The cafe itself is long, narrow corridor - not cramped though - with pretty simple, spartan decor, definitely not fancy. It is smaller than I imagined it would be. Ironically, it is next door to a restaurant called Bistro Le Steak, which I thought was amusing (no, I am not reviewing that one).
Candle Cafe is vegan- lots of seitan, tempeh, and tofu dishes in the $15 - $20 range, pricey for lunch. So many interesting, creative combinations from zucchini with tomato ragu to the more inspired. Menu options are overwhelming here and the specials were tempting -- I almost got the corn on the cob with aioli sauce, for the record. Lots of dishes are Southwest-, Indian- and Mediterranean-inspired. I opted for the Aztec salad after much deliberation. Aside from greens, it was served with quinoa, pumpkin seeds, with BBQ grilled tofu (a substitute for tempeh), black beans, corn, and avocado (for extra cost of $3) with amazing toasted cumin dressing. To drink, I choose a lemon ginseng iced tea.
For dessert, I asked the waitress to break my internal tie and got the mousse chocolate pie with chocolate chip crust- an enormous piece, I might add, which I almost finished (of course).
When I first walked in, it was empty in here but after a half hour, it was packed, almost every table was full. It's a lively and interesting crowd of all sorts of people.
The most curious thing happened at the end of my meal. I went to the rest room and when I came back I found my table was given away, even though I still had bags on the chair. So, I ended up paying the bill at the counter (the staff seemed really embarassed but not as much as I was). Anyway, I got a free chocolate chip oatmeal cookie for my troubles, which was delish!
As a side note, there is a sister restaurant around the corner (Candle 79), which is more upscale in look, but undoubtedly, the food is of the same excellent quality.
Candle Cafe:
1308 3rd Ave, NYC
www.candlecafe.com
212-472-0970
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