Dirt Candy Disappointment

My friend Natasha visited this weekend so we could go to one of the SIX Pavement shows at summerstage on Thursday. It was a short, but sweet weekend since she was leaving Saturday morning, so I decided to make some reservations at Dirt Candy in the East Village for Friday night. It opened about a year ago, but I hadn't been yet. Natasha is vegan and eating in the city with her almost inevitably takes us to the East Village. Everything good AND vegan is there! When she comes to town I get to test my vegan/vegetarian palate.

The place did not even have a sign out front! How is that for trendy! Also, it was so dark in there that I couldn't get ANY good pictures, but I will post one of the jalapeno hush puppies and maple butter below anyways. I went into the restaurant thinking that the goal was to take one veggie or fruit and create a dish inspired by that. So, if you have a sweet potato you could make a sweet potato glaze, and then a mash, too. But it turns out that I was a little off base. Only a few options were like this.

I have to say the food was OK, but seemed wildly overpriced for what it was. Also, the menu did not have many options. I know the idea is to simplify the menu and have it be market fresh, but one more option would have been nice. We started with the jalapeno hush puppies. Then, I had the tofu broccolini and even though the tofu was perfectly crisped and the orange sauce was delicious, the broccolini and tofu were sadly a little bland.

The place was great for a date and the atmosphere was impressive (complete with a mini-bathroom that is AH-dorable!). However, with all the other great options in EV, it seems unlikely that I will go back. Unless I meet a sexy vegan who hasn't heard about this place yet. The aesthetic definitely makes a good impression.

Seattle, Restaurant Zoe, & Vegetarianism

I am on vacation right now so I have perfect inspiration for food. There’s nothing like freeing yourself from your daily routine to get inspired by what you eat. My friend, Julia, and I decided it was time to take a trip together before she started grad school in the Fall and fell off the face of the universe. We decided on a Pacific Northwest trip featuring Seattle, Vancouver Island and Vancouver. I should mention that she lives in Boston and I’m obviously in New York so we rarely see each other anymore. It is pretty amazing that we have managed to stay as close as we have over the past 2.5 years. And yet, maybe it isn’t. She is the perfect bubbly to my overt cynicism and she puts everyone in a good mood. But enough about friendship. Let’s talk food!
 

First our trip took us first to Seattle (where I am now). I was searching the web for weeks trying to find the perfect restaurant there and the problem mostly had to do with narrowing down all of my options. I have been fairly strict with my vegetarianism for EXACTLY one year to date, but lately have been finding myself questioning the decision. I should mention that I was a vegetarian for two years in high school basically because it was cool. This time around there really was a reason. I found myself intrigued by the whole local food movement. I have been a locally grown, organic person for years now, but once I saw Food, Inc (YES, I am one of those!) I realized that I had to try and make a difference, too. So I took meat off the possible choices of food. However, now I think I need to go back to the meat. At least a few times a year.
 

Why, you might ask? Well, not all meat, I will respond. Just meat from locally focused restaurants. Or, local meat that I buy from the farmers market. Meat that meets my high expectations (hah!). We will see how this goes. The truth is I never ate much of it to begin with so I don’t think it will be too hard. And my beliefs about local food are still just as strong as they were a year ago.

So, what does this have to do with vacation, you might ask? Well, everything that I just explained to you was circling through my mind as I looked for restaurants in Seattle. My searches always led me back to one place: Restaurant Zoe.This was a restaurant a friend of mine recommended to me for obvious reasons: our shared name. It turns out that it fits right in with my beliefs, too. Locally grown food. Although a little on the pricey side comparitively, Julia and I set out for an adventure in Belltown.

Restaurant Zoe was downright amazing. Our waitress was awesome and even gave us some live music recommendations for later. The fig sauce that was on my crispy chicken dinner was delicious. It made me realize how long it had been since I had a REALLY good meal. There were amuse bouches between each course and we started with excellent cocktails. I had a twist on a mimosa, but instead of orange juice it had pomegranate juice. Julia branched out a little more with a delicious gin based drink. If anyone is in the Seattle area check this place out.