NYC is blessed with amazing food of all nationalities, styles and cultures. Thankfully, there are some great ones for the carnivorous vegan that I am. While this is by no means a complete list, it is some of my favorites…old and new.
Organic Grill
123 First Avenue between 7th St & St Marks
New York, NY 10003
My Favorite dishes include the sweet potato pot pie with a side of kale (lots of garlic 
, and the indecisive special for brunch. There’s a huge tea menu and coffee selections have a full range of milk choices (dairy, soy, rice, almond). They have lots of vegan and vegetarian specials and their desserts are pretty good too. I’ve taken 2 skeptics of crunchy food there and both left fully satisfied, even smiling! If you hope to get a seat for brunch, best to get there before noon.
Sage General Store
24-20 Jackson Avenue
Long Island City, NY 11101
This gem sits right across from the Citibank building in LIC. While I’ve sampled many of their dishes, their 8-herb locally raised spit roasted chicken is delightfully simple and tasty. My favorite side is the bourbon sweet potatoes, although I now think there might be butter in them, so if you’re truly vegan, you should ask… Their mac and cheese always looks sinful, and their food is fresh, simple and tasty. The bakery is overwhelming, but I did try a hand dipped macaroon. My friends and students strongly approved of them! A friend got a snowball and loved it (yellow cake filled with creme and covered in coconut) The beverages are also super tasty, especially in the summer. Watermelon lemonade and ginger mint iced tea are good, sometimes too sweet for me though. Brunch is supposedly insanely popular for this small 20 seat cafe, but I have yet to try it. They happen to also be amazing caterers.
Pala Pizza
198 Allen Street @ Houston
New York, NY 10002-1418
Someone was smiling down on the restricted eaters when Pala Pizza opened. It looks like a nice modern Italian pizza place and have a huge selection of vegan and gluten-free choices with a full bar. In all honesty I’ve never actually tried the glutenous crust because the gf crust is just so good… My favorite pizza is the gluten-free (crust)/vegan asparagi – although the veggie sausage has some gluten as they always point out. The salads are all good, and portions are not huge. I’ve never actually tried the pastas or antipasti, so I can’t say. Splitting a salad and pizza between 2 works if you’re not super hungry or don’t have big appetites. although I’d recommend trying a few different pizzas – leftover pizza is always good
Blossom
187 9th Avenue @ 21 St
New York, NY 10011
I’ve only been once…and it was last night. I don’t want to say that it’s a favorite yet, but it makes you feel as an organic vegan that you’re doing everything right. It’s an upscale restaurant and the food is plated beautifully. They also have a decent wine list. I must also add that I was taken there by someone with no food allergies and one who doesn’t usually seek out vegetarian, vegan or organic restaurants. We started with the Parsnip Cappelletti appetizer, 2 big pieces, great to share. It was fantastic. I could have made that my meal, but had to order the lasagna, how often does one find vegan lasagna?!? It was so dense and tasty, that half made it home for today’s lunch. There was no way I was skipping dessert. My friend really likes the Port Wine Seitan, but ordered another Seitan special instead. The staff was sitting down to eat as we left and had a smorgasbord of selections from the menu – it all looked fantastic. The salads looked great as did the other entrées. The entrée portions were hearty, although likely splitable if you get a first course. Ah, dessert, berry cheesecake. It was a silken tofu base and quite nice. As a former cheesecake expert, I might never get the real thing again, but this was pretty darn good. Can’t wait to go back.
