To celebrate our anniversary, my boyfriend and I decided to go to the East Village vegetarian restaurant Dirt Candy. Him at a vegetarian spot for an occasion we’re both celebrating? Well, believe it or not, I’ve subconsciously started to veer him towards less meat, more vegetables. It wasn’t really my mission, but bruhahaha, I win!
But this ain’t no crunchy-granola-flaxseed-seitan place. Dirt Candy is no stranger to a fryer and they do what most veg restaurants never do: They go gourmet. Vegetables are their focus (the names of the dishes are just “Mushroom” or “Eggplant”), but they present the namesake “dirt candies” in fun and inventive ways. Check out this mushroom appetizer we got:
"Mushroom"
That modernist cube on the right is a portobello mousse! Clockwise from there are portobello mushrooms, pear and fennel compote, and bread crisps. Pairing the first three with the bread was totally the way to go.
"Carrot"
We also got the carrot appetizer since the waitress said the best way to order is with each person ordering an appetizer and entree because the portions are small. The carrot dish came with steamed barbecue carrot buns with a sesame and cucumber ginger salad. The carrot buns reminded me soooo much of Wao Bao which I’d frequent in Chicago’s Water Tower. Who else was oddly addicted to their self-proclaimed “authentic” sticky buns?
"Eggplant"
I know this eggplant dish looks like squid, but it’s an interesting mix of black olive fettucine (so good), eggplant jam, pickled eggplants, basil broth (also so good) and ricotta.
But my favorite dish of all was the broccolini, whose centerpiece was a crispy tofu. I love tofu and I love most things fried, so it’s no surprise why I liked this one. But the cool thing about this was how they made it resemble fish. The top layer was crisped just enough to make it look and taste like scaly fish. The whole thing luxuriated in a pool of orange butter. Yeah, I’m not sure how you can’t like that.
"Broccolini"
We didn’t go for dessert (shocking, I know) because it was a little too out there for us, and we really just wanted a big, fat sundae, which we found soon after at The Smith ($5 sundaes, hello!). But I’m sure I’ll be up for red pepper velvet cake and popcorn pudding another time.
As evidenced by the pictures, this place knows how to do gourmet presentation, but the dishes lack flavor. Besides the crispy tofu, everything was generally bland. Kind of disappointing since I had wanted to go to Dirt Candy for, like, a year. Still, it’s totally worth it just to check out the creative cooking. Plus, they’re big on seasonal eats, and I’m a sucker for that.
Word to the wise, it’s a tiny place, so you MUST reserve ahead of time!
Dirt Candy
430 E. 9th St. (between 1st and A)
212.228.7732
6 to Astor Place
L to 1st Ave.