Le Farfalle: Class and beans

A yearly tradition delivers an unexpectedly exquisite meal.

If you live in Charleston, you might know about Spoleto Festival. For the uninformed: Spoleto is the city's largest cultural event, during which performers from all over the world travel to our little coastal city to perform acrobatics, chamber music, one-man shows, marionette performances, opera, live jazz, flamenco dancing, multimedia spectacles, and anything else you might imagine, at a number of beautiful venues throughout the city for about two weeks. It's a wonderful time of year, especially for a former theater kid with former theater kid friends, like myself. My four best friends and I choose a few performances to attend together and generally arrange a nice, pre-show dinner out to celebrate the season.

#Ceci for the win

This year we chose upscale, sleek-pretty Italian spot Le Farfalle. While excited about our girl's night out, I was also worried that I would be left nibbling on bread and olive oil while my friends tucked into bowls of amply meaty bolognese.

Well, I shouldn't have been worried. Not only was our server just the sweetest, bubbliest young lady you'd ever care to meet, she immediately responded to my shy, "first-time-doing-this-at-a-fancy-place-in-front-of-my-friends" request to hear their vegan options with a cheerful "Oh, yes, of course!", instead of the slightly crestfallen "Oh, not really... maybe this one side..." that I was expecting. She followed by confirming that the items on the menu I'd already suspected might be animal-free, were indeed animal-free, and by informing me that the kitchen keeps a gluten-free pasta that also happens to be vegan, and that they would be happy to whip me up a tomato-based vegan sauce for said pasta, should I wish. I opted instead for the ceci en umido, Kentucky WONDER beans (how could I not), and broccolini with gigante beans in the absolutely most mouthwatering broth I have ever had. Bean-heavy? Yes. Completely delicious and indulgent-feeling and -tasting from beginning to end? Also yes.

Hallelujah

Because I'm still new to being vegan, the feeling of being validated in my choice is still new. Maybe it sounds hackneyed, but getting that validation - feeling seen, essentially - from an upmarket, busy, buzzy restaurant, with my friends looking on, was such a relief. It would be easy for Le Farfalle to get away with telling vegans to screw right off and enjoy their bread. That our server didn't act confused, put out, or dismissive, and that I got a *selection* of options from which to choose and enjoy with our wine, that our tradition wasn't disrupted by my trying to do better for the planet and the animals on it, all of that made for a divine night out. For that, Le Farfalle, I thank you. And I'll be back.

Sorry these pics are so similar. I was genuinely having too good of a time to remember to take more. But I wanted to at least show you the Kentucky Wonder Beans.

When to visit: DATE NIGHT. Or before a performance, whether you're in town for Spoleto or checking out a show at one of our local theaters. Go for happy hour wine!