• July 11th, 2011quarrygirlmore restaurants (not LA), NYC

    we get a lot of field reports here on the blog from all over the place, and i think this one has to be my favorite of all. jon sent us this post from john’s of 12th street in nyc, an italian restaurant that’s been around for over a century and recently added a separate vegan menu. i’m kinda freaking out. i seriously can’t wait to get to manhattan and hit this place up ASAP!

    Basically, John’s has been around for 103 years – very old school NYC Italian restaurant. About 1.5-2 years ago, they decided to make some changes and introduced an entirely separate vegan menu, which includes separate vegan cooking utensils (whaaaaat?!).

    Vegan Garlic Bread

    They didn’t half-ass anything, either. They brought in vegan authors to learn about veganism and the chefs tinkered with recipes until they were 100% perfect and worthy of being served.

    Read the rest of this entry »

    Tags: , , , , ,
  • the nice thing about staying with locals when traveling is that you get introduced to nice little neighborhood spots. on my last trip to ny i stayed with my friend in brooklyn and she suggested salud (in flatbush) for lunch one day. although salud serves some meat they are very knowledgeable about veganism and the menu clearly states veg and vegan options.

    fiesta wrap at salud

    Read the rest of this entry »

    Tags: , , , ,
  • June 7th, 2011quarrygirlmore restaurants (not LA), woodstock

    hey everyone! time for another field report from JL Goes Vegan. this one comes to us all the way from new york state and covers a restaurant called garden cafe on the green, near the woodstock farm animal sanctuary. if you ever wanna hang out with some sweet animals and eat some tasty food on the east coast, do yourself a favor and bookmark this page!

    My husband and I recently took a “vegan day trip” from metro NYC to Woodstock, NY to tour the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary (check out this brief vlog of the farm sanctuary tour).

    After a couple of hours of walking the grounds and meeting the incredible animals saved from the factory farming, I have to admit we were hungry. But not for animals!

    The Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary has a few restaurant suggestions on their website and I went with the one that was all vegan and offered wine and beer (natch), Garden Cafe on the Green.

    So, yes, we started with adult beverages.

    We decided to share a starter…

    Curried Panko Crusted Fresh Green Pea Fritter, $9

    Read the rest of this entry »

    Tags: ,
  • May 18th, 2011quarrygirlmore restaurants (not LA), NYC

    update 5/18/11: turns out the “soy bacon” on the village natural burger isn’t vegan! the restaurant is aware of this and is supposedly changing the menu. full update at the bottom of the post. meanwhile: beware.

    —————————————————————————-

    hey guys! i’m happy to announce we have a field report today from a legit writer—can you believe it? simon goddard, music journalist extraordinaire and author of the mozipedia (one of our favorite books, look!), penned us this post about his culinary adventures in manhattan. from pizza and burgers to vegan fish and chips…i want it all. enjoy!

    Oh, New York! It’s a bit of a temptress. I’m a fiercely loyal Londoner and still every time I set foot in Manhattan I have my doubts as to which is the greatest city on earth. As the song goes, I like the sight, the sound and even the stink of it. In London we have signs which read “No parking, clamping in operation.” In Manhattan they have signs which read “Don’t even THINK of parking here.” Therein lies the singular genius of New York, a masterpiece of concrete, clay and invincible human character.

    I digress. I was lucky enough to be working there again this month so promised the estimable Quarrygirl I’d scribble some words for her blog about a few of the nicer things I put in my mouth. And here they are. Whenever in New York, I almost always end up in Greenwich Village at some point, if only for a sneaky stroke of the Bleecker Street Records cat (irresistible) or to marvel at the 300 year-old English Elm in Washington Square (unbelievable). So for all similarly besotted cat-botherers and tree-huggers who may find themselves in the area hankering for impeccable death-free nibbles, here are three personal recommendations.

    Village Natural

    For years this has been my favourite vegetarian spot in New York, even if I’ve always been in the daytime when it’s fairly quiet and “vibes” are minimal (it’s a bit “yoga” if you know what I mean) but the food seldom disappoints. It’s Vietnamese-owned though the menu ranges from Asian to salads, burgers and Mexican dishes. I’ve tried various mains here, but you can’t beat the burgers.

