Rant: No expensive vegetarian food

Okay, so I'm normally one that gets excited to find cheap, good food. However, there are occasions when I find myself at a more upper class restaurant and I'm thoroughly disappointed by the vegetarian selection (and generally there is but ONE vegetarian selection).

I realize that we are a port city and that high-class cuisine is often synonymous with seafood, but this is also San Diego and there are more than a few vegetarians here. We vegetarians should not feel out of place and bored with the cuisine when we dine at high-class eating establishments.

I'm going to name names: C Level @ Island Prime (and nearly every other Cohn Restaurant Group restaurant) and Osetra: The Fish House have been my two most recent disappointments. Granted, these two places specifically have "meaty" names, but there should be no reason that their top-notch chefs can't get creative with a couple vegetarian selections.

Instead of any original dish, the vegetarian option at any high-class restaurant is almost invariably either pasta or risotto. Don't get me wrong, I adore pasta and risotto...but I can make both...and do on a regular basis...mostly because they're extremely cheap. So I don't tend to get too excited when they're offered as the only vegetarian option.

It's a slap in the face as if to say "we considered a vegetarian option and we decided you weren't worth any real effort or imagination so we'll make you some noodles." I blame the owners, the managers and the chefs for this nearsightedness and I expect more out of San Diego. Come on, fancy-schmancey restaurants. When I've got the money to lay down for a high-priced meal, you're going to have to earn my money.