Vegging Out in New York - by Danielle Kischler

We arrived Saturday afternoon and hoofed it from Penn Station to our hotel on 31st Street. After briefly resting in our hotel room, we changed and walked along Broadway through Times Square, peeking in a few shops and dodging crowds. We had tickets to see "Hairspray" at 8:00, so we decided to have dinner at 6:00. Zenith, at 8th Avenue and 52nd Street is a nice pre-theatre option. They seated us in the sushi bar--so you may want to mention that you want the vegetarian place in the back--but gave us the vegetarian menu to order from. Toward the back of the menu is a list of uniquely named dishes from which you can pick two to try for a reasonable price. We began with scallion pancakes that come with a couple of slices of vege-ham, but I never liked ham when I ate meat, so I wasn't crazy about the veggie version. The pancakes, however, were tasty and chewy-crispy. For our main course, Bryan chose a dish of soy protein in barbecue sauce and a dish called Vegetarian Quilts, a sort of soy wrap with julienned vegetables. I chose a dish of soy nuggets in sweet-and-sour sauce and a shiitake mushroom dish. I strongly recommend ordering the Vegetarian Quilts, but the mushroom dish was a little bland. They also have a selection of vegan cakes, so we shared a slice of vegan truffle cake, which was delicious. Service there was good; we made it to the theatre half a block away well before they allowed patrons in.

Sunday, we met a friend of mine at TEANY on the Lower East Side. TEANY is a tea shop partially owned by vegan musician Moby. Their claim to fame is probably the 93 varieties of tea they sell, but they also have Italian sodas, raspberry lime rickeys and other drinks. They also sell vegetarian breakfast items and sandwiches. We liked our sandwiches, but I wasn't exactly crazy about the location. We then poked around the SoHo shops; one great thing about New York is, any item of clothing under $110 is tax-free--like I need any more incentive to shop--and enjoyed vegan smoothies at Lucky's Juice Joint on West Houston Street. You choose apple juice, soy milk or rice milk for your smoothie and mix it with your choice of a variety of fruits. Bryan's peach-strawberry smoothie was delightfully rich and creamy; a peach is far better than a banana for thickness and creaminess because it doesn't impart the strong flavor bananas do. I enjoyed a strawberry-blueberry smoothie, and my friend had a pineapple smoothie.

After my friend had to leave us to run some errands, Bryan and I poked around the Village before heading to dinner at the Veg-City Diner (www.vegcity.com) at 14th Street and 6th Avenue. Everything on the menu at this restaurant is vegetarian, and vegan items are marked with a little V. I had Chicken Mock Nuggets as an appetizer; the barbecue sauce that came with was standard restaurant sauce, but the nuggets were delicious. Bryan had his first bowl of French Onion Soup in Gaia knows how long; the broth had a distinct mushroomy flavor. I had a dish called Wellington, soy flakes in a mushroom gravy on pastry boats with veggies and mashed potatoes. It was delicious, but I have two suggestions: more pastry and less "meat," and pour some gravy on the taters. Bryan had two chili dogs, which tasted quite good. I heard someone mention Black Forest Cake, but they were out, so we enjoyed a vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Cake. It was tasty, but I did not notice a hazelnut flavor. Our server was wonderful; I wish I had gotten her name. She suggested we come in on Tuesdays when the cakes come in, but we told her we were from DC. I said they should open a branch here, and she said her friends would just die if they did. Decor at the Veg-City Diner is a clean version of standard diner with a few school-type drawings on the walls.

We liked Veg-City so much that we had breakfast there the next morning around 11:30. My boyfriend had scrambled tofu, home fries and veggie sausage. They were out of vegan pancakes, so I had waffles with fruit. The sausage, which is vegetarian, not vegan (I know, I'm a bad girl) was delicious. The tofu was tasty, but colored yellow. The home fries, mixed with caramelized onions, were definitely something to write home about. The waffle was good, but I was surprised to see the fresh fruit I'd asked for on top of it instead of on the side.

Monday, we met my stepbrother and his girlfriend at Hangwai on East 32nd Street before we went to catch our train (the restaurant was a couple of blocks from our hotel, where we'd stashed our luggage). Hangwai is Vegan Korean where you remove your shoes and sit on the floor. There are pits under the table to put your legs. My stepbrother ordered a tofu and veggies dish and seemed to like it--and he's not vegetarian. Bryan ordered tofu pizza, which was a dish of veggies and rice on slices of tofu--very interesting. I had a mushroom dish with sweet and sour sauce. The atmosphere is calming and peaceful, so maybe it's not the place to go when you want to grab a bite to eat before catching a train. When we return to New York, we'll be trying their tasting menu.

Unfortunately , there are places in New York that we didn't get to try, such as Angelica's Kitchen on East 12th Street and Kate's Joint on Avenue B and The Candle Cafe on 75th Street, along with many other places. The options for vegetarian restauarants are so numerous that I think one could spend a week in there without going to a place that serves meat. Of course, it isn't just the numerous veggie options or the fabulous organic grocery store I ran into as we walked up 6th Avenue, but there is something alluring about New York City that has me hooked. I hope to return soon.