“You are going to pay $75/- to eat vegetables? You are crazy!” exclaimed my father when he learned that I am going to Dirt Candy for a special event on Canada Day.
“They are not just vegetables dad. They are cooked in a unique way – in ways we could never imagine.”
“They are still vegetables,” he responded, still questioning my decision.
Well, I don’t blame him. I had the exact same feeling when I first heard of Dirt Candy which is is located on the Lower East Side of NYC.
I went there for the first time last year and was impressed by the chef’s creativity. When I heard vegetarian restaurant, I thought pasta, salads and grilled vegetables – but Dirt Candy is not that. I didn’t write about it back then and so my memory is flawed but the two most memorable dishes were:
Brussels Sprout Tacos
Brussels sprouts tossed in Mexican bistek sauce and served on a sizzling stone with iceberg lettuce wrappers and accompaniments so that diners can make their own tiny bites that are one part Chinese sung choi bao and one part strange Mexican tacos.
The accompaniments are usually: smoked avocado, pickled red onion, cotija cheese, radishes, crispy brussels sprout leaves, tortilla strips, pickled jalapenos, salsa verde, and crema.
Not in my wildest dreams would I imagine eating brussels sprout tacos and loving them.
Kale matzoh balls served in kale galangal broth with stir-fried shisito peppers and red amaranth. Topped with pickled okra seeds, micro cilantro, and a poached egg. Matzoh ball soup is supposed to be comforting, and there’s nothing more comforting to me than a poached egg slowly dissolving into a warm, rich, spicy soup.
This is the most insanely delicious soup that I have ever had and now you know what I mean by clever? I love matzoh balls and the other ingredients mentioned above, but never could I come up with these combinations or the techniques she uses to transform foods we are all familiar with.
Now back to my current meal at Dirt Candy which was last week. Amanda Cohen the brilliant chef is from Canada and so to celebrate Canada Day she organized a special meal where we would go camping indoors.
That’s where the aforementioned $75 for vegetables comes in. My mom made the reservation for me as a special treat and I went with a couple of friends.
The room was strung with Canadian flags and several televisions were playing camp movies. The red and white table cloths were to mimic picnic tables and the scene was festive.
We took our seats and were first presented with a basket full of jalapeno hush puppies and maple butter.
I may not have had too many hush puppies in my life but I can say that I never met a hush puppy that I didn’t love. I’m not sure how you can ever go wrong with fried dough and to guild the lily, maple butter. I was in heaven. These were hot and crispy and I had to tell myself that this was the first course of a multi course meal. I think I forced myself to stop at 3 or 4. I don’t recall.
The menu was a preset menu where one could eat an unlimited amount of food- music to my ears.
Next came a plate of nachos, which was the only dish that tasted like many plates of nachos I have had before. Nothing wrong with it but not something I would associate with this restaurant or this chef.
But hey, we are camping and I’ll eat anything.
I had been watching empty jars going into the kitchen and could not figure out what was in them. I couldn’t wait to see. My question was answered when the waiter placed in front of us 4 salads in glass jars set in a baking tray. Now this is what I am talking about. This is why I was here. The presentation was unique, an idea that I am surely going to steal in my meals and the salads were delicious. They were:
- Grilled Caesar Salad!
- Tomato and Feta Salad!
- Smoked Potato Salad!
- Herb and Bean Salad!
My absolute favorite was the Smoked Potato Salad – no surprise that I loved the potato salad the most but the smoke in the potatoes was such an amazing flavor that I just couldn’t stop eating it. I thought it was liquid smoke and labeled it as such on Instagram and wouldn’t you know it – I got a message from Dirt Candy telling me that they smoke their potatoes and don’t use liquid smoke.
I love it when I hear from the restaurant or bar that I have tagged.
And so I stand corrected. They smoke their potatoes! I am absolutely going to replicate this dish at home and since I don’t have the smoking apparatus that they must, I am going to add a couple of drops of liquid smoke.
The other salads were lovely too. The Grilled Caesar was made with baby Romaine hearts – grilled and I couldn’t tell you how she made the dressing taste that way without the anchovies. I love anchovies and always put extra in my dressing but this was done very well.
I will be honest, after having my share of the Caesar salad and the other salads – I couldn’t help but lick the potato salad jar clean with my fingers. Oh, and I forgot to tell you – the potato salad was topped with chips that made the salad look even prettier and the crunch was an important component to add to my overall satisfaction.
Can you guess what this is?
