NY eats: Candle Cafe

One of my favorite bloggers, Erica, goes to Candle Cafe so much that she should get some kind of customer discount. Every time I read her blog, I see dozens of colorful photos of food that looks fresh, wholesome, yet also incredibly indulgent. I crave vegan food when I see those pictures.
Originally, Erica and I had planned to meet up at Candle, but during my first few days in New York, she was sick, so I decided to go to Candle just in case we wouldn't be able to meet before I left.
My mom was willing to eat there with me, but my dad took one look at the menu and went to the bistro next door (hilariously called LeSteak), where he ordered a steak burger and ate with my grandparents. Oh, well... To each his own.
Leave it to my mom to order a salad. I kept asking her why she would order a salad at a vegan restaurant when non-vegetarian restaurants always have salad options. Luckily, the salad she ordered wasn't leafy. She ordered the Soba Noodle Salad, with Soba Noodles, ginger grilled tofu, shiitake mushrooms, edamame, julienne carrots, radish and sesame seeds over mesclun with a creamy wasabi dressing.
While she liked the salad as a whole, she hated the tofu, which she said was bland. Well, yeah... tofu is bland! But she said that wasn't what she meant, and I suppose it's because she prefers more Asian preparations, where tofu isn't usually served alone.

Ironically, even though I had been trying to avoid "Asian" food, what I really wanted was to try one of Candle's wraps, and the special that day just so happened to be the Asian Style Wrap with wasabi-ginger grilled tofu, brown rice, steamed greens, adzuki beans, stir-fried greens in a ginger-miso sauce wrapped in a spinach tortilla, served with an edamame salad and a creamy wasabi dressing.
Sound pretty similar, huh? Actually, I thought our dressings tasted different even though they were supposedly the same. Either way, the dressing was the star, I ate the wrap with my hands (Which is rare for me... Usually I cut it up and eat it with a knife and fork. I'm weird that way) and it didn't fall apart! That alone earned them props, since I know how difficult it is to stuff a wrap that full but manage for it to say together.

With every bite, I got chewy tofu (which, yes, was a little bland, but provided texture next to its more flavorful counterparts), sweet, sandy (but in a good way) adzuki beans (called hong dou, or red beans, in China), and of course, all the crunchy vegetables.
The edamame salad was delicious, and would be incredibly easy to recreate at home. It had shredded purple cabbage, carrots, and sesame seeds.
So, yes, the whole thing was pseudo-hippie Asian, but in a good way. I still would have preferred their Middle Eastern wrap or Moroccan wrap.
I did love the atmosphere of the place, though! It was lively, but quiet enough to have a conversation. The servers were friendly (I heard one educating the guy next to me about stevia) and the whole place just felt relaxed and unpretentious.
Oh yes, and I ate the ENTIRE wrap. The whole thing. And while I felt full, I didn't feel stuffed. That wrap was HUGE... Although I've never actually been to Chipotle, I'm sure it could rival one of their burritos.

Luckily, Erica got better, and we decided to meet up for an early New Years' Eve dinner. We debated going to a few different places (such as Gobo and Counter), but in the end, I decided that I wanted to go back to Candle and try some of their more dinner-like options.
Unfortunately, we found out that Candle wasn't seating any more people after 6, so we pushed our meeting one hour earlier. It just so happened that the day of our Candle Dinner was the same day I had eaten that huge lunch at The Islands. How would I ever feel hungry again!
I quickly hopped on the subway to get out of Brooklyn and met her there.
I feel so stupid that we didn't take a picture together or anything! Either way, we had a great time. I know it sounds strange to meet up with people from the internet, but the two of us are among the youngest food bloggers and it was so much fun just to talk about food and not feel like she was bored. Of course, we talked about other stuff too... either way, I had a great time.
Like I said, I wasn't that hungry, so we skipped the appetizer and I ended up ordering the Porcini Crusted Seitan with garlic-shallot-potato mash, sautéed spinach and string beans with grilled oyster mushroom and topped with home-style gravy.

