"You're the only ones with NOTHING!"

"Can't you like maybe hide something somewhere that's non-kosher, so I have something to report? You're the only restaurant that we Kosher that has /never/ had a single violation of any kind." Of course, rabbi was joking. Of course he doesn't want us to have non-kosher stuff in the restaurant. But he said how other restaurants all have minor little hiccoughs, whether it be about grape issues, wine issues, etc. Us? Not a single violation ever.

Why?

When you're a vegan, you're doing lots of reading of labels. Does it contain whey? What about ablumin (egg white)? What about weird natural flavours (like the ones found in certain brands of tomato juice) that come from all kinds of animal ingredients. No thanks! Then, when you're Kosher on top of vegan, you're not only looking for the Pareve symbol, but you're again double-checking to make sure that there's no eggs or fish in there.

That being said, it avoids a lot of issues. At Chow, all wines are Mevushal. This means that regardless of your religion, you are allowed to open the bottle and pour it (non-mevushal wines may not be opened by folk who aren't frum [observant of shabbos, and observant of Pesach], or indeed an open bottle may not be set in front of folk who aren't frum). All the food is vegan. All the food is Kosher. Why? Because then you don't have to ask all these questions.

Ironically, we follow the strictest Kosher and vegan rules, because it is so much easier to do so than to not follow them!