When my husband and I decided to stay in New York for Thanksgiving we went back and forth about what we would cook at home. After several menu ideas were tossed around I casually emailed him the Candle Cafe / Candle 79 e-newsletter, which included details on their Thanksgiving specials. He almost immediately replied that he would love to go to Candle 79.
Need I remind you that he is not vegan, or even vegetarian? Yippee!
We had a reservation for the first seating and, oh my, the line at the door! People were quite excited to get in! I think you can see why:
This was a prix fixe meal — $75 per person for an appetizer, choice of soup or salad, entree and dessert. The sides were a la cart and, naturally, the wine and other drinks were not included.
While we drooled poured over the menu, we were served some delicious bread to nosh on.
I believe one was corn bread and the other had raisins or currants. The spread was a pumpkin-cranberry puree.
This wine is really bold, big and good. We took a photo simply so we wouldn’t forget it.
I started with the mushroom ravioli
and for Dave, the grilled artichoke.
Both warm appetizers were fantastic. The grilled artichoke, with fava beans, was very fresh and simply prepared. The vegetables were the star. The ravioli was some of the best vegan ravioli I’ve eaten. I could have had a plate of that for dinner.
On to the salads–beet for Dave.
We both loved this salad — the dollop of cashew cheese was a great addition. I had the brussels sprouts salad.
Roasted veggies served cold always works for me. Again, I could have feasted on this salad alone for dinner.
But we ordered entrées.
And sides.
Hands down, the seitan was the entrée winner. The crust was incredible and I love Candle 79’s seitan. Love it. The gnocchi was good but my husband was envisioning something a bit heartier. The sides were fantastic, all three of them.
Lest you think we’re total piggies, we only ate half of our dinner (and just a few bites of sides). Well, because we wanted to order dessert.
While we waited for our dessert, I ordered the Spiced Pumpkin Nog.
Baby, that drink was good…and I hope they keep this on the drink menu over the holidays. I don’t recall all of the ingredients but I know there is rum, Earth Balance and pureed pumpkin. Mmm Mmm.
While that could have been dessert, it wasn’t. We shared the pumpkin bundt cake and the apple-cranberry pie.
Both desserts were incredible.
We had tons of leftovers, which was great because we ate at 2:00 p.m. — by 7:30 we were ready for more (and we still had leftovers after our evening grazing)!
No turkeys, or any other animals, were harmed in the making of this beautiful, vegan Thanksgiving feast and I got to enjoy a lovely meal with my husband and many (many, many) others who wanted to enjoy a compassionate holiday meal.
12 thoughts on “My Thanksgiving Dinner at Candle 79”
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What a gorgeous, delicious-looking meal. How nice that the two of you spent a quiet Thanksgiving together!
Oh, am I so very jealous of you two! I’m dying to go to Candle 79, but alas, I live in Wisconsin. During my last trip to New York I visited the Candle Cafe though…absolutely scrumptious. I don’t know how you live in the Big Apple without going to all the amazing vegan restaurants for every meal. 😀
oh you are so lucky to have gone there!…i have their cookbooks on my holiday wishlist from my family : )
Oh, my! What delicious food you enjoyed! It must have been wonderful to know that you could order anything on the menu. It gets old asking if a dish is vegan, or can be made vegan, or just settling for a salad. Glad you had such a nice dinner.
Just wow on this dinner, it looks so amazing, especially the Gnocchi and cake … well everything! I fantisize about going out for Thanksgiving and suggested that for this year since we were such a small group, but my hubby like that traditional fare at home. Maybe next year. 🙂
That food looks amazing! Glad you got to enjoy it all and shared the experience and photos with us. Happy Thanksgiving weekend! 🙂
Holy moly, what a feast! Everything sounds SO GOOD. And with a name like THAT, how could the wine have been bad? (har har). Glad you had such a nice Thanksgiving! 🙂
Seems like a truly memorable Thanksgiving dinner. Thanks for letting us live it through you and your hubby!
I have always wanted to go to Candle 79. Hopefully one day I will make it there!
Holy moly, am I jealous. The Josie’s T-Giving dinner was nice, but not…this.
candle 79 is a lovely restaurant! looks like a great meal.