It was finally my turn to try out the wonderful food at Pure Food & Wine in New York! In the living vegan food community this is typically a restaurant that we ask one another if they have been there before. It feels like this was one of the first living vegan restaurants in the East Coast. The owner Sarma has numerous uncook books published and also owns One Lucky Duck a cute juice bar & cafe.

I checked out One Lucky Duck in Chelsea Market and loved the atmosphere! I had an awesome Hot Pink juice ($7) consisting of pineapple, beet, ginger and pear. This juice is sweet, spicy and the pear adds a thickness that aids in feeling satiated. I had little tiny pieces of pear in my drink 😀 For being in that part of town, the prices weren’t too bad. I also had a Moon Pie since I have never heard of them before.

This dessert is super-duper rich with all the best textures. A crunchy messy chocolate coating with a moist chocolate cake with smooth & creamy vanilla frosting.

It was $9 for one Moon Pie though O_o! I found this to be rather expensive for such a small treat with ingredients that are not all that expensive however, this does look like a very time-consuming dessert. Time is a huge factor is pricing with living vegan food! In store there will be drink specials of the day, when I was there I believe I saw a Peppermint Latte Smoothie that sounded yummy and was a creative idea to me at least. It was a little difficult to get someone’s attention to place an order and I think there is a problem there with the cashier giving correct change back. I would consider double checking how much money you are getting back, you might be missing a few dollars. I have a close reliable friend who had the same issue.

Back to talking about Pure Food and Wine!

My wonderful friend gave me a gift certificate to this restaurant so I order a fairly large meal (3 courses!).

I ate at Pure Food with two friends who are not vegan or living vegan foodies. We all enjoyed our food :D! I think it is safe to say this is a place where people who eat meat to people who eat only living vegan food will find something on the menu (besides dessert) that they will thoroughly enjoy, feel satisfied and possibly even become interested in testing out some of these entrees in their own kitchen.

For my first course I had the Philly Roll of Avocado, Kim Chee (I asked for no Creamy Cashew Cheese). The rolls have tatsoi, hijiki and scallion also. On the side there is sweet chili sauce to dips the rolls in. There was also a little pile of semi pickled ginger on the side.

The kim chee in these rolls was wonderful, if you aren’t familar with kim chee it is a traditional Koren side dish that is fermented cabbage with some chili pepper. Usually it has other vegetables like carrots and scallions in it, but it’s up to the creator! This kim chee was especially calm in flavor so I would recommend it to those just warming up to the idea of eating fermented foods. This first course was $17, seaweed is not cheap and this kim chee had a homemade fresh taste to it also. I was in love with the dipping sauce for this one! Pure Food and Wine really has their sauces and marinades locked down, jinkies they were all so amazing and left me wanting to lick my plate like a dog 😛 hehe

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My friend Georeen had the Plate of Assorted Cultured Dr. Cow Tree Nut Cheeses and Rosemary Crisps. This is servied with a seasonal fruit compote (it was cranberry orange this time around I believe) with some winter greens in the center of the plate. I believe there was; aged cashew nut cheese, macadamia nut cheese, and aged cashew & dulse cheese.

This was $19, not too bad for a nut cheese plate! There were three different types of cheeses. I think Georeen’s favorite part was the flax crackers. My guess is many people new to raw food are amazing with living vegan alternatives to things they are familiar with or just can not imagine giving up thus they do not go vegan. However, with the proper techniques, gadgets and time living foods can mimic cooked food. Nut cheeses like these are filled with probiotics and are aged by fermentation, this gives it that traditional nut texture and taste. It even spreads like a dairy cheese. I’m not sure how clear this photograph will look on your screen, but there is even a crust like section of the cheese. I highly recommend this first entree to those new to living vegan food who just “can’t live without cheese.” 😉

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For my second course I had the delitable Portabella Mushroom (center) with Cauliflower and Horseradish Aioli (far left) with; kale chimichurri, mango salsa, barbecue sauce and haricots verts ( french green beans on the right). This entree was $23, and I’ll let you see for yourself just how much food and love was put into this one.

I was personally confused as to where the kale chimichurri is, but that’s actually the green sauce on the mushrooms! The barbeque sauce on the bottom was absolutely what tied everything together with the mushrooms, kale, and mango salsa. There was a slight chipotle taste to the sauce. I personally did not find it to be spicy, but just a heads up!

The mushrooms were evenly marinated with a nice easy texture to cut and eat. They were surprisingly soft and I was so happy with all the great flavors going on here. The verts added a nice contrast in color, texture and also a nice way to calm down all the action going on with this dish. The Cauliflower and Horseradish Aioli had some bits of red onion. With the horseradish aioli there was a tangy and salty taste that reminded me of a greek yogurt. This also was loaded with flavor, the haricort verts were simply green and marinated for a slightly easier texture to chew and digest.

