“I’m absolutely thrilled that it’s back.”įrom the upbeat responses online and in-person on our visit during opening day, that sentiment is widely shared. “Candle was an institution, not only because they made some of the most delicious plant-based meals in the city, but also because the restaurants served as a venue for meetings and celebrations,” Moss tells VegNews. Among them was vegan New Yorker Donny Moss, founder of animal rights platform Their Turn. In recent months, local fans of the restaurant were eagerly tracking its progress on social media. “We’re serving past favorites alongside an expanding palate of foods that always remains true to our values of nutritionally elevated food, and in uplifted and welcoming space.” “Candle has meant so much to so many over the years and since its closing, and it has been a dream of mine to one day create a ‘Candle for the people’,” Pineda tells VegNews. While these items lend an authentic throwback-feel to the space dear to Candle aficionados, the new Candle welcomes all in a modern and decidedly green and clean refresh that pays homage to mindful eating. Pineda has also been preserving many of the items that adorned the original Candle locations, including the gold-tinted wallpaper from Candle 79, large decorative candles, and geodes of amethyst crystals. Tofu and seitan are the primary proteins, with a welcome focus on vegetables, beans, and grains. These dishes are decadent, yet wholesome, and reflective of the “mindful eating” message written on the outside of the new restaurant. These healthy-but-delicious dishes were honed by the Candle chefs for decades, and reflect the pinnacle of gourmet vegan cuisine in the decades before the more recent emergence of packaged plant-based meats. There is also a brunch menu and a menu of mocktails (with alcohol versions to come, once the restaurant receives its liquor license). The two chefs have brought back the most-loved dishes from both restaurants, including the signature seitan piccata, chimichurri skewers, mezze platter, grilled kale salad, and polenta fries. The Candle menu merges the best of Candle Cafe and Candle 79. They’ve also reignited their old relationships with fresh fruit and vegetable suppliers. He is sharing the kitchen with longtime Candle 79 Chef Angel Ramos and bringing a crew of former Candle cooks and restaurant managers. The original owners, Potenza and Pierson, sold their stake in the business prior to the closures but Chef Jorge preserved many of the restaurant’s assets during this downturn, including an ownership stake, the classic recipes, and a never-extinguished hope that he could bring back the cuisine that he loved. This spring, Candle is back, largely thanks to Chef Jorge Pineda, who worked at the Candle restaurants for 26 years. And each closing triggered a fresh outpouring of grief and shock from local vegan diners. One-by-one, in rapid succession, they all shuttered. However, in a relatively short period during 20, all three locations hit their own unique setbacks, from faulty gas pipes to lost leases. These ground-breaking restaurants formed the culinary and social foundation of NYC’s growing vegan restaurant scene. Two markedly upscale vegan restaurants followed: Candle 79 in 2003 and Candle Cafe West in 2012. In 1993, together with his partner Joy Pierson, Potenza turned his focus to 100 percent vegan cuisine, together opening Candle Cafe on New York’s Upper East Side. It all started in 1984 when Bart Potenza purchased a vegetarian health food store and named it Healthy Candle. The reverence for Candle stems from its decades of serving delicious cruelty-free meals to New Yorkers and the city’s steady flow of vegan travelers. The team behind New York City’s revered (but closed) Candle Cafe and Candle 79 have relit the franchise, opening a brand new 52-seat location in Manhattan simply called “Candle.” The restaurant is serving many of the iconic dishes that made the Candle family of vegan restaurants a longtime favorite among foodies and inspired vegan chefs nationwide with their impressive gourmet cookbooks.
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