My mom’s cooking made me very picky about Chinese restaurants, and now my Beijing trip has spoiled me on Sichuan and vegetarian Chinese food. At the Sichuan restaurant we went to, there were more spices than other ingredients on some of the plates (although that didn’t hinder some of us from eating the chilis and peppers as part of the meal, while most of the, perhaps smarter, Beijing residents ate around them). We went to a vegetarian restaurant near our office twice for lunch and ate some amazing faux meats, concocted out of various vegan ingredients. It was a far cry from the places I’ve been to that just do the same thing over and over with gluten and tofu. Then again, I always wonder if truly dedicated animal lovers actually want to eat something that so closely resembles the real thing.