Seva Cafe

Two evenings ago (Sunday) I met up with a Veg*n SoCal meetup group, which had an early dinner event in Long Beach (I went in order to get my Mom hooked up with the group, and because I was going to visit her — otherwise it would have been WAY too far from the Antelope Valley).
For anyone familiar with Zephyr, this is NOT a review of that restaurant.
This is a review of the «Seva Café» which is, according to their handout text «an experiment in the joys of giving and selfless service. Run entirely by volunteers, our wholesome meals are cooked and served with love and offered to you as a genuine gift».
Zephyr turns the restaurant over to these folks on Sunday evening, so from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. it’s this Vegetarian café run by volunteers.
So, first — I really adore this concept. Visit the link above and read about it.
Now: the place, the food, the experience.
LOUD. As in, I’m shouting to you across a small table and you can’t hear me. LOUD!!! As in, the server is telling our table what the special is, and only the persons right next to her can understand what she’s saying. The music was WAY LOUD. And whenever we asked that it be turned down, someone turned it back up shortly thereafter.
I started with the day’s salad to share with one of my guests, which was spinach with raw onion and tomatoes, BBQ sauce and ranch dressing, crushed tortillas chips, and a crumbled veggie patty. It was pretty darned tasty, and was not overdressed, which earns them big points. I also ordered the Veggie Sandwich which was tomato, onions… some other stuff, and two cheeses, served with corn soup and tortilla chips. I don’t remember what it was because I didn’t get it. My order just didn’t come. So, since one of the other folks had ordered the day’s special, a vegan vegetable curry, and it was too spicy for her but lovely for me, I ordered that instead (which came on a white bun, with salsa and tortilla chips) when our sever noticed that I didn’t have any food.
The curry was lovely. The white bun was… well, it was a white bun. The tortilla chips were ordinary. The salsa had a nice flavor but no bite.
My guests each had the Que-​Seva-​dilla, and one said it was good but not spectacular, and the other said it was very good. These also came with tortilla chips and salsa.
We split a piece of mixed berry pie for dessert (simple but yummy) and the table got a lovely dessert plate to share that had fresh fruit and various chocolate bites.
But back to the concept. Again, from their handout on the tables: «To complete the full circle of giving, and to help sustain this experiment, we leave it to you to pay from your heart. Not only do we make our costs and income transparent, but 100% of all profits are used to support charitable projects. At Seva Café, we offer a greater nourishment than food alone. Here, not only will you find yourself in a unique, service-​inspired environment… here, you will find yourself at home.»
As I said, I really adore this concept. But… feel at home? Not so much. In my home, I never play music so loud that my guests can’t hear each other.
I so badly want to organize, train, and direct these (mostly young) volunteers! I so much want their ideal of «service-​inspired environment» to really be about service — which means prompt, cheerful, organized and accurate, as well as «selfless».
I can’t speak to the value for the money, as each person puts as much or as little as they wish. So it can be a real bargain — $ 1.00 if that’s what you pitch in. I don’t think that anyone did that, BTW. I suspect that everyone put in far more than the value of the food, at least at our table.
It’s an interesting experiment. I wish them well. I wish that their meals had better nutritional values — white bread, white buns, white wheat tortillas? ~sigh~
Still and all, I’ll be telling a couple of my sisters who live nearby about it, since they will be intrigued by the idea at least, and they may not be as perturbed as I was by the blaring music, the chaotic service, and the fact that for these nice folks «Vegetarian» just means meat-​free, not necessarily «nutritious».