    Black Bean Bacon Burger: Vegan. A delightfully unique veggie burger topped with guacamole, crispy soy bacon, lettuce, tomatoes and onion. $9.50

    My favourite is this black-bean burger. It comes open with a dollop of guacamole, a generous fresh salad topped with a strip of crispy veggie bacon***(read update below) brought vigorously to life by a side of orange and ginger dressing. As a meal it strikes a perfect balance between guilty “bad” burger food (and it is a glorious big, flat, more-ish monster of a burger) and enriching “good” healthy salad: you definitely don’t miss fries.

    The only disappointment this visit was dessert. In the past they’ve done the most amazing vegan tiramisu, probably the best I’ve ever tasted and one that I’ve all but sadistically enthused about to Quarrygirl to jealousy-inducing extremes. Alas, for whatever reason it wasn’t an option on the blackboard this time. To compensate, I ordered the vegan mocha pie which looked like this:

    Mocha Pie. $4.95

    It had a porridgy-base, a chalky texture and altogether tasted like somebody had dropped a triangle of brown shoe polish on some oatmeal, then tried to make it smell better by administering a few extra squirts of Tweed by Lentheric. That is, it was cloggy with a wretched perfumed hue and not remotely mocha-ish. If their tiramisu was a 10, the mocha pie just scraped a 2. But despite this Hindenburg of sweet catastrophes, the sometimes slow-to-react zombiefied waiters and the sad fact they serve a handful of fish options, I still rate this place highly. I just pray they get that tiramisu back on their menu before I next darken its door.

    Read the rest of this entry »

    Tags: , , , , ,
  • April 20th, 2011quarrygirlmore restaurants (not LA), NYC

    hey, folks! time for another field report from lindsay of Cook. Vegan. Lover. lindsay’s previous review caused quite the debate, and i just wanna say that we support her here on QG. check out her latest field report about a restaurant i’ve always wanted to hit up in NYC.

    Recently the Hubz and I finally made it to Angelica Kitchen, a restaurant that has been on my “To Try” list for years. We met up with my girlfriend Cate for lunch at noon which was perfect timing because the place filled up quickly and within 20 minutes there was a long waiting list. It took a while or us to make a decision as to what we wanted to get because there are so many really yummy sounding dishes on the menu…

    Angelica Cornbread: Rustic, whole grain slice (wheat free) $2

    Read the rest of this entry »

    Tags: , ,
  • February 9th, 2011quarrygirlmore restaurants (not LA), NYC

    hey peeps! time for a field report on one of my favorite foods ever: NYC PIZZA! this one comes to us from blogger JL goes vegan, as she reports on the super vegan-friendly west village pizzeria, slice. i am booking a trip to manhattan as you read this. no joke!

    I attended the NYC book signing party for The Happy Herbivore Cookbook which was held at SLICE (on Hudson Street). I’ve been dying to have a slice of SLICE’s vegan pizza!

    I started with the Fresh Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing…

    Fresh Salad: Organic mesclun greens, carrots, cucumbers, plum tomatoes. Choice of homemade carrot ginger dressing or house balsamic vinaigrette. $4

    This is a great, fresh salad. The dressing is good (LOTS of garlic).

    This was my first time at a “pizza joint” with vegan choices (you know, other than “hold the cheese”). I went with the server’s suggestion and ordered the Skilled Eggplant.

    Skilled Eggplant (vegan): Herb crust, sundried tomato pesto, vegan cheese, sauteed eggplant, kalamata olives. $13

    I ordered the personal pizza size (versus one slice). And…

    Read the rest of this entry »

    Tags: , , , ,
  • January 25th, 2011quarrygirlmore restaurants (not LA), NYC

    hey everyone, time for another field report from veganscraps! today she reviews a great little hidden place in lower east side manhattan called earthmatters. check it out!

    Read the rest of this entry »

    Tags: , , , ,
  • January 14th, 2011quarrygirlmore restaurants (not LA), NYC

    vegan field report time! this one comes to us again from kris of veganscraps. she’s done us the favor of reviewing yet another awesome NYC vegan find, v-note. enjoy!

