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Gum Makes Tofu Stick To Neanderthal Ribs

"Why," he asked, as he greedily gobbled down the last piece of orange chicken, "Do we enjoy eating in crummy but good places like Pete's more than at the slick fast food chain restaurants?"

Food sticks to ribs at homey diner.

Gum poses with our writers in between trips to the kitchen.

"Because," I replied, fork raised, ready to fight over the last piece of fried okra, "Those slick places are like eating at a bank or a dry cleaners. No matter how many bright colors they add, the feeling remains cold, plastic and institutional. They don't have a Mrs. Gum to make you feel welcomed and at home."

I have never in my life fought over fried okra before nor craved a dish labeled "vegetarian." But then, I never met Gum before. That's the nickname of the owner-manager-cook who greets you so warmly when she can get away from the stove. The same Gum who knows all her regular patrons by name and invites them to special private buffets to celebrate Thanksgiving and the Chinese New Year.

New Crummy But Good Radio Scout Robert Handloff called us to enthuse over the "killer vegetarian combo for $4.30 and the best old-fashioned milk shakes." Killer milk shakes I could understand, but a killer vegetarian combo at a neighborhood greasy spoon?

We went, we ate, we were conquered. In one of her previous lives, before cooking at the Buddhist monastery, Gum was a flower arranger and it shows in the combo, which is actually three different colorful vegetarian dishes built around rice and Gum's favorite Malaysian vegetables. I am a dedicated Neanderthal, a meat-and-potatoes guy, but I was ready for seconds on the fried tofu and okra.

Gum knows her Neanderthals. She introduced the vegetarian combo "to give them a choice. Something more healthy to eat once in awhile. I think they like it." We do. The regular menu remains for those days you don't feel like converting. On Monday, there is also orange chicken and on Thursday, peanut-fried chicken. Sometimes there is pumpkin wild ginger soup and the sweet potato pancakes need no syrup. One warning: Pete's Diner has the coldest winter restrooms on Capitol Hill. Too cold even for Neanderthals, so plan a head somewhere else.