This was definitely a dish that could have been a disaster... mushy, flavorless potatoes, rubbery seitan, and greasy gravy. Of course, it was the opposite... I LOVED it, even though it wasn't at all the kind of thing I would usually order or make at home (This, more or less, is the reason I ordered it). The potatoes were chunky and flavorful, the the chewy texture of the seitan was echoed by the mushroom, which interestingly enough, tasted strongly of mustard. The greens were great, especially when swiped through a puddle of gravy... but the word "Gravy" doesn't do it justice. Just think of a rich, brown aromatic sauce. I ate all of this except for a small piece of seitan (Ha, I know I said I wasn't that hungry, but I can always eat!).
Erica ordered a special that I would have ordered if she hadn't (But I was happy with my choice!): Tempeh Napoleon from the special’s menu which was polenta crusted tempeh with layers of artichoke paté, served with sautéed snap peas, broccolini, chanterelle mushrooms, and spinach over a tomato-truffle sauce, drizzled with parsley oil.

It was so beautifully presented! The contrast of the green vegetables against the blood red tomato sauce was definitely festive, even though Christmas is over. She generously let me taste a piece of tempeh, because she said she had never had tempeh prepared this way. While it reminded her of a crab cake, I thought it was more like a chicken patty-- crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. But of course, it was not your average chicken patty. She also ate everything on her plate.
We debated going to Tasti D-lite, but it was freezing out and Erica claimed to have had TWO medium cups of it the day before, so somehow she convinced me to order two desserts at candle! Honestly, I just wanted to see if they lived up to all the hype... because really, how can vegan desserts compare to ones full of cream, eggs, and butter?
I picked the Carrot Cake and she picked the Apple Cranberry Crumb Pie.

I honestly was completely stunned. Not only were they as good as "regular" desserts, but they were better! Well, I've probably had better pies in my life, but I'm also spoiled by my mom's apple pie with its flaky, butter crust. But the carrot cake was OUT OF THIS WORLD! Usually carrot cake is a sugar-laden concoction with a sticky, cloying cream cheese ice cream, but Candle's version was moist, spicy, and not too sweet-- each bite had some tangy frosting and a cake embedded with carrot shreds and raisins. Honestly... amazing.
But the crumb pie was also great! It's just that, like Erica, I love that carrot cake. There should be a website dedicated to it.
Anyways, all in all, I loved this restaurant! I won't force my parents to go back, but even if I can't get someone to go with me, I'll make sure to go back the next time I'm in New York.

Address: 1307 3rd Ave, New York City, New York

NY eats: Momofuku Noodle Bar

My second night in NY, my mom and I met up with some old family friends. The story of how we know them is an interesting one, so I'll tell it briefly. When I was 5, we met them on the plane going to China. They, meanwhile, were heading off to Beijing to live there (I think they lived there a good 6 or so years), and their parents were journalists. I became friends with their daughter Cara, my age, and her brother Andy was 2 years younger than us.
MEANWHILE, I got the chicken pox. On the plane. It sucked. My mom didn't want to scare me or anything, but Libby, the mother, had been a doctor before being a journalist, so she knew the symptoms. Her kids had already had chicken pox, so I could still hang out with them. We kept in touch and the year I lived in China when I was 7, we hung out nearly every weekend. Cute story, huh?
Anyways, when they heard I had a food blog, they wanted to make sure we went to dinner somewhere interesting. They chose Momofuku Noodle Bar, a trendly little no-reservations place in the East Village. Momofuku has two other restaurants: one is called Ssam Bar-Bakery, and the other is Ko, which is one of those Omakase-type deals with no menu and a crazy price.
The waiting time wasn't bad at all, but when I walked into the restaurant it immediately struck me that this looked nearly exactly like Avec, the Chicago restaurant that looks like a wooden box.

