Vegan Winter Comfort Food Dinner

This event is now closed to new RSVPs. If you sign up for the waiting list, email your phone number to me so I can contact you quickly if there's a last-minute cancellation. To sign up for the waiting list, go to the RSVP section at the top right of this page and you should see the option to join the waiting list. If you are interested in this event it's important to add your name to the waiting list even if you think it's unlikely you'll be contacted to go: 1) There could be last-minute cancellations and the people ahead of you on the list might not be able to go -- or I might not be able to get ahold of them. 2) It gives me a better indication of the interest level, which can help in planning future events. Vegan Winter Comfort Food Dinner Presented By The Dandelion Food Cart Prior to the recent opening of The Green Owl, Madison's only vegetarian restaurant was The Dandelion food cart. They are currently closed for the season, but will reopen April 15 on Library Mall. I've been to the cart many times and their food is consistently fresh and delicious. (Note: The Daisy Cafe is just the location. It is normally closed on Wednesday evenings. The food will be from The Dandelion.) Our meal includes the following (all vegan): * Smoky Roasted Tomato Chickpea Soup * Osso Bucco (thick stew with seitan, red wine, carrots, celery, and dry herbs) * Golden Yukon Mashed Potatoes * Garlic Bread * Vanilla Cake with Vegan Buttercream Frosting * Hot Cinnamon Tea The $15.00 fee includes everything mentioned above, as well as tax and the tip. That breaks down to about $9.00 for the meal, plus tax, tip, location fee, and a little to cover the meetup.com and PayPal fees. They are giving our group a great deal. A meal like this would normally cost much more. Change in RSVP System/Payments: It's great that the veggie group is so big now (over 400 people!), but one of the downsides is the additional time it takes me to contact everyone who signs up for events without paying -- I don't want to just remove people without notice. So, I decided to change the RSVP system. In the past, pre-payment was required to attend events with a fee. Now pre-payment is also required to RSVP (see exception below). Meetup.com automates this process when you pay via PayPal. If you want to pay by check, contact me and I will give you my mailing address. I will manually update your RSVP as soon as I receive your request, but since our events fill up quickly, out of fairness to other group members I will remove the RSVP if the check is not received within four business days. Special honor system exception: If you have been in the group for a while and have a history of attending and paying for events without any problems you can contact me about paying me at the event. This accommodation is provided as a convenience -- you are still responsible for paying even if you do not attend. Important Note: I will manually update the RSVPs of people who pay by check or use the honor system, but it's possible the event will fill up before I check my email. If that happens I will add you to the waiting list. Fee Disclosure: The $15.00 fee includes a little extra to cover PayPal's fees (74 cents) as well as Meetup.com's $144 annual cost. Refund Policy: If you cancel on or before Saturday, January 2nd you will get a full refund. There are no refunds for cancellations after the deadline or if you do not show up to the event. If something comes up at the last minute you are welcome to find someone else to attend instead of you. The reason refunds are not given after the deadline is that I agree to pay for everyone who has paid me at that point. What about kids? Kids are welcome. Those 8 and under can attend for half price ($7.50) and young children who will only nibble off of your plate can attend at no charge. Include all kids as guests when you RSVP and write their ages in the notes area of your RSVP. This is a vegetarian group. Why is the dinner vegan? As a vegetarian, it's not unusual for me to be at an event where there is little (or nothing) for me to eat. This group has members who are vegetarian, vegan, and just interested (among others). Everyone is welcome. I think it's important for our events to have a menu that not only has something for everyone, but where everyone can eat everything.