21st Amendment Tavern expands its vegetarian options

The 21st Amendment Tavern is one of the most beautiful renovations to hit the Shelby Park/Merriwether/Germantown district of late.

One of the may things I love about 21st Amendment Tavern is that it’s in easy walking distance of my home.

Some of you might remember this as the space formerly known as the Cure. This is not the Cure. The concrete floor, alone, is a work of art. The bar is gorgeous, the woodwork, pressed tile ceiling, art nouveau accents. This new tavern is a serious gem. You should check it out, even if you’re not a vegetarian.

The 21st Amendment Tavern captures the current spirit of overall renovation and revitalization that’s happening, big time, in Shelby Park and surrounding neighborhoods. Every time I take a walk in my ‘hood, I see a new, chic business that just opened.

I only worry that, soon, Shelby Park will be too hip for me.

On a recent lunch visit, the omnivore and I sampled some new vegetarian fare. A stuffed acorn squash was on offer. It was delicious as were the Italian green beans and the arugula salad that came with it.

This is NOT boring vegetarian food. The squash is made with quinoa, so it provides a complete protein.

And what would lunch be without a totally inappropriate mid-day margarita? I ordered a specialty cocktail that goes by the name Fuchsia Rita. And fuchsia it is (pink tinged with orange, in case you are not up on your Sherwin Williams swatches.)

The magic ingredient in the fuchsia rita is beet juice, mixed with orange. If you’re thinking it doesn’t sound right, you are mistaken. It’s a mild and only semi-sweet tequila cocktail that goes down about as easy as the nap I took afterwards.

“Tequila without the pain,” is how our server, Zoe, describes it.

I hear you judging me, but don’t forget, I walked there and back. It’s like hashing, but at a slower pace and with only one drink. Hashing for people over sixty.

If your history is a little rusty (mine was, I had to look it up), the 21st amendment is the one that reversed prohibition and gave us an inalienable right to do a little day drinking after voting for the public leaders we really want.

And I hope you will. Soon. Vote, that is.

The writer with her acorn squash and the omnivore with a burger. As Jimmy Buffet notes, “she treats her body like a temple. I treat mine like a tent.”