I was backpacking Europe. I had just left Amsterdam and gotten to Berlin. I ordered a Heineken on impulse and the bartender looked appalled and said no.
Literally going to be flying to Paris today.
Good to know I guess lol.
Based
I’ll go ahead and recommend HappyCow for anyone looking for plant-based options outside of their home community.
They have a map where people can suggest places that have vegetarian or vegan options but are mostly omnivorous, or full on vegetarian or vegan restaurants, cafes, grocery stores, food trucks, you name it. I think HappyCow the company also verifies the places people upload so it’s somewhat vetted.
I find that starting with HappyCow and then cross-referencing with Google Maps or OSM gives me the best results.
For extremely busy restaurants / cafe’s where people are already waiting long periods, they probably don’t want to overcomplicate things too, and increase the risk . They’d have to keep 2 different milk frothing machines, and every time a customer got sick, risk getting sued, whilst slowing down the efficiency of orders.
Whilst it might increase the number of potential customers, in practice, it might only have negatives
If they don’t have oat milk, what should’ve they said?
This never happened. They would have given him a cup of black coffee and said " bro you’re in France now"
Lots of comments complaining about restaurants not being inclusive, but it’s unrealistic to expect others to bend to your needs.
I can’t go to a vegan joint and get upset when they don’t want to serve me a steak.
Nor can I het upset when a restaurant isn’t Halal.
If you want vegan, go to a place that sells vegan food.
The waiter probably was conveying it’s not on the menu or is out of stock. No big deal…
In Italy, at “L’Isola della Pizza” in Rome, I asked the guy if I could get a pizza with salami, pepperoni, and sausage, and the guy was like “ah, American style!”
The French are right. When you have fabled cuisine, lauded all over the world as the gold standard… you get resistant to change. And rightfully so.
Putain, non, is indeed the proper response to said question.
So France is intolerant towards lactose intolerant people and towards those with specific ethical dietary preferences. And that rightfully so! Be an asshole towards others! It’s “in” these days and Paris has been known for being trendy. /s
Lactose intolerant people can drink black coffee, non?
France is intolerant towards people who, instead of having something brilliant that they can have, would rather have a bad imitation of something that they can’t have. You’re not getting judged or discriminated against for being lactose intolerant, you’re getting judged for being béotien and not discriminated against, but educated. By being served better food than what you ordered.
That or they just plainly don’t have it on the menu.
Tabernac!!!
It’s a French thing, you wouldn’t understand it
Don’t be weak.
So about 2/3 of humanity is weak. My goodness, this arrogance!
French supermarkets all have very large and wide selection of “free from” style products for allergies and intolerances - gluten free, milk free. Plus vegan and vegetarian. In fact it would put most supermarkets in the US to shame. I also expect that many cafes in Paris cater for people with allergies.
So it’s not that. More likely it’s a surly waiter, or a tourist asking for something which is not on the menu and being upset by the answer.
The milk goes through the coffee machine. If they do that they effectively need two machines (or sets of machines), one with lactose and one without. It’s not simply a question of having some oat milk in stock
Did they mention that milk comes from cows and not oats?
You can milk anything with nipples.
“I Have Nipples Greg, Could You Milk Me?”
“I will if you let me”
-The director’s cut.
(Delete) I was beaten to it.
I have nipples, Greg. Could you milk me?
I have nipples Greg, can you milk me?
Yes, it’s a whole thing. I have many videos related to that, let me show you.
You can indeed create milk without requiring a cow.
A new challenger to the Pizza Hawaii has entered the chat.
oats aren’t mamals, can’t see how he could possibly get milk from it.
Same for almonds and everything else.
I also don’t order cow juice.Lol what an original joke.
The word ‘milk’ in the English language has been used to describe plant-based milks for at least 800 years. Soy milk and Almond milk as beverages have been around for at least 1000 years.
You’re ahistorical proscriptive definition is just bullshit gatekeeping. You are wrong and should feel bad about yourself over it.
an opaque white fluid rich in fat and protein, secreted by female mammals for the nourishment of their young.
bullshit gatekeeping. You are wrong and should feel bad about yourself over it.
Jeez man how can you be so triggered and fanatic about something?
Touch some grassA word has multiple definitions.
In English (or French), milk can also describe a while liquid. There are six definitions for milk on Wiktionnary, and here is the second one:
(uncountable, by extension) A white (or whitish) liquid obtained from a vegetable source such as almonds, coconuts, oats, rice, or soy beans
There is also something called cement milk
A watery film of a dull white or gray color often appears on the surface. This white matter is the so-called cement milk.
I was walking under a decrepit elevated expressway and there were signs saying to be careful about cement milk dripping from the ceiling. I don’t think there’s any mammal involved in producing that type of milk.
Yes you make a good point.
Cement milk is not a food liquid, words are made up all the time and they already have the word juice.
They should find a new one.I am glad that Wiktionary had this: Following a European Union (EU) court ruling in 2017, the term milk cannot legally be used to market purely plant-based products
Proscriptive definitions aren’t how language works, and never have been.
I like that wordds have meaning. Whatever it is, milk or juice, it shouldn’t get you to react like that.
