I love hosting and I love my mom. But last month, when she was in town from California, I struggled to find us a place to eat. (Me!) While all she wants to do is visit the places I’ve written about since she was last in town, most serve steaks, snouts or sushi — and my mom is vegetarian. (She’ll be the first to tell you, I’m to blame: I went vegan for several months in high school after watching Food, Inc.)
Of course, this isn’t a problem for her: She’s perfectly happy to make a meal of vegetarian appetizers and side salads. But I know we can do better. The solution? By writing this week’s newsletter about some noteworthy vegetarian restaurants — from the informal to the downright fancy — her next trip plans itself.
What’s the deal with the Clemente Bar?
Fun fact: You can walk into Eleven Madison Park without a reservation. You won’t be seated in the main dining room — congratulations, you just saved, at minimum, $365 — but on a weeknight, odds are good that you’ll be directed to Clemente Bar, the vegan cocktail bar upstairs, which opened last year. (Yes, E.M.P. is still focused on plant-based cooking — the infamous “secret meat room” has even been phased out.)
What makes a bar vegan? The foam on your drink might be made of lentils instead of egg whites, and fried mushrooms are treated with fine-dining fanfare, like downstairs. (If you’ve ever wanted $42 maitake served in a glass hen, here’s your chance.) There are hits (the green curry martini is as good as they say and so are the avocado inari pockets) and even more misses (the tofu hot dog is indefensible). But the best dishes make you think twice about whether you’re really eating plants.
Of course, the very best dishes don’t make you think at all. The chocolate mousse is proof: We wiped the last of the vanilla “cream” from the cup with our fingers.
11 Madison Avenue (East 24th Street), Flatiron district
Long live Curry Row
Sometimes you’re not looking for a strictly vegetarian restaurant. Sometimes you want a vegetarian restaurant that also serves meat. And that’s Adda. When the restaurant from the Semma and Dhamaka team moved earlier this year to First Avenue and East Sixth Street, locally known as Curry Row, all its fans could talk about was the butter chicken experience. But buried in the butter is some wonderful news: a separate vegetarian menu.
Reader, I can’t wait to try it again. A meat-eating friend and I ordered the pomfret curry, lamb chops and bone marrow, but would you believe that in the end we were fighting over the last bite of mushroom? (Loser got to scrape up the last of the delicious tangy yogurt with paratha.) I can’t stop thinking about the blackened seasoning on the mushrooms, or the chunks of homemade paneer in another dish, laid out like mapo tofu in a vat of tomatoes and red chiles.
There are other options, but save room: You’ll find yourself powerless to resist the vegetarian chaats and chutneys, which servers tote around and sell at an upcharge, like hawkers.
107 First Avenue (East Sixth Street), East Village
Fast food but make it vegan
When patty melts and lobster rolls are made with nuts and grains, I think it’s perfectly normal to have doubts. But there’s nothing to worry about at Toad Style in Bed-Stuy. Over the last decade, this charming vegetarian restaurant has perfected the art of vegan fast food, dispensing scrambled tofu Cubanos and jackfruit California burritos.
You wouldn’t be wrong to order a sandwich with sweet potato fries or a bag of chips. But my friend Scott Lynch suggested I pair my burger with a cup of the tart pickle soup. It’s as thick as gravy, thanks to the addition of blended potato, and clearly made by somebody who shares my passion for dill. A soup ’n’ burger feels just right in one of the blue diner booths, a perfect place to catch up with your mom.
93 Ralph Avenue (Putnam Avenue), Bed-Stuy
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