Savory Sustenance in New York City!

Please head over to my new blog at TheUrbanHousewife.com, where you'll find this post & more!

It's been quite some time since I've returned from New York City, but the whirlwind of the year's end kept me from properly documenting my culinary adventure in one of my favorite cities in the world. While I ran from the plane directly to Lula's Sweet Apothecary, aka heaven, I'm going to tackle the savory side of New York City in this post & leave the desserts for next time!

On our first full day in NYC, we headed one of my favorite neighborhoods, the East Village, to a well known organic vegetarian bistro, Counter. After hearing rave reviews about their brunch, we decided to try it for ourselves. The sun shone beautifully in to the windows as we ordered the Frittata Alla Fiorentina & the Signature Pain Perdu. The presentation of the tofu frittata with a creamy mushroom hollandaise on a bed of spinach was lovely & was served with home fries & a salad. While the frittata was highly recommended, I found it a bit salty & overwhelming, I've never been a hollandaise gal, so this is likely the culprit. The Pain Perdu, on the other hand, was right up my alley! Slices of thickly coated French toast smothered by banana flambé with a side of maple syrup & fresh fruit, it was a like dessert for breakfast, which I take no issue with!
Counter: 105 1st Ave between 6th & 7th Street

After exploring vegan candy mecca Economy Candy, we headed to midtown to catch a comedy show at the Upright Citizens Brigade, which just happened to feature 30 Rock's Jack McBrayer that night, as well as former SNL cast member Horatio Sanz. All the laughter must have kicked up our appetites & we hopped in a cab headed for Candle 79. I've raved about Candle 79 in the past, but this meal turned out to be less than stellar compared to the previous experiences I've had there. We started with two orders of our favorite dish, the Seitan Chimichurri, which came to us charred & almost inedible. Hoping to have better luck with other dishes, we ordered the infamous Seitan Piccata, as well as the Grilled Pomegranate Tempeh. The Piccata didn't do it for me, there was a note of something fishy, that I just couldn't enjoy, so Ryan ate a large portion of the dish. The Grilled Pomegranate Tempeh was better with it's delicious sweet potato-squash puree, chocolate molé sauce & perfect crisp tender haricots verts, but the tempeh itself was underwhelming. I'm certainly not giving up on Candle 79, it's one of my favorite places to dine, so I still recommend everyone try this typically stellar restaurant.
Candle 79: 154 East 79th Street at Lexington

You can't visit NYC without having a bagel with shmear, so I asked one of my favorite New Yorkers, Isa Chandra Moskowitz, where we should head for this classic combination. She recommended Bagels on the Square for their vast selection of Tofutti spreads, so we took her advice & headed to the West Village. An everything bagel with scallion spread & a plain bagel with strawberry tofu cream cheese were procured. We sat across from the shop, in the square, as the sun shone down on us & the crisp air nipped our red noses. Our favorite was definitely the chewy, yet tender plain bagel & I enjoyed the strawberry cream cheese, despite some contamination issues with some wandering lox (ick!).
Bagels on the Square: 7 Carmine Street between Avenue Of The Americas & Bleecker Street

After another day of wandering around, shopping, freezing, & taking in the sights, we met up with my longtime friend Janine for a dinner at Red Bamboo. I was under the impression I had not been there before, but upon entering I was pretty sure Janine & I went here together in 2001 before we saw Menace at CBGB (RIP). We ordered quite a few dishes, from Vegetable Tempura & Collard Green Rolls to Buffalo Barbecue Wings & Butterfly Soy Chops. Holy Fried Food, Batman! It was a crispy, oily fest, as dishes I thought would be vegetable based showed up covered in batter, batter, & more batter! I'm not a big fan of mock meats like "soy chicken" or deep fried everything, so Red Bamboo just isn't up my alley. I know many people love this place, so if you like mock meat & heavy comfort food, check it out.
Red Bamboo: 140 West 4th Street between 6th Ave & Macdougal Street

The next day, we met up with our gracious host & former roommate Eliana to have lunch. Wanting something on the lighter side & trying to stay around her work, we checked out The Organic Grill. Ryan quickly selected a dish he'll order any time he sees it on the menu, The Reuben. Eliana & I shared a few items, a Spelt Crust Pot Pie & the daily special; the Soba Spectacular. The Reuben hit the spot with thick slabs of tempeh, sauerkraut & tangy dressing on Rye, served up with a large salad. While the pot pie left a lot to be desired, the Soba Spectacular lived up to it's name with chunks of sweet potatoes, mushrooms, & soba noodles covered with a tahini dressing atop a bed of kale. Despite the mixed reviews of this place online, our meals happened to hit the spot!
The Organic Grill: 123 1st Ave between 7th St & St Marks Pl