Just like at Avec, there you could sit at the bar, but if not, there was communal seating on wooden benches. Just like at Avec, the menu was short, seasonal, and organized into sides, small plates, large plates, and dessert.
And unfortunately, just like Avec, the menu was NOT vegetarian-friendly in the slightest. Like Avec, there were many delicious-sounding seafood options that happened to be cooked with sausage.
Momofuku is, I suppose, Asian fusion, but that description makes it sound much less original than it is. For example, the night I was there, here was the menu (short enough to fit the entire thing into a photo):

noodle bar etc.

steamed buns – chicken / shiitake / pork

smoked chicken wings – pickled chili, garlic, scallions

ramen – chicken / shredded pork

momofuku ramen – pork combo, poached egg

kimchi stew – braised kimchi, rice cakes, shredded pork

ginger scallion – dressed noodles, seasonal vegetables***

***(no broth, our only vegetarian option)

market

roasted skate wing – brussels sprouts, kimchi, bacon

bouchot mussels – miso garlic sausage, black kale, fennel

roasted tri-tip steak – nugget potatoes, kimchi butter

dessert

cousin leroy & arlo’s soft serve ice cream – quince / smoked maple / twist

The raw bar online has already changed, so squint and see if you can read it.
I ate very lightly that night. I ordered the hamachi and the only vegetarian noodle option.
The hamachi was refreshing and the fish was good quality-- unfortunately, it was really cold that day and sashimi wasn't what I was in the mood for. The grated horseradish was an economical but effective alternative to fresh wasabi, and the apple was a nice touch. Somehow they managed to turn the beets into a kind of jello. I'll admit, I wasn't in love with this dish, but I was fascinated by the different tastes and textures-- the acidity of the apple, the bitterness of the horseradish, and the sweet and slippery beets, were very unique and minimal adornments that highlighted the fish itself.

The noodles came in a huge bowl and were garnished with lots of ginger, sliced cucumber, roasted cauliflower, scallions, mushrooms, and a nori sheet. However, in an attempt to add flavor to an otherwise bland dish, they were drenched in sesame oil. If eaten in a much smaller portion after eating a spicy dish, I would have enjoyed them more. I mainly just ate the vegetables.


Everybody else took advantage of the carnivorous menu, but according to my mom, the ramen that they ordered was too meaty, and the pork too fatty. All the same, It would have been nice to drink some hot broth.
They also ordered the mussels, but the sausage, rather than being a garnish, was served in huge chunks and apparently overpowered the dish.
Everybody ordered steamed buns: chicken and pork. Interestingly, rather than the classic bao zi, the filling, instead of being minced and wrapped inside, was in block form and sandwiched within the wrapper. I wonder if this is to save time or simply for originality's sake.

I know it sounds like I'm being critical, but it was dessert that saved the day, although I only had a little. The only option was homemade softserve in quince and smoked maple, available separately or in a twist. The adults smartly ordered the twist, whereas my friends and I ordered one of each. We discovered that the ice creams were too overpowering to eat on their own, but with a little bit of each on the spoon, tasted wonderful. On the other hand, it did allow us to try each flavor first. In addition to the impeccable texture (it was topped with crushed candied walnuts), the quince took me straight back to the crisp I made on Thanksgiving. The maple was a little too sweet for me, but my favorite part was the saltiness of the smoky flavor. Really, just incredible. Amazing. The best ice cream ever.

I think as a whole, this place is great for meat-eaters, contrary to what my mom says. meanwhile, I looked at their other restaurant's menu online, and they have some non-meat dishes that sound incredible, such as:
diver sea scallops (ri) – xo broth, orange, snow peas

charred squid salad – ginger scallion, mizuna

pumpkin chawanmushi – grana padano, kelp, pepita

PUMPKIN CHAWANMUSHI? In case you don't know, chawanmushi is the Japanese version of ji dan geng, the steamed egg custard my dad often makes. Grana padano is a Parmesan-like cheese and pepita are pumpkin seeds. Don't know if this dish would be good, but the idea of it fascinates me.

bouchot mussels – nigori broth, pickled ramps, grapes

poached chatham cod – matsutake dashi, pinenut, black garlic

grilled long island monkfish – savoy cabbage, kimchi, pistachio

And so on... as you can see, if you don't eat fish or seafood, do not come to any of these restaurants.

For once, I'm celebrating the holidays!

