A new vegan restaurant just opened last night in the old Trattoria di Vino spot on Broadway between 89th and 90th Streets. Candle Cafe is an offshoot of an Upper East Side restaurant of the same name (there’s also an upscale version of the cafe called Candle 79 on the Upper East Side). Candle Cafe serves all sorts of creative vegan dishes using seitan and other meat substitutes. The menu at the Upper West Side restaurant is almost identical to the menu at the Upper East Side location.
Reading the menu makes me feel like an anthropologist: what are these things? There’s a salad called “Living Crunchy Sprout” and a quesadilla made with “tapioca cheese.”
The Aztec Salad sounds tasty: “Bi-color quinoa, black beans, red onion and jicama, topped with spiced pumpkin seeds and barbequed grilled tempeh. Served over mixed field greens with toasted cumin vinaigrette.”
There are also smoothies and healthful cocktails with names like Green Goddess. For a pdf of the East side restaurant’s menu, click here.
The restaurant is not “officially” open until April 1, but an employee there told us Candle Cafe is now serving a full menu, except for liquor (they still need to get the license) and will be open from 11:30 a.m. until 10:30 p.m. They won’t, however, be open this Sunday.
As one of our tipsters commented “The vegans will be dancing in the street!”
Thanks to Jerry and Francine for the tips.
Photo by AndreasNYC via flickr.
Not impressed. Candle Cafe is way too expensive for what they serve. I stopped going there years ago because I was tired of being ripped off.
Just had my first meal at Candle Cafe West and it was very good. I love the decore and how they made it bi-level. So everyone can look around and it gives a great feel to it. From the deliciously different Spring Rolls on to desert, the dinner was great!