Pure Food & Wine! Does it live up to the hype? We sent eight Australian undercover agents in to find out… DA NA NAAAAA!!
Organic, raw and vegan, Pure has a cult-like following and I was super curious to check it out. Rumour has it that it’s a great place to celeb spot too, so it wasn’t difficult to convince our six non-vegan travel friends to join us for lunch. Ryan Gosling eating vegan food? Who doesn’t want to see that?
I had high hopes and daydreams of dining in the rear garden under the twinkling fairy lights but the sub-zero NYC street winds convinced us that the beautiful and cozy interior was the best place to be. We didn’t spot any celebs but we did try some amazing wines with our meals, and that’s kinda the same thing.
I loved that most of the vegan restaurants in the US sell their own cookbooks on-site. So if your friends are too busy to lunch, you could even take yourself on a beautiful solo date and read the cookbooks while you munch! Bliss!
Or pick up a couple as gifts and show them what they were missing! You can bet your sweet banana they’d be the first ones on the phone the next day all like: “Sooooo… shall we vegan today?” You know it.
It just so happened to be Saturday when we lunched (hurray for not knowing which day it is when you’re on holidays!), so we were able to choose from both the regular lunch menu and the weekend brunch menu (hurray for choice!).
Dom and I shared three brunches because travel makes you hungry, you know! Plus we’re pretty sure we missed at least two meals with all the time differences and flights and stuff. Plus it was for research. Yeah.
We kicked off the party with Guacamole & Chips for the table and they were delicious! Fresh, tasty and oh we had so much fun trying not to snap the chips before they reached our mouths. I can’t remember who won. I think that’s when the waiter intervened and suggested another bottle of wine. Excellent service!
When our main meals arrived I started with the Cauliflower & Corn Cheese Grits. We don’t have Grits in Australia so I had no idea what to expect but they were sensational! Cheesy, creamy, warm and delicious, I pretty much thought they were the best thing I’d ever eaten! Funnily enough once I had taken bites of everything else and returned to the Grits, they weren’t as good. Dom agreed. Lesson learnt: eat all of the Grits first.
Dom and I also shared the Broccoli & Cashew Cheddar Quiché with almond crust. I loved this one too. Understated and elegant with the salad perfectly matched.
The ultimate winner though was the Hazelnut Cacao Crepe! Cue great jubilation and fanfare! Flax seed crepes with bananas and hazelnut cacao spread, ZOMG. I could have happily eaten this all of my life day.
Our friends tried the Living Lasagna which they thought was beautifully presented but had a few too many strong flavours going on. I tried some and had to agree. A little less pesto and sun-dried tomato sauce and it would have been a winner.
The Brazil Nut Cakes, however, received rave reviews! I didn’t even get a chance to try them – they were gobbled up too quickly!
To soothe my broken heart I ordered the Lemon Slice. It arrived tangy, creamy and perfect! Desserts always help.
The Chocolate Cake was also good but evidently not as good as the nut cakes because I was allowed to try some.
All in all, it was a beautiful experience and one I would thoroughly recommend to anyone in the area.
Plus you can have a Carrie Bradshaw moment on the steps outside afterwards. Win-win!
Sarina @ Earthgiven Kitchen
December 12, 2012 at 5:42 pm (12 years ago)Thanks for the review! I’d love to visit Pure sometime. Such intriguing items. I hope it’s an awesome trip to NYC for you!
* Vegan Sparkles *
December 21, 2012 at 1:37 pm (12 years ago)It sure was, thanks Sarina! 🙂
Julie the Alkaline Sister
December 19, 2012 at 12:07 am (12 years ago)Rebecca, don’t you just love Pure Food!?!?! I ate there numerous times the 1st time I was in NYC that I had to interview Sarma when I returned. I posted the interview here if you are interested. http://www.alkalinesisters.com/sesame-mixed-veggie-noodles-lunch-with-sarma-melngailis/2309/
ps. thx for the follow on twitter, lovely blog you have here:)
Sophie
December 19, 2012 at 10:01 pm (12 years ago)Thanks for sharing, Bex! Glad to you have you back! We missed you heeps! xxx
The food souds amazing & is looking rather pretty & tasty too! I am thinking about going vegan all the way :24/7!
* Vegan Sparkles *
December 21, 2012 at 1:34 pm (12 years ago)Thanks so much, Sophie! I missed you guys too! Go vegan! Do it, DO IT! 🙂 xx