    So, today I made my way over to 1st avenue on the Upper East Side to try a new vegan restaurant called “V-Note“, which is partly owned by the same owner as the Blossom restaurants (Cafe Blossom UWS/Blossom Chelsea). I love the Blossom restaurants so I had to try this one and review it.

    Read the rest of this entry »

    Tags: , ,
  • January 9th, 2011quarrygirlmore restaurants (not LA), NYC

    soy and sake is a great little vegetarian restaurant in nyc’s west village that specializes in asian cuisine. we visited the place last year and had a fantastic meal, so we made it a point to return on our recent trip to manhattan. this time we took along one of our favorite sushi buddies, and tore it up with loads of soy and several bottles of sake.

    Read the rest of this entry »

    Tags: , ,
  • December 22nd, 2010quarrygirlmore restaurants (not LA), NYC

    hey everyone! today’s field report comes to us from nyc where kris from veganscraps has reviewed one of the city’s best kept secrets, jivamuktea cafe. the all vegan spot looks like a haven for tasty yet healthy eats, and i can’t wait to hit it up. great find!

    marinated beet salad: a blend of spring mix, marinated beets, walnuts (I subbed for cranberries), carrots, cucumbers and sliced granny smith apples. $12 plus rosemary seitan/spicy tempeh. $5

    After discovering JivamukTea Cafe a couple of months ago, I find myself going in to eat at least 3 times a week! This cafe is one of the hidden gems of NYC. JivamukTea Cafe is part of the JivamukTea Yoga Studio in Union Square. You would have no way of knowing this fantastic cafe existed unless someone told you (this is me telling you!).

    Read the rest of this entry »

    Tags: , ,
  • December 16th, 2010quarrygirlmore restaurants (not LA), NYC

    i’m not gonna lie, this is one of the best field reports ever and it’s about my favorite food group: PIZZA. Aj aka QueerVeganRunner sent us this post about authentic nyc-style pizza from cafe viva in new york. if this doesn’t have you drooling, i dunno what will. damn, i wish we had a place like this in los angeles! in one visit, she ate FIVE different kinds of vegan pizza BY THE SLICE. amazing. here ya go:

    I love LA. But, in my heart (and in my attitude), I am a New Yorker. And to me, and to any real New Yorker, there’s nothing like a slice. To qualify that slice with an “of pizza” automatically disqualifies you from the “real New Yorker” club. Back in my pre-enlightenment days, I swore up and down for Famous Ray’s Original. But Ray’s has not caught on that non-vegan food has gone the way of hookers and crack in Times Square, so passé. Luckily real New Yorkers and tourists can enjoy Original Café Viva (why the original in every pizzeria’s name?). And lucky for me, they are spitting distance from my parents’ apartment.

    Read the rest of this entry »

    Tags: , , ,
  • December 2nd, 2010mr meanerairports, more restaurants (not LA), NYC

    Resigned to an nine hour journey from Manhattan to Hollywood with nothing but a bag or two of potato chips to eat, I could not believe my luck when I stumbled upon an entire section of Vegan prepared foods at the busy Balducci’s Deli, right outside the United gates at JFK’s insanely busy Terminal 7.

    I opted for the two vegan dishes: Vegan Udon Noodles, and Vegan Shanghai Dumpling, with a side of Chick Pea Salad (sic). Right away I was astonished at the sheer weight of this food. There were easily three portions per package, and with two packages and the side salad I lugged at least seven servings of food back to my table!

    Read the rest of this entry »

    Tags: , , ,
  • November 16th, 2010quarrygirlmore restaurants (not LA), NYC

    oh, the knish! i can’t believe i went through life for so long before trying one. the popular new york foodstuff was brought to america by jewish immigrants in the 1800s, and consists usually of mashed potatoes and vegetables encased in a thin layer of dough. of all the places to buy a knish in manhattan, yonah schimmel’s is known as the best, and by default their vegetable knishes are vegan.

    we popped by the knishery on our recent trip to NYC, and the food was so good that i know we’ll be back every time we’re in the city. the moment we walked in, i knew we were entering somewhere special…

    Read the rest of this entry »