Another suggestion of Isa (Ms. Moskowitz, if ya nasty), we headed to the famous Yonah Schimmel Knishes on the Lower East Side. A knish is an Eastern European and Yiddish snack food made popular in North America by Jewish immigrants consisting of a filling covered with dough, baked or fried (thanks Wikipedia!). Yonah Schimmel has been around since 1910, so they have a bit of experience, which may be why the staff is impatient & rough around the edges. We ordered Potato, Broccoli, & a roasted Garlic with Red Onion, two of which were fresh out of the oven. My advice? Get whatever is hot or just came out (as long as it's vegan, aka no cheese) & skip the others or they'll nuke it in the microwave. I love potatoes, so I was in to these, but Ryan? Not so much.
Yonah Schimmel Knishes: 137 E Houston St between 2nd Ave & Chrystie St

I've saved the best for last with another classic NYC food, pizza! With the awesome company of Terry Hope Romero & Jason Das of SuperVegan, we headed to Park Slope, Brooklyn to dine at Pizza Plus. With an extensive list of toppings available, crust choices, Follow Your Heart vegan cheese, & far too much to talk about, we had a tough time deciding what to order. We ended up with two large pies; garlic, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, & broccoli rabe flanked one, while red bell peppers, jalapeños, & pineapple topped the other. Wow! Melty FYH, delicious toppings, & perfect chewy crust made for some spectacular pizza we all enjoyed. In fact, we enjoyed it so much, there were no leftovers, which is quite a feat for four people with two large pizzas. I assure you, Ryan played a large role in the pizza disappearing act! Get yourself to Pizza Plus for a vegan pizza pie, pronto!
Pizza Plus: 359 7th Avenue between 10th & 11th Streets in Brooklyn

As you can see, NYC is one hell of a vegan friendly city, arguably the best in the world. It's rare to find yourself in an area of the city without food options & I find myself trying new places every time I visit. In my next post, I'll touch on the plethora of desserts to be found!

Dining Vegan in New York City!

Please head over to my new blog at TheUrbanHousewife.com, where you'll find this post & more!

New York City has a plethora of Vegan options, from quick food to fine dining there’s never a shortage of options for herbivores. I made my dining wish list before I headed to town deciding to treat myself to all ends of the spectrum.

To review all of my many dining experiences would not only be time consuming, but far too lengthy to read. I managed to check out Blossom, S’nice, Candle 79, Candle Café, Franchia, Pure Food & Wine, NY Dosas, Viva Herbal, B&H Vegetarian, Caravan of Dreams, & that doesn’t even include quick stops for falafel & pizza or dessert spots like Babycakes & Atlas Café!

It seems the most useful information would be the places of note, so here are my selections for the notable vegan dining of NYC! Please excuse the photos, as dimly lit dining rooms seem to be de rigueur in the Big Apple.

Candle 79 is a beautiful restaurant on the Upper East Side, a neighborhood I wouldn’t normally spend time in, but it was well worth the trek uptown! In fact, I enjoyed it so much; I dined here twice, opting to treat a friend I was staying with, as I wanted her to experience the loveliness! First of all, the Seitan Chimichurri is amazing & must be tasted to be believed! Within the first few bites you’ll marvel at the "meatiness" & enjoy the citrus herb marinade that adorns it; Ryan took one bite & was concerned we weren't in a vegan restaurant after all. The Cornmeal Crusted Eggplant is a wonderful combination of flavors & textures, it's creamy, yet flanked with tomato sauce, & topped with crispy shiitake mushrooms. The Black Pepper & Balsamic Seitan is similar to what you’d find in a "meat & potatoes" omni restaurant, but much more refined; seitan atop a celeriac puree with a side of haricots verts & mushrooms. It was well presented, flavorful, & although not the most creative dish I’ve had, it was enjoyed thoroughly. An entrée special we had was a Dijon Lentil Stew with Collared Greens, it was topped with Kabocha Pumpkin wrapped in thinly sliced Yukon Gold Potatoes & shredded apples with a Pomegranate sauce. We marveled at the flavors & enjoyed the use of vegetables versus relying on a meat analog. Finally, the Pumpkin Seed & Sage Crusted Tempeh was wonderful & made its way to my dinner table both trips! Delicately spiced & delicious, the accompanying Garlic Quinoa Risotto with Butternut Squash, Mushrooms, & Broccoli was creamy & we seemed to be fighting over the last few bites! Sadly, I found the desserts here to be lacking. The ice creams are nice, but nothing to marvel over. I would skip the dessert & revel in the fabulousness of your meal!
Candle 79: 154 East 79th Street at Lexington, NYC.

