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Download full-length archived articles featuring the Candle Cafe. (pdf format)
The New York Times
August 6, 2003
Feng Shui and Vegan Fare Battle a Neighborhood Curse
By Alex Witchel
“Clarkson Potter has recently published "The Candle Cafe Cookbook:
More
than 150 Enlightened Recipes From New York's Renowned Vegan Restaurant," by
Ms. Pierson and Mr. Potenza with Barbara Scott Goodman, featuring ingredients
like Tofutti cream cheese, soy margarine and seitan (pronounced say-tan), which
is wheat gluten. Whether or not that food appeals to ghosts, there are plenty
of people who are fans of the restaurant and its signature dishes, like ginger-miso
stir-fry and paradise casserole (sweet potatoes, black beans and millet), including
Brooke Shields, Woody Harrelson, Alicia Silverstone, Michael J. Fox, Tracey Pollan
and Eric Schlosser, author of "Fast
Food Nation."
There is also enough noncelebrity customer demand for Ms. Pierson and Mr. Potenza
to keep open the original Third Avenue location, with its cafe feel, so its
devoted regulars can choose between it and the new space for a more upscale
ambience.
Candle Cafe 79 seats 85, double the capacity of the original, and, like it,
will serve organic wine and beer."
View the full-length article here.
The New York Times
$25 and Under, by Eric Asimov
“Candle Cafe is not merely a vegetarian restaurant, but a vegan restaurant, meaning that nothing of animal origin is served. No milk, no eggs, no cheese. This means it must be extra creative. This welcoming health-conscious establishment specializes in locally grown, organic ingredients. Displays of fresh apples exude a delectable fragrance as you enter the long and narrow dining room with wood plank floors and stylish lighting.
Candle Cafe tries to accommodate people who have food allergies, and has many wheat-free dishes, like pumpkin pie made with barley and oat flour. It is perhaps a laudable achievement but not nearly so good as the apple crumb pie made with wheat flour.”
Celebrated Weekend
Brooke Shield's Manhattan “Friday, Dinner: There are two ways that I would go. The first way is this restaurant called the Candle, which is a completely macrobiotic, granola type of place where they serve lots of tofu and things. But I've taken people there who are not vegetarians, and they love it because it's so tasty.”
“This East Side vegetarian mecca ... offers its original menu of homemade soups, overstuffed sandwiches, and huge salads for take-out or delivery. Most meals are compatible with macrobiotic or wheat-free diets as well as the Pritikin plan. ”
Self
Self's Favorite Vegetarian Restaurants “This Manhattan cafe puts a premium on ethical eating (not even eggs or dairy are offered), and the food-most memorably a banana cream-satisfies. Skip the uninspired wine list in favor of the fresh juices, then sit back and bask in the gracious, knowledgeable service. ”
“. . . Extensive menu of unique and innovative dishes served nowhere else in the city. The prices at Candle Cafe will not put a strain on your wallet. A sample plate of mediterranean hummus, organic bean paté (beans are rotated every night), and Candle Cafe's famous miso tahini and carrots was the first dish to arrive at our table.The dish is accompanied by homemade, oven-baked lahvash (flat bread) chips, and crudités. Candle Cafe's soups are oil-free and quite unique. Miso and gazpacho can be had every day. The first entree we had was so delicious it had my mouth watering as I write this review. It was "Char-grilled Vegetarian Seitan Steak". Marinated in mushroom-onion juice, shoyu, olive oil and other secret ingredients, then char-grilled, this dish has a distinctive flavor. A specialty of Candle Cafe is burgers. Their varied selection includes "Grilled Tempeh Portobello Burger" with sauteed mushrooms and onions. The restaurant features a fairly large assortment of non-refined, sugar-free, and wheat-free deserts. The winning favorite of the table was the creamy "Banana 'kream Pie. ”
“One of the best vegetarian restaurants you'll ever go to, anywhere. Even if Candle Cafe is off your usual route, it's well worth a special trip. ”
“Best Vegetarian Restaurant in USA List ”