The cutest baby corn ever! I am ashamed to admit that I didn’t even know that baby corn grows this way. I thought it was some factory produced product. Don’t I feel stupid. Now I have to investigate how baby carrots are made 🙂
These are Grilled Baby Corn, Elote Style! Adorable little baby corn charred in the husk, topped with cheese and a little drizzle of lime. It was so good – I wished there were more than one – but I just couldn’t get over how damn cute and delicious these things were. I ate the whole thing – husk and all.
Yogurt Grilled Baby Vegetable Kebabs!
Even a champion eater like me was beginning to feel full but these kebabs were too delicious to pass. There was broccoli, cauliflower, baby zucchini and either baby eggplant or a summer squash – I couldn’t tell. The vegetables were marinated in yogurt, grilled to develop a nice char -which I love, served over saffron rice. The flavor of the rice stood up to the very assertive flavors of the vegetables. The rice reminded me of the rice that you get in the quintessential “Chicken and Rice” dish from the NYC halal carts. I mean this as a compliment. The plate was sprinkled with Sumac which I made the waiter confirm for me. I like playing – name that ingredient games with myself.
Carrot Sliders!
Things were getting serious now. I was getting so full but the food kept coming, and I have to eat everything – I just have to.
Carrot sliders you say? Yes indeed. Hands down, one of the most delicious and the most creative dish on the menu, and probably the most unique dish I have ever had. And I eat a lot. Trust me.
We were all so thrilled with the cute boxes that were placed in front of us that I forgot to pay attention to each component of the slider. I do remember that the bun tasted as though it was most likely baked on premises. It was like no popular bun that I have tasted before. And the carrot – it was a thick (ok 1/8th inch) slice of carrot that was soft but not mushy. I couldn’t tell you how it was cooked. I remember seeing some lettuce and there was some dried crunchy sea weed like thing too. But what was the best thing that added to the whole ‘burger’ experience was the ‘special sauce’ that one gets at McDonald’s. Once again, I mean that as a compliment.
The bun was chewy, the carrot was sweet, the lettuce was crunchy and the special sauce tied the whole thing up in a neat little flavor package for your mouth. Those 3 bites were pure bliss.
Things were getting a tad out of hand now. We have been eating for 2 hours. My back was hurting a little from all the sitting and I wanted to stretch my legs. But the food just wouldn’t stop coming. “Where is the hot dog and the Po’ boy?” asked one of my dining companions to no one in particular.
“Oh yah, we have those too,” I replied.
I was imagining the hot dog to be a hot dog made of broccoli but what we got was the above. I think its hysterical. It was a broccoli stem in a bun with hot dog toppings like sour kraut and onions maybe. I could stop laughing and I couldn’t stop eating. It was so simple and so good.
The po’ boy was made with yellow beets and mimicked oysters in their look and there was the wonderful crunch of a fried oyster with the creamy soft center. I am running out of words to describe this fun food, and definitely room in my stomach. So good – I will say and leave it at that.
“Okay they must stop now. I am going to explode,” I said.
“But we still have dessert.”
“Yes we do,” I sighed.
And so we were brought moose ears with nutella and berries. Turns out moose ears are fried dough. They reminded me of zeppoles.
Nainamo bars are a bar dessert which requires no baking and is named after the city of Nanaimo, British Columbia on Vancouver Island. It consists of a wafer crumb-based layer topped by a layer of custard flavored butter icing which is covered with melted chocolate made from chocolate squares.
The version we were presented had a nut bar type of consistency on the bottom made with dates and nuts, topped by what I think was some sort of marshmallow thingi, a sweet pea ice cream and then chocolate. It was a fancy frozen ice cream sandwich to me.
It was quite good but I couldn’t get through more than a quarter of it. It’s just that I am not a big dessert person and I was really really full. The moose ears are just not my type of dessert. Even though I am a huge fan of fried dough – somehow when it is sweet, it doesn’t appeal to me. My friends enjoyed it though, and finished up both desserts with no problem at all.
Phew! That ended the eating portion of the program. We began eating nearly three and a half hours ago!
We were satiated, happy and I was thrilled by some of the foods I had never had or imagined could be so good.
On my way out of the ladies room, I briefly said hi to Chef/Owner Amanda and complimented her on her innovative thinking.
We waddled out to First avenue and found our way back home.
I came home and showed all the pictures of the foods I ate to my dad. “So dear father, this is what you get for $75/-. Very delicious and satisfying food. Most importantly fun and full of flavors I have never experienced before!”
I am not sure if I will ever convince him to go with me, but I am sure to go back myself. Dining at Dirt Candy is a unique experience and I would urge you to put away your prejudices against vegetables that many of us have and just go with an open mind. I doubt you will be disappointed.
Until I eat out again!
Indian Culinary Center, NYC 