Haricort verts are a long, thinner green bean which makes them ideal for a raw entree because it can actually be marinated and tenderized more effeciently. I have also heard these beans being called French Green Beans, however they are grown in the northeastern and western United States. Haricort Verts are an unripe vegetable just like Green Bell Peppers. Thus, to matter what they are still difficult to digest. So please be careful if you are sensitive to these things ❤

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My friend Kristine ordered the Salsify Noodles with Radicchio and Fresh Figs
served with; lemon pine nut cream, golden raisins, pine nuts and curly red mustard greens for $24.

I tried a little bit of these noodles and loved the feeling of the flat squash noodles, creamy sweet sauce and how it was this sophisticated alfredo-like sauce. Squash noodles were brought to a whole other level with this one! I am so tired of these “noodle” based dishes because I have had so many of them and honestly there is usually nothing used to bring it to a new game field. I was amazingly surprised with this one.

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Georeen enjoyed the beautiful Zucchini, Local Heirloom Tomato Lasagna made with; basil pistachio pesto, sun-dried tomato marinara and macadamia pumpkin seed ricotta ($24).

Like many of the people I know out there Georeen told me how much she enjoys cheese so I think she ordered just the right plates to see the other options out there 😉 Sadly I did not get the best photo of this one, hopefully later on I can get permission from a friend to use one of theirs. But this lasagna was wonderfully stacked and stuffed like a traditional lasagna. Georeen loved the marinara! Everything was fresh and the lasagna looked freshly made and stacked.

I want to thank my friends so much for going on this food adventure with me. To truly enjoy food there has be wonderful company to share it with 😀 Thank you ladies so much for sharing your mouthwatering food with me and opening your hearts. I love having such strong women in my life ❤ You all helped me see and feel so much in one night!

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For dessert all three of us ordered the same thing and had zero regrets. The Pumpkin Cheesecake ($15) with pecan brittle ice cream, a brittle that tasted similar and this amazing barberry syrup that I kept scraping my plate for more. The cheesecake had a luscious whipped feeling, every time I put my spoon through I saw little air bubbles in the cake. When I put a spoonful in my mouth and mashed it between the roof of my mouth and tongue it had a mousse/creamy texture. The pumpkin spices were amazing, not too spicy or overpowering. The bottom trust was an almond based sugar cookie.

The ice cream is cashew and coconut based. The little sweet candied pecans inside felt like I found a treasure chest of sweets! All of these flavors had this beautiful romance going on where I couldn’t figure out what to eat first or with what. I kept playing around with different combinations 😀

Barberry? Yes, that’s how my friends and I felt as we squirred to look it up online with our smart phones (in my case I call mine my smart than me phone). But I think our server knew what we were up to 😉 She informed us it is a berry that it like a blackberry and blueberry. Once we tried it though it had more of a caramel, orange, blueberry taste to it.

So just two little negatives with this dessert. The ice cream does start melting rather quickly and the brittle cookie in the cake has a weird taste at first. It starts off with this overwhelming sugar taste, just straight up sugar and it was slightly stuck in my teeth and all. Then the aftertaste is candied pecans and warm spices.

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Overall, I LOVED my experience at Pure Food and Wine. The sign for Pure Food and Wine is a little difficult to see, especially at night. The place was buzzing, dark, red, black and as one of my friends said it had a sexy vibe to it. This place was slammed with people eating and drinking lots of different things. To me at least everyone looked like they were enjoying themselves too. I was so pleased with the music selection, I knew every song and almost all of the lyrics hahaha. For example they had Phoenix playing. Our waitress was helpful, patient and also had this adorable energy. My friends and I were all paying seperately, and this did not seem to bother here at all. I didn’t see a single twitch over it 😀

Here is a quick video of the inside of the restaurant just in case anyone is curious about the magic that goes on here.

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 My friend Kristine made a reservation for the three of us and I am so thankful that she thought of this. I had no idea how packed this place gets. I recommend making a reservation if you are going at dinner time, you can do this via email or by phone. On this same page is their address and hours of operation 🙂

If you are in the area please stop by Pure Food and Wine and enjoy yourself! Everyone was dressed casual and brought the best things, themselves, good company and a body needing some nutrition.

P.S: Check out my reviews on Yelp!, my review of Pure Food and Wine is much smaller on there. One Lucky Duck review is up there too.

Thank you all so much for stopping by my site and being patient with me during my travels. Much love ❤ and raw power 😉

            Jess