Words do have meaning. And the meaning of the word “milk” has included plant milk for at least 800 years.
I don’t like when people with 0 understanding of the context or history of something act indignant about something they are so clearly and demonstrably wrong about.
You can not like it, IDC but have some manners
By sibling in satan, you are the one who posted an unnecessarily contrarian comment as a top-level reply in this thread and then getting all bent outta shape upon being corrected.
Don’t get all condescending about something you’re clueless on if you don’t like being called out on it.
Why do you think milk can only come from mammals?
That’s the definition of milk, so yes
It’s a definition, but hardly the only one.
“almond juice” has been called “almond milk” in the french language since middle age. That’s not the issue here. The guy probably order something that was not on the carte. That’s it. There is coffee shop than specialise in fancy and complicated coffee based beuvrage. In a regular café, you should check the menu before asking for your favorite drink for a shop at home.
Yes, I don’t see how you can be indignated about something so trivial you need to make a post about it.
How do you not have oat milk though, it’s the easiest dairy replacement for coffee.
No it is not. It is to you and your context. When it comes to plant-based milk, anything other than soja and almond is considered very exotic in France, most of people have never tried it. French people have coffee black or with cow milk. Lactose-free cow milk is part of everyday life and most of people don’t have milk in their coffee if they don’t want cow milk. As for latte, it is not a everyday drink but a treat and in many place people will not understand you are ordering a latté (litt: of milk) if you don’t even plan of having milk.
I see. I’ve heard that oat milk is so easy to make that I thought it must have spread everywhere.
I’ve made some at home and it is by far my favorite type of plant-based milk but it is definitively an exotic beverage to the average Frenchman who anyway only eats oat in muesli.
Food snobs might be one of my least favorite types of humans there are. The minute I hear/see someone start talking about how they would never eat that or whatever other bullshit, is almost like I’m hearing them start talking about the good things Trump is doing for everyone. Let’s never cross paths again, you’re insufferable.
In this thread, most of both the French and the vegans are insufferable. I like a nice strong black coffee and I don’t eat a lot of meat, but there’s a reason I don’t really want to go back to Paris or to half of the vegan restaurants I try.
I mean, it really depends on their delivery.
If they’re acting like it somehow un-stinks their shit, ok fuck off.
However, there are certain foods that everyone loves that I simply cannot stand. Cake, is a big one. I will actively seek against eating cake. It frequently leaves me feeling gross, especially on an empty stomach. I do not see it as good. I can understand someone speaking about food like that.
Either that, or oat milk isn’t on the menu and he didn’t have any.
Then that is a failure on the business. It is a very common request.
Seems like more a failure of you for not checking if they do oat milk. And they likely do lots of other types of vegan milk as alternatives
Honestly, the kind of person who gets pissy about this kind of thing, you’re probably better off not having in your restaurant or cafe anyway. Because they’ve probably got a list of food requirements
I have a friend with actual gluten intolerance, and she stopped telling restaurants about it specifically because otherwise they’d freak out. She’d just order things like minimal gluten and only ask if she wasn’t sure.
But she’d never ask for substitutions either
There is no way of knowing how busy this place is. They might be completely full and serving 10 different types of milk might simply slow things down and increase their risk if they accidentally mix the containers
It’s not common at all.
“At all”?
In the year 2024, Oatly had annual revenue of $823.67M with 5.15% growth. Oatly had revenue of $214.32M in the quarter ending December 31, 2024, with 4.99% growth.
Oatly’s key markets are Sweden, Germany and the United Kingdom. The company’s products were available in 60,000 retail stores and 32,200 coffee shops around the world as of 31 December 2020.
Do you really think that Sweden, Germany and UK is all the world there is? I’ve got a surprise for you.
Yes. About 2/3rd of the worldwide population is lactose-intolerant. Hence, it is really common to ask for lactose-free products.
In Europe, dairy intolerance is actually extremely rare. It’s Asia where intolerance is common
You can’t use worldwide stats to represent a localised region
I get the sneaking suspicion you enjoy being contrarian for contradictions sake.
It’s only a failure if they wanted to do that kind of business. If I open an Italian restaurant and someone orders Thai, did I fail?
There is a difference between a restaurant of a specific cusine and plainly deniying acommodating for common dietary preferences. Be it for health or ethical reasons. I guess in most cuisines worldwide there are either plenty of suitable dishes already available or they should be at least easy to accomodate. But sometimes it seems it’s even too much of an ask to leave out some simple ingredients.
“Deny accommodating for common dietary preference”, how? Have your coffee black, there, completely lactose-free. If you ask for a latte, don’t be surprised when you get milk. If you don’t want milk, don’t order a latte. Do you know what “latte” translates to?
Sure. There is a scale where my example was an extreme for illustration. Your point a very reasonable one as well. If I was running a a cafe I would offer it but I am Canadian. If I were french and you asked for a baguette olive loaf you would find yourself in a guillotine. Context matters and traditions matter more than commerce in many cultures.
“Do you have eggs? Yes. Do you have noodles? Yes. Do you have curry paste? Yes. Do you…”
~ worst customer you will ever meet
