BBQ Puller Originally uploaded by bkraai2003

Capitol Hill is a pretty diverse place so you probably know a person or two who eats meat. Even though they soil their bodies consuming flesh, the carnivores probably care about where that steak came from. And though the farmers market has a few vendors providing fresh beef and poultry, there is another option for putting meat on your table. One group of hungry Capitol Hill families is turning to the east side of the state for their local meat needs.

For a little more tha a year, Linda McElroy, has been buying her meat from Thundering Hooves, a family farm and ranch in the Walla Walla Valley, and having it delivered to her Capitol Hill home. She's the 'hostess' for a buying club that purchases meat from the farm. What started as a small group has turned into 85 families from Capitol Hill and surrounding areas going through McElroy for their carnivorous needs. While only about a fourth of the members order meat for the monthly delivery, that still amounts to a large...

For our Mother's Day brunch (without our mothers), my companion and I decided to visit Smith.  To our vegetarian surprise, the delicious veggie omelette was no longer on the menu!  Craving eggs and hashbrowns, we quickly paid for our coffees and left.  Coincidentally, this was the second Capitol Hill restaurant I abandoned this week.  On Thursday, I left Than Brothers on Thursday after waiting 25 minutes for veggie pho.  After being told "it was on its way!" at least 3 times, I finally gave up when I heard a server admit to another table that they were out of veggie broth.

I certainly don't think that I have a constitutional right to a decent vegetarian dish at every restaurant, but I admit that I'm surprised by the neo-Capitol Hill trend of meat-centric menus.  Doesn't it make business sense to offer at least one or two veggie entrees that are comparable in size and flavor to the meaty choices (e.g., Honey Hole, Annapurna, Bimbo's)?