This year Christmas Eve and the days building up to it have actually felt festive, which says a lot, considering we don't celebrate Christmas. Hanukkah has been pretty low-key... and the weather has been awful. Yesterday, I didn't go out of the house ONCE! I had no reason to...
Yesterday:
Got up and did a yoga routine (about 30 minutes)-- surprisingly, it was enough to get me to sweat and my heart rate up! Not the same as a "real" workout, but definitely something.
Breakfast: repeat of blackberry cardamom cashew oats.
After breakfast, I decided to bake cookies for neighbors. I made oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookies (these were actually semi-healthy because I used some canola oil and white whole wheat flour) and gingerbread cookies! I wanted to make gingerbread men, but I didn't have the cookie cutters, so I ended up with leaves... and no frosting because it's gross and unnecessary.
Because I didn't go out, lunch was VERY light. I started with a bowl of beet soup with a few spoonfuls of brown rice to thicken it, plus some Kashi crackers.

I soon realized that this wasn't enough, so I got some carrots and celery and hummus.
Afterwards I debated having a cookie, but to be honest, I was feeling kind of down on myself-- I hadn't gone outside or even walked around, and I felt like I kind of "didn't deserve it," which is probably ridiculous. I had a pear instead.
For some reason, I was STARVING around 4:45! I had cottage cheese and a sprinkle of grapenuts and GoLean Crunch. I started with 1/2 cup, which is a serving, but it just wasn't enough...
Dinner was Chinese-- scrambled eggs and tomatoes and a very strange dish of bok choy, tree ears, tofu, and cucumbers, of all things. It was very monastic-- I think it would have been better if the cucumbers had been cooked longer so that they resembled zucchini.


Today
TODAY WAS PRODUCTIVE. It flew by so quickly, and I was hardly in the house at all! I got up at a decent hour to do some interval training on the elliptical. I was feeling fine while I was working out, but afterwards my knee started hurting AGAIN! I wonder what it is... it feels more like shin splints, but the elliptical is supposed to be low impact!
Anyways, for breakfast I made one of the best bowls of oatmeal EVER. I used 1/3 a cup of oats for the base, since the toppings are pretty decadent. I used a whole small banana, 1/3 cup vanilla hemp milk, 1/3 cup water, and later, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. On top, I crumbled most of a small oatmeal raisin cookie and had a spoon of peanut butter. Because you can't have cookies without milk, I had a glass of milk on the side. This was so good, I can't even describe it. I think it was the combination of textures, plus the few melty chocolate chips. YUM.

After breakfast, my mom and I headed out for some errands-- we set up some last minute dinner plans with neighbors and had to go grocery shopping. One of the stops we made was at that same Zalenski and Horvath, the gourmet foods store. I picked up a little present for one of my friends, AND one for myself, as well as an awesome fish and seafood cookbook.
CHECK THIS OUT, PEANUT BUTTER FANS. For my friend (they let me taste a little bit-- I basically licked it, knowing how many calories could potentially be in that sample) I got CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH PEANUT BUTTER! I realize that sounds disgusting (or wonderful, depending on who you are), but I assure you, it was fabulous. For myself, I bought chocolate banana peanut butter... we'll see how this goes. I also plan on buying some Peanut Butter and Co peanut butter when I go to NY... I realize they sell it at Whole Foods, but I want to go to the actual store.

By the time we got back from all the errands, it was nearly 2:00! I made myself a strange but nice lunch... talk about fusion! Basically, I was trying to use up leftovers.
There were leftover canned tomatoes in the fridge, so I heated them with marjoram, thyme and white wine, then added brown rice and later on, arugula, which wilted. At the last minute, I crumbled in some feta and on top, I had the VERY last of the tempeh mole. An interesting combination of flavors...
WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? HOW COULD I HAVE FORGOTTEN TO TAKE A PICTURE OF THIS?
I also had carrots, celery and hummus (sorry for the blurry photo).
And a pear

I didn't have much time after lunch, since I was due at a friend's, but I made a quick squash dish for dinner that night-- basically just baked squash (I used one mini pumpkin and one crazy-looking squash called a Carnival squash) drizzled with a combination of olive oil, maple syrup, and smoked paprika.
I went to my friend's and had a great time. First, we had some hot chocolate-- this was super decadent because she used a combination of whole and 2%. Therefore, I only had half a mug. It was plenty (these photos came out TERRIBLY).

We celebrated Hanukkah (so I lit the candles twice tonight!) and her mom let me try a bite of her sweet potato latkes! They were eggy and more moist than my mom's-- apparently this is because she used some mashed sweet potato to give them body. I didn't want to spoil my appetite, so I only had a bite.

