Oftentimes, it's easy for a vegetarian to feel excluded in a fine-dining town. After all, so much of "fine dining" is meat-centric: foie gras, kobe beef, lobster. But my recent experience at Eleven Madison Park, one of New York City's most highly acclaimed restaurants, is a lesson in why vegetarians don't have to skip the best places when eating out - and an instruction in the most important thing we can do to make our experience the best it can be.

I made my reservation through Opentable, the online restaurant reservations website. Opentable provides an opportunity for a diner to add special comments to his or her reservation, and when faced with the comment box, I noted that I was a vegetarian. This disclosure allowed the restaurant to prepare for my arrival, and indeed, one of the first things our waiter said after greeting us was, "I understand one of you is a vegetarian?"

Notifying the restaurant of your dining restrictions in advance enables the kitchen to make preparations for your arrival. If the restaurant does not have many vegetarian options, the cooks can brainstorm and collect ingredients before you arrive - and thus not be forced to scramble and throw together something less-than-gourmet (pasta with tomato sauce, anyone?) at the last minute. Furthermore, if the restaurant simply cannot accommodate you - and for some fine restaurants, this is the simple truth - you can spend your dining dollars elsewhere, where you'll get the truly fine vegetarian meal you deserve.

Eleven Madison Park went out of its way to provide me with a special, vegetarian-friendly meal. The waiter discussed my options at every step in the evening, giving me several choices and allowing me to choose what made me most comfortable. But even restaurants less focused on service can provide you with a top-notch vegetarian meal. All it takes is a little advance notice.