New York’s Best Vegetarian Restaurants

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One of our readers asked us for our recommendations for the city’s top vegetarian restaurants. He must have missed the ones we included in our recent issue! So we’re surfacing them here.

There’s nothing inherently gay about any of our choices for best vegetarian restaurants in New York, except they’re in neighborhoods our readers are most likely to explore when they visit.

It’s hard to find great vegan cuisine anywhere, but the “animal-caring” Blossom has three outposts serving great vegan, including gluten free, fare all organic and sourced as locally as possible. Blossom is in several locations though we like the one in Chelsea best (natch).

Founded by the sons of the famously vegetarian restaurant, Zen Palate, Gobo Restaurant promotes a unique proposition: food for the five senses. Unlike Zen, Gobo, which is located in the West Village, sells beer and wine. The word gobo is Japanese for burdock root.

It’s hard to get over the name of this restaurant, which is a bit earthy for our tastes but Dirty Candy refers to “dirt that’s been transformed by plenty of sunshine and rain into something that’s full of flavor.” Never mind all that: The vegetarian food at this East Village eatery is prepared with the utmost attention to artistry and flavor. Try the mushroom appetizer and chard gnocchi: out of this world.

Kajitsu’s intimate 28-seat room is dressed in the minimal decor of ceremonial Kyotonese tea room. This East Village boîte is the only restaurant to serve shojin, a style of Japanese vegetarian cooking created by Buddhist monks. The space earned chef Masato Nishihara two Michelin stars for his colorful and beautifully structured dishes. The 8-course fixed menu will run you $70; the four-course $50. We recommend you sit at the bar to observe this master chef’s culinary adroitness.

Vegetarian and organic, the Candle Café is an updated urban incarnation of the groovy hippy vegetarian restaurants of old.  It’s super popular with the yoga-mat toting, stroller-pushing, juice-fasting mommy crowd, but that doesn’t stop us from dropping in to enjoy their delicious soups, salads and sandwiches, served by a friendly and welcoming staff quite accustomed to the intricacies of vegan/gluten-free/allergy-prone diets.

For our gay-relevant descriptions of all our restaurants, along with savvy shopping, nightlife, sightseeing, accommodations and entertainment recommendations and insider tips, check out ManAboutWorld’s complete guide to Gay New York  — available for free in the August/September issue of ManAboutWorld Magazine with a trial subscription on the App Store. For a guide to the 51 best gay-friendly hotels in New York, click here.