When I was a fatty chan, I used to be able to eat TWO burritos. Now that I've calmed down on the overeating a bit, I can only eat a single one. Omnomnom.
My favorite thing was the vegetarian option until I tried the steak. I never looked back since then. However, Chipotle has this cool little event coming up to try to introduce the omnivorous populous to something more plant based and animal friendly (finally).
I was so excited as I walked in, eagerly scanning the pans of yummy goodness until i found the Sofritas. I was a little taken aback when I saw it. Granted I'm not the pickiest person, but seeing the pile of crumbly tofu sloop was a bit akin to when Allen Carr tried to feed Russell Brand a Christmas dinner. He declined not because he was a Vegan, but because he had eyes and the dinner looked not so good even though Allen had some Tofurky especially for him. Is this what you're using to entice the meat eaters, Chipotle?? YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THIS.
'Fuck it' I thought, and ordered it anyway since I've eaten way stranger looking things than that in my lifetime and I REALLY wanted to give it a go because this was a Chipotle milestone of sorts. They've been around for how many years? Finally some tofu up in here.
A scoop placed on top of my rice and beans bowl, it looked like a poor excuse of a fauxlonaise (faux bolognaise) sauce to me. Mostly watery sauce which eventually was absorbed by the rice, and a disappointingly small pile of microfine orange-ish tofu crumbles. I got my usual on top of that- some tomatoes, corn, cheese, sour cream, guac, and a dressing. Paid for it, walked across the street back to work, sat down, and opened it up. It looked exactly like my veggie bowls had always looked. Tasted pretty much the same too with a slight flavor of the Sofritas. Quite honestly, if someone had ordered this for me and not told me, I would have assumed they got me the veggie option unless I was really paying attention with every chew, looking for that extra flavor. I had even specifically dug out a piece of the tofu to try it out on its own.
As I was chewing on the tiny crumble, I was thinking to myself about how this might have been prepared and how it could be improved. Maybe this consistency was just at this location in particular? Thoughts ran through my mind on how maybe the tofu wasn't drained completely before it was used, so that's why it was so watery. Maybe the tofu wasn't frozen before being cut up, so maybe that's why it was so crumbly. Maybe both of these things happened. Maybe this, maybe that, maybe, maybe, maybe. But really, who knows. At the end of the day, I bought it, I ate it, and it was Chipotle. And Chipotle is awesome.
Was I amazed and astounded? No. Was I disappointed? Not really, because this is a BIG THING. Will I partake in the event tomorrow? YOU BET YOUR BUTT I AM. Am I happy that Chipotle offers this now? Hell yeah!
I wish the tofu wasn't so microfine and that the entire mix was more of a chili consistency than a watery mess. Also maybe a little bit more boost on the flavor so you feel like you didn't skip a whole step in your burrito making process. Meatless eaters, you know what I'm talking about. Mmmhmmmmmm. I'm not asking for a meaty textured substitute, but I WOULD like to feel like I ordered something other than the previous no-meat just rice, beans and veggies option.
This all said, let's not think about how even though chipotle has 2 vegan options now (Sofritas or none), Chipotle still isn't the most vegan friendly place due to many factors, one being the employees don't change their gloves when making a vegan their burrito, and sometimes when asked, are huffy about it or ignore the customer. But hey, I'm no vegan, so it's not really my concern. Should it be Chipotle's? Maybe.
In the end, it doesn't really matter. Linkin Park, anyone? I'll still be standing in that line tomorrow, getting my tofu bowl on so the day after I can get myself a steak if the 2nd experience is the same as the first.
