Hello, hello my dear friends! First off, I’d like to remind you to enter my Nasoya Tofu giveaway before the end of the day, which you can do right here.

Awhile back I was having the pleasure of consistently going out to eat in the city of New York. I’m telling you… I don’t think there’s a single person that has ever dined at all the restaurants the city has to offer. Especially because there are new ones popping up all the time, literally (i.e. pop-up restaurants).  And before you know it they vanish the same way they seemed to come out of nowhere. On this particular day I did not go to one of those restaurants, but rather an establishment. I say establishment because it’s pretty well-known in the raw foodists community. I think it’s nice to have a place that offers a wide raw-vegan selection in an ambiance beyond bright cafes adorned with shelves of wheat grass and bamboo. Maybe some of you can guess where I went that day.

Pure Food & Wine for lunch with a dear friend

I started out with a 'Hot Pink' juice

It’s made with beet, pineapple, pear, ginger. My parents would make juices regularly with beets, but I had never tried it with pineapple and pear.

Sushi rolls – marinated shiitake, avocado, asparagus, red pepper, jicama rice, nama shoyu

Lisa commented in the last post about not being able to eat rice anymore, which reminded me of this! If you can’t find jicama, cauliflower works as well. It’s got a similar texture, and all you have to do is shred it. I’ve actually been doing that for my deconstructed sushi bowls lately, and even when I recently made a stir-fry. Just make sure it’s shredded!

Taco Salad – romaine lettuce, spicy taco crumble, pico de gallo, guacamole, cashew sour cream, cilantro-lime dressing

I enjoyed this salad a lot! The cashew sour cream had me curious as to how they made it. It was blended to creamy perfection, and tasted reminiscent of sour cream. All of the flavors together made for a lively tasting dish.

Falafel with tabhouli – over whole romaine leaves or tossed with greens, lemon tahini, red pepper hot sauce

My friend is from Israel and says his friend makes the best falafel in town, so he wanted to see if this one was up to par. It was also his first time trying anything raw-vegan so I knew he’d be in for a little surprise.

Portabella and hempseed burger – sprouted manna bread, lapsang tea smoked cashew cheese, house made mustard, pickled pink onions, caraway kraut

It was such a little delight to look at... and eat!

I enjoyed the combination of the fermented, salty taste with the cooling pungency of the mustard, and biting into the incredibly dense bread. This burger is small, but no complaints here. I knew how dense it would be, and anything bigger would just be unnecessary to feel satisfied. And boy was I satisfied. My dining partner also underestimated how filling the food would be.

Dessert!

I was beyond full, but my friend said that there was no way we could pass up on dessert.

Almond coconut joy – chocolate dipped coconut and brazil nut almond square

I thought of my dad when I saw this on the menu, and thought we could give it a try in his honor. This was alright, but not exactly something I would order again.

Fig bar – fig sandwich cookie

I loved everything about this from the filling to the cookie. It wasn’t soggy like how I remember fig newtons to be, just modestly sweet with a bit of a crumbly texture.

Gingersnap cookie – gingersnap cookies, ginger cream filling & Orreo cookie – vanilla cream filled chocolate cookie

I’m not into Oreos, but my friend was so we tried it. Neither of us were into this rendition though. It just kind of fell flat. On the other hand the gingersnap cookie was my favorite! It had a lingering delicious flavor that prompted me to order another one to go. There were other desserts that I’d like to go back and try like the ‘Pumpkin cheescake‘ (with brown ale ice cream, pecan brittle, brown ale caramel), Mallomar, and Tiramisu.

Raw-vegan desserts are my favorite because the are no added sugars that mask certain flavors. I find that lots of desserts in the U.S. are so heavy on the sugar that I can’t taste anything else. Why people like sugar cookies with icing on them is beyond me, but that’s just my taste.

via Instagr'am

Later that week I came for dinner with friends and ordered the ‘Sunchoke Gratin with Vanilla Poached Pear–black kale pesto, shaved black truffles, truffle hazelnut cream‘

I also noticed that the menu had changed, which isn’t unusual for restaurants. After dinner we went next door to see if One Lucky Duck (their more casual establishment) had the cookies I had been swooning over from my prior visit. They were there! I also spotted all of the lunch items from my first visit at Pure Food & Wine. So if you want a more relaxed place to sit and enjoy your meal, One Lucky Duck is a great spot to just hang out. I would suggest going to Pure Food & Wine for dinner to really get a taste of raw-vegan fine cuisine. Both visits were great as far as taste goes, but if you want more of a gourmet take on raw-vegan food–definitely do dinner at Pure Food & Wine.

In the spirit of raw-vegan cuisine’s love affair with nuts, I wanted to share a recipe I found on Alexia’s blog for a vegan lentil mousakka. The traditional béchamel sauce is simply made using a blend of cashews, nutritional yeast, water, and salt.

I made it without eggplant though since I have a sensitivity towards it.

Instead I used zucchini and mushrooms, which I cooked lightly before baking the dish.

Baked till it was beautifully golden and browned around the edges.

Definitely a recipe that made it into my "make it again and again" category.

Have you ever gone to a raw-vegan restaurant?

p.s. another friendly reminder to participate in the giveaway!