Vegan Restaurant: Candle Café in NYC

With two locations in NYC, one on the Upper East Side and one on the Upper West, Candle Café is dedicated to serving healthy vegan food that not only benefits your health but also the environment.

The Food: The feel is very nouveau American with fusion cuisine that isn’t lacking in any sort of creativity (and to cook vegan, you need creativity). The menu consists of mouth watering tofu, seitan, tempeh, and creative vegetable options served up with Asian and Hispanic-influenced sauces and seasonings. Whenever possible they cook with local produce and the ingredients are almost entirely organic. If you’re looking for a good healthy vegan bite in NYC, this is the place you’ll want to visit.

Eco-Friendly Practices: The restaurant was the very first certified green restaurant in NYC and has been leading the way ever since. Not only do they use local organic food as much as possible, but they also maintain their restaurant using eco-friendly techniques. Non-toxic environmentally friendly cleaners & sanitizers are used to clean. They also recycle, compost, purchase recycled materials when possible (napkins, bath tissue, etc.), and use energy efficient cooking appliances. Eating here you can feel good about what’s put into the making of your food and the food itself – now what tastes better than that?

 candle cafe nyc

The Experience: The environment itself is clean, peaceful, and that of an upscale restaurant with a touch of at-home rustic. Fresh sunlight pours in through the front windows onto a tiled wall, while an elegant bar swoops around and is flanked with beautiful towering flowers.

Stopping by for a bite, I first grabbed a refreshing Seasonal Chia Fresca drink made with chia seeds, aloe, agave, sparking water & seasonal fruit for hydrating energy. It was subtle in flavor, and full of sprouted chia seeds which are chocked with beneficial nutrients like calcium, iron, omega-3’s (1 gram has 175.5mg) and protein (1 gram has 156.2mg).

I then followed it up with a Cajun Seitan Sandwich made with pan-seared seitan, steamed greens, caramelized onions, and avocado, served on toasted focaccia with ancho chili aioli and coleslaw. An amazing-sounding seitan sandwich? I couldn’t stay away. It was everything I wanted it to be, perfectly smoky seitan with a touch of spice, and greens that tasted too good to have been grown far away using any sort of chemical. I had been traveling all day, and this was the sustenance I needed. There was nothing lacking in flavor nor fullness.

vegan menuseitan sandwich

Be sure to check out Candle Café in NYC and pick up a copy of their cookbook to learn more about vegan cuisine at home.

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11 years ago

Thank you for another vegan-oriented post. But, “and to cook vegan, you need creativity”? On the contrary; unlike meat and dairy, vegetables don’t have to be overly cooked, processed or seasoned to taste phenomenal. Not to mention that everything tastes better when no animals are harmed in the making of your meal.

11 years ago

Been going there for years! The owners are very kind people and not to mention the food is just delicious. It’s a great place to bring your friends who are not vegan/vegetarian to show them not all vegetarian food is created alike. It’s by far the best tasting vegetarian food I’ve ever had that captures flavors seemingly identical to bacon, chicken meat….