Growers and Grocers

Local, seasonal, vegan, and ninety-five percent organic. A daily feast will maintain optimal nutrition levels and a sample sale size. In New York’s East Village, Angelica Kitchen has maintained an exquisite reputation since 1976, with a visionary philosophy that has only recently become a haute trend.

The floor to ceiling glass exterior wall reveals a warm and airy golden interior full of contrasting textures such as wood, brick, and tile, achieving an earthy brightness. The focus, however, is on the abundance of divine food.

The Dragon Bowl is Angelica Kitchen’s signature dish, but choose the half portioned and completely filling Wee Dragon. Both consist of beans, tofu, greens, sea vegetables, steamed vegetables, and brown rice, garnished with ribbons of raw vegetables. Each category of basic ingredients change daily – a recent example:

• Beans: Lentils
• Sea Vegetables: Arame and hiziki
• Greens: Kale, collard greens and bok choy
• Steamed Vegetables: Rutabagas, sweet potatoes, and butternut squash

You may substitute one item. A popular choice is to replace the rice with a three grain mix of ancient grains – quinoa, teff, and amaranth. Creamy carrot dressing compliments the greens.

To drink, I suggest either the mint lemonade sweetened with agave nector, or the warming apple cider. You may bring your own wine or beer; there is no corkage fee.

Where Angelica Kitchen excels most flavorfully is in soups. The soup of the day will delight, however, an appetizer of either pate – the walnut lentil topped with tofu sour cream or the curried cashew made of raw cashews and sprouted chickpeas with freshly ground curry powder served with crudités - adds a sophisticated, opulent beginning to your meal.

The variety and intricacy of salad demands attention. Three wildly different favorites include:

• The fruit accented Orchard with mesclun, apple, toasted pecans, dried bing cherries and sourdough croutons
• A cooling Mixed Sprout made of snow pea shoots, sunflower seeds, mint, cabbage, daikon and carrots in a mint vinaigrette topped with toasted peanuts, onion sprouts and watercress
• The classic Sea Caesar, romaine tossed in a creamy garlic dressing with seasoned sourdough croutons and smoked dulse and nori strips.

An ever-changing Norimaki makes for a lovely appetizer for friends to share or a substantial lunch.

The astonishingly enormous and colorful daily entrée specials may include a tarlette made of roasted red and golden beets, cremini mushrooms, carrots, spinach and leeks, baked in a whole wheat pastry with dill-lemon tofu cheese on top, served over creamy cauliflower sauce, accompanied by marinated red cabbage and roasted green beans garnished with frisee. My recent indulgence of the cannelloni bean stew with roasted butternut squash, golden turnips, carrots, celery and grilled red onions in an herbed tomato broth with capers, served with a quinoa-teff-amaranth mix and kale-toasted almond pesto, accompanied by broccoli and roasted sweet potatoes, garnished with arugula inspired an intoxicating high akin to eating a profusion of green chili peppers.

Having never been able to manage dessert, the seasonal Fruit Kanten Parfait with nut cream is a much anticipated extravagance yet to come.

Angelica Kitchen
300 East 12th Street
(Between First and Second Avenues)
212.228.2909
http://www.angelicakitchen.com
11:30 am – 10:30 pm
Cash Only
Salads, Wee Dragon, and Appetizers: $4 - $10
Daily Entrée: $14.75 or $16.75 with Soup or Two Basics
Bring your own wine or beer

Be certain to pick up the literature in the foyer – these articles are a fascinating way to keep informed on the politics of the worldwide green movement.