Vegan Manhattan: Candle 79

Eating Sustainably in New York City

Informed that we had reservations at Candle 79 on the Upper East Side in Manhattan, the Brawny Sherpa, a very committed carnivore, could be heard muttering, “Here we go; it’s going to be $200 for broccoli.” Even as he was not quite as enthused about the wheatballs accompanying his spaghetti as I was, he did appreciate the lentil soup he started with and the cornmeal poppers he opted for instead of a sweet after dinner.

spaghetti and wheatballs at Candle 79 — The Brawny Sherpa enjoys lentil soup at Candle 79, a vegan restaurant in New York City.
Photo credit: L. Tripoli

I chose the housemade live cheese plate featuring cheese made from nuts and followed it with a sweet potato Napoleon and, later, chocolate-peanut butter bliss. I still ponder how it tasted like actual mousse. We washed all of this down first with prosecco and after with espresso. Not a bite of broccoli presented itself on our plates. The bill was significantly less than $200.

vegan cheese at Candle 79 — The vegan cheese plate at Candle 79 in Manhattan is enough for two. Photo credit: L. Tripoli

I try to eat vegan as much as I can, a challenge in so many restaurants. What I like about Candle 79 is its straightforwardness: if the people here are trying to push a lifestyle on diners, they keep quiet about it. Food is sourced locally where it can be, the place is a Certified Green Restaurant, and the food is animal-free, but no one is making a political statement about it. It’s just good food with a vegetable bent. I’d go here again in a heartbeat, but, more importantly, so would the Brawny Sherpa.

Candle 79, 154 East 79 Street (at Lexington Ave.), Manhattan

—Lori Tripoli