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vegan field report: candle 79 in nyc
9June 13th, 2010more restaurants (not LA), NYChey everyone, time for another vegan field report! it comes to us from our very first correspondent ever, who is now stationed in manhattan. in this post, he reviews one of our favorite restaurants in the world, candle 79. here goes!
where to start besides, where have you been all my life candle 79. we had 8:30pm reservations and the place was packed, we waited at the bar an extra 15 minutes but no complaints a beverage was definitely in order.
we were seated, drinks ordered, and then it all started.
the server brought us out some complimentary radish starters and all i can say is they were more then RAD_ish, they were excellent. mango, cucumber, onion murdered in seconds flat.
we chose to order a few things seeing neither one of us could make up our minds.
smoked hummus: grilled paratha bread, olives, roasted garlic bulb, red pepper oil. $13
started with the smoked hummus bc why not? pretty much staple and a no brainer and how can you pass on a roasted garlic ‘bulb’ yet it should have said ‘baseball’ bc thats pretty much what it looked like. warm chewy paratha bread, smooth rich hummus spread all up in the place, topped with a clove of garlic on each. perfect.
next.
polenta fries… holy fuck me sideways. i NEVER eat fried food bc the way i feel after but today was one of those days that i said bring it. the only way i can explain this is that it was literally like eating a mozzarella stick back in 97′. the outside of the polenta was crispy not to heavy and then BAM! magic. the inside was creamy like cheese. i was blown away and didnt mind one bit i had just scorched the inside of my mouth.
minutes later the morroccan chickpea cake arrived and again we were totally blown away. the flavor, the ingredients, everything. perfect. at that point we both looked at each other and pretty much asked if tonight was even real.
moroccan spiced chickpea cake: seasonal vegetables, red pepper-coconut curry, ginger-apricot-date chutney, toasted almonds. $19
with our focus on the food and talking how amazing everything was, there sat our saki cocktails untouched. we drank one, it became four and figure out the rest. candle79, get into it.
preserved lemon drop sake, preserved lemon, fresh lemon juice, agave. $13
cheers bitches.
Tags: field report, NYC
9 responses to “vegan field report: candle 79 in nyc” 
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I love this place! I have had the polenta fries, and I agree that they are magic.
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Agree! I live in metro NYC but didn’t visit Candle79 until April. Went there immediately after running a half-marathon and DEVOURED the polenta fries (among other dishes) and enjoyed a bottle of organic red wine. They have a sister site, Candle Cafe, which is supposed to be equally divine (smaller).
Rachel June 13th, 2010 at 09:28