where to go. He chose The Mooring, on Sayer’s Wharf, a pretty spot where we were lucky enough to be seated outdoors overlooking the water. While my friend reveled in all his seafoody glory, enjoying course after course after course, I spent the night deciding in what order to get the side dishes that I had to mix and match for my meal. And, they weren’t even that good.

They did have a salad—one salad—that was vegetarian, but not vegan. It consisted of greens, grape tomatoes, chevre cheese, and toasted walnuts with a very light raspberry vinaigrette. It was acceptable, but nothing special. I started with that, and passed on the one veggie app they had—it was some kind of baked vegetable hodgepodge.

For dinner, I had to resort to the side dish section. Out of typical sides like mashed potatoes, asparagus, and sautéed spinach, I settled on two that sounded the most filling: their baked mac and cheese and their Boston spiced fries. The mac and cheese, with a crusty bread crumb topping, was pretty big, and it was mediocre. The cheese was very mild, and unless you got some of the bread crumbs in your bite, it was a bit bland. The fries were average with a hint of some kind of spice mix that was too conservatively sprinkled on to tell exactly what it was.

And, for dessert, we shared a peach and blackberry cobbler we actually left unfinished because we kind of both got peached-out. The peaches were a little too firm and the slices too big, but at least the granola topping was delicious!

Ultimately, I’m aware that Newport may not by nature be the most veggie friendly place in Rhode Island. Yet, vegetarians exist in Newport, and yes, they do eat. Furthermore, we need to stop this nonsense of letting restaurants think they can get away with just having salads and sides. Since they do not serve exclusively seafood, I feel there would not be anything lost for them by adding a few vegetarian and at least one vegan entree to the mix. The Mooring has a fun summer ambiance, especially if you can get a oceanfront table, but in the final analysis, *yawn*, I was sleeping with the fishes.

E-mail VV at hollaback@veggievigilante.com

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