What do you do when you are the only vegan at the table?

Even in meat-centric cities like Dallas, Texas you can find options, but you have to know where to look.

Salum Restaurant offers diners fresh, local, American cuisine in an upscale atmosphere that is perfect for special occasions as well as weekly get-togethers with friends.  This non-vegan restaurant is a gemstone for vegans.  I was first introduced to this restaurant while reviewing another one of Abraham Salum’s restaurants – Komali Mexican Cuisine. At that time, I wasn’t exclusively a whole foods, plant-based eater. My first meal at Salum Restaurant took me on a trip down the eastern seaboard with the perfect marriage of the freshest ingredients I had ever tasted all on one plate. I was in heaven.

When I became a vegan, fine dining out options became more of a challenge with many chefs snubbing their noses at the idea of not serving Wagyu beef to their patrons.  Vegetable options at many steak houses consist of a baked potato loaded with a plethora of cholesterol-rising, artery-clogging ingredients and sometimes creamed spinach. Salads normally are a wedge of iceberg lettuce drenched in blue cheese dressing with bacon bits sprinkled around – not appealing or healthy.

I didn’t have that problem at Salum Restaurant.  Being a vegan diner was as wonderful an experience as it was when I wasn’t vegan.  Yes, vegans and non-vegans can happily dine together at Salum Restaurant.

What I love about Salum Restaurant is its ever-changing menu.  Never afraid to try something new, every single month for the past 10 years, the menu has changed.  This is a bold and progressive move in the restaurant industry.  Most restaurants change their menu two to three times a year and occasionally try something out by adding a new appetizer.  Salum pushes creativity to the max by offering something unique all the time. You will never see the same thing twice on the menu and because of this, customers always return to try the newest creation that has been added to the menu.

“I purchase from local purveyors and feature the season’s best produce,” said Abraham Salum about his namesake Uptown Dallas restaurant. Salum cut his teeth working at the five-star luxury hotel Camino Real in Mexico.  He worked his way up from steward cleaning the garbage room, polishing silver to peeling over 400 pounds of potatoes.  He diplomatically handled every task that was assigned to him.  He attended the New England Culinary Institute, did his internship in the South of France at a 3-star Michelin-rated restaurant.  Salum eventually made it to Dallas, worked at Parigi and then opened Salum Restaurant.

So, what did I eat at Salum Restaurant?

Robin’s Risotto and Red Wine Sorbet.

As a former cheesaholic, I loved the creamy texture of the risotto. Not one bit of cheese was in the dish but you would think otherwise. The baby carrots, asparagus, and broccolini with wild rice and adzuki beans made a perfect power plate. My dinner was complete with red wine sorbet for dessert.

The meal was superb and the service was excellent.  If you get a chance to visit Dallas, Texas, you must have lunch or dinner at Salum Restaurant. Even if you are the only vegan at the table, you will feel like royalty.