Dinner-- It's so fun having neighbors over! They're Jewish (partly) too, so it felt nice having something to do on Christmas Eve when everybody else is busy.
To start with, we had... more latkes! Once again, with homemade applesauce and this time, some sour cream. I decided to pass on the latke encore.

My parents made roast chicken and stir-fried asparagus, which we had along with my squash and a vegetarian lasagna that they brought.

My neighbor kept insisting that the lasagna was overdone, and it was a little dry, but it had a fantastic souffle-like top that ballooned out of the cast iron skillet-- apparently it had a lot of eggs in it. Very rich... it was strange, though... by the time I had finished eating, I realized that I wanted the chicken. I've been waiting for a time when I actually wanted to eat meat, and I did tonight. I regret not going with it, a bit. I just don't know when to start!
First helpings (my squash was delicious, if I do say so myself)

Seconds

Dessert: basically a conglomeration of cookies-- my cookies, sugar cookies and peanut brittle from one neighbor, and a gingerbread fruitcake-ish thing from another neighbor. I was pretty full and decided on a tangerine.

There's a possibility that we'll go back to these neighbor's for Christmas dinner (or lunch? at 4:00) tomorrow... we'll see. It would be nice to have some plans.
Happy holidays!

MINUS 2 DEGREES?

Yes, that is how cold it was today. So freezing that the wind was blowing chunks of hail in my face. The outside running is postponed once again. My mom and I went to the workout room, but for some reason it was also FREEZING in there... guess the radiator was off? Also, something is seriously wrong with my knee. Probably shouldn't have pushed myself when I knew it was hurting, because now I feel like I have shin splints. I wonder what's wrong...
I only did 25 minutes on the elliptical, then did a faster mile on the treadmill... I don't understand. it seems like I can run a 7 minute mile outside, but when I do that on a treadmill, it feels like I'm full-out sprinting...
(Before I left I had half of a rotting banana)
Breakfast was a pretty small bowl of oatmeal-- strawberries, the other 1/2 of the banana, 1/2 cup skim, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup cottage cheese (cept then I went back and got more because it didn't really fill me up), vanilla, strawberry jam, and peanut butter.

I TOOK MY MOM TO SEE TWILIGHT TODAY! Before the show, we stopped at the most awesome place to open in Hyde Park yet: Zaleski and Horvath Market Cafe.

I knew there was a gourmet foods store opening, but not that it would be so AWESOME! Check out the shelves:
They also have great coffee, sandwiches, soups, salads, and cookbooks.
My mom got a ham sandwich with a bunch of fancy spreads and cheese (She really is eating more meat than usual) and a cappucino.
I ordered a panini on whole wheat with eggplant, red pepper spread, muenster, and greens.
Both sandwiches came with a side sample: my mom got coleslaw and I got veggie slaw, which had chickpeas, raisins, carrots, and all the things i love.
I fell so in love with this place that I APPLIED FOR A SUMMER JOB! I'm not sure what I would do, but that would be amazing if I could work there... put my blog URL on the app...


I rarely eat cheese, but that little bit of cheese in the sandwich kept me full for a good 7 hours! Is this the secret of life?
After Twilight (Which my mom loved, but she kept laughing during all the romantic/suspenseful scenes and I had to keep yelling at her. It would be "hurry! she only has minutes left!" and my mom would start laughing loud enough that everyone could here... I see where I get my cynicism from) we went shopping... I got some amazing Lulemon leggings on sale. It was so unbelievably cold...
While I was cooking, I had an apple.

Happy Hannukah!

For dinner, I made Deborah Madison's lentil-chestnut soup with fennel, which I've made once before. It's perfect for winter, with the chestnuts giving the same starchy sweet flavor that sweet potatoes do (we use Chinese vacuum-packed chestnuts).
We also had brown rice and stir-fried watercress.
It's been ages since I really indulged in some dessert, so tonight I had a big bowl of ice cream: Purely Decadent Cherry Nirvana (nondairy) and nonfat vanilla frozen yogurt (I may or may not have gotten another scoop of this afterwards)... my sweet tooth is now at peace.