There is a perception that these restaurants are serving tofu balls and brown-rice bowls. They’re not. Vegan cooking (as encountered at upscale spots like Crossroads in Los Angeles or casual places like By Chloe in downtown Manhattan) has become sophisticated and delicious in ways that I think would surprise people who haven’t given it a try. Nut butters and avocados and various oils are often used to deliver the sort of fatty, creamy pleasure that we’re conditioned to expect from other sources.

I genuinely liked the quinoa taco bowl at By Chloe, and might even go get another one for lunch tomorrow; I loved the vegan version of pasta Bolognese at Crossroads. Maybe it’s the Californian in me, but I’m open to eating this way more often.

These days in Southern California you can eat well at a different vegan restaurant each night and not repeat yourself for weeks, and the lunch scene at By Chloe, where there’s usually a line of young people out the door, provides plenty of evidence that veganism should no longer be gastronomically marginalized.

I suspect it’s only going to get bigger in the years ahead. So if vegans and their occasional diatribes annoy you now, go buy some earplugs. Because this vegan thing is not going away.