Riverdel, the original vegan cheese factory. Driven by the ambition to make people want vegetables, Amanda Cohen revived her beloved East Village restaurant on the Lower East Side with an expanded tasting menu and a space three times larger than the original, with capacity for 18 people. Decorated with a greenery mural by graffiti artist Noah McDonough, the spacious dining room focuses on the open kitchen, which is located in its center, with a chef's counter and a full bar along one of the walls. Like Cohen's past dishes, each dish is based on a vegetable, but his redesigned offerings include several ingredients.
Despite recent renovations that have renovated the space, Buddha Bodai remains one of New York's most essential vegetarian and vegan dining destinations. Chef Dong has been distributing plant-based versions of Peking Duck, Turnip Pie, and Vegetarian Sesame Chicken for more than 45 years. The seemingly endless options at the Veggie Castle buffet have attracted both regular customers and more than 36,000 followers on Instagram. The personalization is unbeatable and, luckily for visitors with hungry eyes, it's also especially photogenic, as evidenced by hundreds of labeled photos of vegan fish baked in salt, grilled chicken, wings and other alternative proteins.
The name is a bit joking for parents, but Avant Garden's 28-seat space, with a petrified wood countertop and raw tree branches above an open kitchen, is full of authentic plant-based dishes. Combine a quartet of toast covered with products such as crimini mushrooms with homemade spaghetti and drink beer, wine and cider. The restaurant, which bears the name of a kung-fu combat style from the cult classic Five Deadly Venoms from 1978 and appears on posters of old martial arts movies from the 70s and 80s, serves plant-based riffs of classics such as a fried oyster and mushroom banh mi and a hamburger with cremini, mushrooms and lentils with homemade tomato sauce and cashew cheese. This modest and cozy two-level space in Williamsburg is perfect for enjoying a cold afternoon.
Known as the city's first 100% plant-based creperie, Little Choc offers sweet and savoury crepes (galettes), as well as juices, teapots and much more. With vegan pies such as a 26% mushroom sausage (tomato sauce, homemade seitan sausage, cremini mushrooms and vegan cheese), the Old School (broccoli, almond ricotta and caramelized onion), the Old School (broccoli, almond ricotta and caramelized onion) and a self-made option, Screamer's makes it clear that pizza doesn't need any animal products to taste delicious. While the restaurant has some meat dishes, they also serve some of the tastiest vegan and vegetarian sandwiches in the city. The historic red sauce restaurant that brims with New York charm, such as plant-based mozzarella, offers a fully vegan menu with old school Italian dishes.
We love their Greedi Soul Bowl (with a choice of the grain of the day or macaroni with 26 vegan-made cheeses, topped with fried chicken breaded with quinoa, with kale or spinach and sweet potatoes to choose from); semolina with vegan meat sauce and their vegan crab pie burgers. Increasingly, New York restaurant owners are focusing their attention on vegan and vegetarian food, regardless of whether they themselves follow a meatless diet. This vegan restaurant in the East Village in Sichuan serves dishes such as dan dan noodles with impossible meat, mapo tofu and a trio of eggplant options. Amanda Cohen has been at the forefront of fun, experimental vegan dining here in New York for more than a decade (long before the Eleven Madison Park team tried it).
