V Rating: Super V
Where: 154 East 79th Street, Upper East Side, New York.
When: Lunch: Mon - Sat: 12:00pm - 3:30pm. Dinner: Mon - Sat: 5:30pm - 10:30pm. Sun: 5pm - 10pm. Brunch: Sun: 12pm - 4pm.
Tel: 212.537.7179
Price: Starters: US$7 - $18. Mains: US$18-$22.

Sometimes you walk into a restaurant and fall in love. It doesn’t matter what the food tastes like, the atmosphere alone is sustenance enough. That was my first reaction to Candle 79.

Candle 79 is the upmarket sister restaurant of the famous Candle Cafe. It’s a vegan restaurant, which may seems out of place on New York’s ritzy Upper East Side. But Candle 79 holds its own. It’s accolades include being voted “best vegetarian” restaurant in New York, plus it was recommended to me by Jim at Vegan Friendly NYC as the best place for a romantic dinner.

Jim had the good oil, because of all the restaurants we visited in New York, Candle 79 was the most romantic. The downstairs area of the two storey townhouse hosts a long bar and booths, but upstairs is where it’s at. A large window looks out onto the street below. The night we were there, a large bouquet of flowers sprayed out in the centre of the window, adding a touch of colour and life to the snowy scene outside.

Our good first impression was cemented by the waiting staff, and the manager Francesca, who were friendly, attentive and good fun.

As Candle 79 came a few days into our New York festival of eating, we just couldn’t squeeze in an appetiser. To compensate, we ordered a main each (I refuse to call this an entrée, as Americans do), and two side dishes of mashed garlic potatos and broccoli.

Apparently Candle 79’s chef, Angel Ramos, is famous for his seitan. The only reason we didn’t try this as we’d been eating a lot of seitan over the last couple of days. Instead, I had the cumin crusted tofu served on saffron harissa couscous, eggplant-spinach-tomato ratatouille with preserved lemon.

The dish was interesting - the tofu came served in two large pieces atop the what was otherwise a Middle Eastern / mediterranean themed dish. I liked the tofu - it had a light slightly spicy crust which contrasted nicely with the soft and smooth texture of the tofu. People who aren’t used to, or dislike tofu, may have been a little confronted to get such a large piece. Then again, those people probably wouldn’t have ordered this dish in the first place.

My favourite part was the cous cous (large beads) and (drum roll please) preserved lemon. This is a real love it or hate it ingredient, but I’m firmly in the gimme all you got camp and thought it added a lovely bite to the soft, mellow taste of the cous cous and vegetables.

Andy ordered the glamourous sounding Ancho Seared Tempeh with a roasted sweet potato purée, sautéed kale, leeks, fennel salad, pomegranate reduction, and mole sauce. By all accounts, it was delicious.

If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you might note that I have a fondness for potatoes, particularly of the mashed variety. You could even say they are the yardstick by which I measure a restaurant. On this count, Candle 79 stacked up – the potatoes were creamy and soft, and had a lovely flavour thanks to the garlic.

Although the dishes were large, and we were quite full, we couldn’t resist the dessert menu. I had a pumpkin crème brulee with ginger ice cream, while Andy had the ice cream sampler, which included chocolate and peanut flavours.

The impressive thing about dessert was that it was all vegan, but you wouldn’t have known that from the taste. I was a bit dubious about a pumpkin dessert, but pumpkin gave the dish sweetness without going overboard. The ginger ice cream set it off perfectly, adding a spicy, fresh touch.

Just as I love mashed potatoes, Andy has a weakness for icecream. He leapt at the chance to try the icecream sampler, and said there was no compromise on taste in the vegan version.

Towards the end of the evening we got talking to a waitress and mentioned that we were in New York on our honeymoon. Next time we saw her, she brought out two glasses of champagne and delicious strawberries in a chocolate dipping sauce.

Adding to the generosity, as we were leaving, the manager of Candle 79, Francesca gave us a copy of the popular Candle Cafe cook book as a wedding gift. It’s the only cookbook I picked up in the US, so in addition to its tasty recipes it’s also nice to have a memento of our vegetarian tour of duty.

Of all the restaurants we visited in New York, Candle 79 was the winner for atmosphere and service. Its nearest competitor for food was Blossom, which I thought it easily trumped. Whether you have a couple of days, or a couple of years in New York, Candle 79 should be on your list.

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