candle 79

candle 79
154 east 79th street
new york, ny
(212) 537 7179
www.thecandlecafe.com

type of cuisine: haute vegan cuisine
culinary excellence: 9
vegan friendliness: 10
*recommended*

our brief trip to new york began with "extreme delays" that, sadly, prevented us from checking into bebelush gurevich's time share before heading up to the horizons of upper manhattan. i was resigned to changing my clothes in the holland tunnel, emerging on 79th street feeling grimy and unkempt. it took me a bit of time to relax after such a stressful voyage, but the classy atmosphere in the restaurant, along with luca's stylish ensemble and loving face, eased me in to an evening of tremendous culinary delights. after placing our orders, we were given amuse-bouches of delectable crispy crostini with smoked hummus and olives. then came our appetizers and drinks. for me it was a glass of sweet sangria full of blood orange segments and strawberries, while luca had a mango mojito. together we shared onion rings with a creamy dipping sauce and a small ravioli plate with some sauteed spinach. i can't remember everything that was in the ravioli - i thought i would be able to find the exact listing online - but i know it had cashew cream in the filling and possibly mushrooms, all sitting in a gentle tomatoey puree. it was a soft and deliciously comforting dish with all the flavors that i like. the onion rings were finely done as well. for his entree, luca got their signature seitan piccata, an insanely good rustic italian dish of home made seitan cutlets atop sauteed spinach and potatoes. i was a little disappointed with my spring vegetable paella, and wish i had ordered the home made gnocchi with pine nut pesto and shallots instead. the paella was a finely minced al dente mixture of rice, tomato, cucumber, little tiny bits of ground seitan and saffron. to be fair, my left overs tasted pretty incredible the next morning, but i was hankering for that gnocchi with every mouthful. i think it was the tininess of all the elements that left me wanting something a bit more succulent. we were fairly full by the time dessert came around, so we decided to go with the ice cream sampler. this consisted of three modest scoops of homemade vegan ice cream - cinnamon, chocolate chip and black current sorbet. i focused primarily on the first two, while luca polished off the sorbet. the cinnamon scoop tasted just like a cinnamon bun in ice cream form! very impressive! i also enjoyed the chocolate chip very much. the bill was as high as we expected, but our moods were equally elevated as we left the restaurant and headed over to the manhattan club.