    Tags: , , , ,
  • October 14th, 2010quarrygirlmore restaurants (not LA), NYC

    oh god, i love NYC. it’s freaking vegan paradise, lemme tell you. i have that happycow app on my iphone…you know, vegout? it’s this cool little thing you fire up and no matter where you are, it uses GPS to tell you which vegan-friendly restaurants are nearby. in LA, it usually results in a few pages of restaurants, depending on where you are in the city. in manhattan though, the app almost crashes…there are SO MANY VEGAN OPTIONS. it’s crazy. there are more vegetarian places per square foot in nyc than anywhere i’ve ever visited. anyways, this post isn’t supposed to be a vegan love letter to NYC…i am here to talk about kate’s joint!

    kate’s is an all vegetarian spot that our friends have been recommending to us for quite awhile. i’d heard nothing but good things about the restaurant, so when they showed up on the vegout app as “less than a mile away” while we were drinking in the east village, i knew it was gonna happen.

    lemme preface: kate’s has an enormous menu, but it feels more like a bar than a restaurant. they’ve got tap beer, cocktails, and a huge bar lined with stools in the main area; dining tables are lined up along the windows. this actually got me pretty excited, because i love bars much more than real restaurants. so the fact that i can think of this place as a bar with an all vegetarian menu makes me love it even more.

    we hit up kate’s on a friday at around 5pm, and it was pretty slow. i had heard they made vegan white russians (my favorite drink ever), so i ordered one right away. the waitress had no idea what i was talking about, but she went to check with the bar and immediately came back with one. SCORE! it was so good.

    vegan disco fries: covered with mama's vegan gravy and daiya cheese. $6.25

    next up, we decided to order some appetizers. we started with the decadent “disco fries,” another legend i have been hearing about from several peeps. disco fries are ridiculous: french fries topped with GRAVY AND CHEESE. WTF, why didn’t i think of this?!?! these have been at kate’s forever, but are only recently vegan-friendly. not long ago, kate switched from a casein-containing soy cheese to daiya! thank goodness, because why would a VEGETARIAN RESTAURANT have a real cheese option, AS WELL AS a non-vegan cheese option?  that makes no sense. anyways, the disco fries are available vegan now and they are amazing. by far the best thing i tried at kate’s.

    hummus rolls filled with spinach, roasted garlic, tomatoes, tahini and lemon. $6.95

    after that deep-fried, cheesy, creamy starter, we were in the mood for something lighter and shared the hummus rolls. these babies were basically little tortilla pockets filled with hummus and vegetables including spinach, garlic, and tomato. nothing earth-shattering, but damn good.

    vegan un-turkey club: un-turkey, fakin bacon, lettuce, tomato, and vegan mayo. $9.95

    we had such honorable intentions of ordering like 5 entrees from kate’s, but after the two appetizers, we could only manage to share one main course. we went with the un-turkey club, another popular item that we’d heard people rave about. the club was delicious, but IMO we have better clubs here in LA. what took this sandwich over the edge was the side of mashed potatoes, served with kate’s deadly homemade gravy (the same stuff that was on the fries). it was phenomenal.

    next time i go to kate’s, i am gonna starve myself in advance and arrive completely sober. the menu is way too drool-worthy, and the drink selection is too tempting. to say that we have unfinished business with kate’s would be an understatement.

    kate’s joint
    #58 Avenue B, New York NY 10009
    (At 4th St)
    (212) 777-7059

    Tags: , , , , , , ,
  • October 10th, 2010quarrygirlmore restaurants (not LA), NYC

    oh yes, a vegan cake batter and chocolate sundae from lula’s sweet apothecary in nyc.

    we’ve raved about lula’s before, and anyone who has eaten there knows it’s the most amazing ice cream parlor on the planet. it’s all vegan, and it sells the best vegan ice cream known to man. new york egg creams, flurries, cones, banana splits…they’ve got it all. my recent visit consisted of a sundae with soft serve cake batter and chocolate ice cream, hot fudge, cookies, and whipped cream. heaven.

    lula’s sweet apothecary
    516 east 6th street
    ny ny 10009
    646-481-5852
    sunday 3pm – 10pm
    monday closed
    tues-weds 3pm – 10pm
    thurs, fri, sat 3pm – 11:30pm

    Tags: , ,
  • « Older Entries