Franchia is an oasis in the chaos of midtown serving tea & Korean food. I was lucky enough to have the companionship of the lovely VKO from Lifestyles of the Chic & Vegan while dining here & we opted to share, maximizing the dishes we could experience. We started with the Combination pancakes; the Scallion pancake was a bit glutenous & while it was my least favorite, it was still enjoyed, the better options were the Corn & Cilantro pancake and Spicy Kimchi pancake, both of which were great! NYC must be on a Kabocha Pumpkin kick, as they had a dish utilizing it on the menu & it drew me in. The pumpkin was lovely & accompanied by fried tofu topped with a tasty sesame soy sauce and a side of Kimchi. The Spicy Kimchi fried rice on Lotus leaf was also enjoyed. Can you tell we wanted all things Kimchi?! Yum yum!
Franchia: 12 Park Avenue between 34th & 35th Street, NYC.

Pure Food & Wine is a raw foodist’s dream! My dining companions were both non-veg & have culinary training. Due to their appreciation for food, we decided to go all out & had the 5 course tasting menu. At the tasting, everything is chef’s choice & each member of the table is given different menu items, as to maximize your dining experience. We shared everything & tried so many dishes, it’s hard to review them all, but many were noteworthy! The Spicy Thai Lettuce Wraps with Tamarind Chile sauce are a fresh & flavorful starter. The Biriyani topped with Coconut Curried vegetables such as cauliflower, carrots, & cucumbers in a saffron oil and the Chanterelle Mushroom and Kalamata Olive Ravioli were both beautiful second course selections. The entree of choice by all parties was the White Corn Tamale with Cacao Mole sauce, mushrooms, salsa verde, & avocado! We had a hard time sharing this dish & I would definitely order this in the future.
The desserts at Pure Food & Wine are outstanding! Stephanie, a former pastry chef, marveled at the 3 desserts we tasted, even noting she enjoyed the use of chocolate, something which is not normally her first choice. Vanilla Pink Peppercorn ice cream was paired with Chocolate Molten Lava cake, Mint ice cream was layered with a center of Raw Cookie Dough to form a cake slice, then drizzled in chocolate. Once again there was a stand out dish in the Classic Sundae; vanilla & chocolate ice cream with cherry framboise, chocolate sauce, bananas, and candied almonds! All in all, I love this format for raw food, it’s fresh, creative, memorable, & not drowning in new age gimmick.
Pure Food & Wine: 54 Irving Place at East 17th Street, NYC.

Not everything has to be fine dining, S’nice is a cozy little spot in the West Village with sandwiches, salads, baked goods, & a coffee bar. It's a great place to bring your laptop, sip coffee, & grab a bite to eat! Although not my taste, Ryan enjoyed his Smoked Tempeh Wrap with spicy chipotle dressing. I had a Black Bean, Corn, & Quinoa salad; which at first glance, I was not thrilled with, due to multiple items I dislike flanking the top, but once I dug in, I was more than happy! The avocado dressing turned out to be fabulous & is still stuck in my mind, which is surprising, as it's not something I'd normally select. Rumor has it, I missed out by not having the Tofu Panini, but there’s always a next time! In a future post, I'll review the house made vegan cupcakes S'nice carries along with other desserts I consumed on my trip.
S'nice: 45 8th Avenue between Jane and Horatio, NYC.

Other casual options I enjoyed were NY Dosas, as I noted in, “Do you know the Dosa Man?”, Mamoun’s Falafel on St. Marks for filling late night fare & the pizza from Viva Herbal. I thought I should have pizza, being in NYC & all, but one place I'd tried was nothing to write home about. Luckily, the suggestion of Viva Herbal was made by multiple friends & it paid off! I had the delicious Santa Rosa slice, a thin whole wheat crust topped with Miso Tofu, Sun dried Tomatoes, Kalamata Olives, Garlic cloves, & mushrooms. They also have multiple other veggie loaded slices on both spelt and whole wheat crusts. They claim to offer non-dairy cheese, but buyer beware, it contains casein- ick! Luckily, their shredded miso tofu resembles cheese, tastes quite good, & does the job, so there's no need for dairy derived additions!
Viva Herbal: 179 2nd Avenue between 11th & 12th Street, NYC.

Thankfully, nothing I consumed on my trip was horrendous, although I would recommend you give Caravan of Dreams and their soggy tempeh a pass. Additionally, I think Candle 79 is worth the $5 - $10 more per plate versus Candle Café, the dishes are far more creative & they don’t utilize any casein cheese like the café does.

Bottom line, if you're looking for a fun city to visit with vegan options galore, look no further, NYC is a vegan mecca!