With light and airy interiors, an open kitchen and a chef’s
counter that’s ideal for date nights, Dirt Candy gives vegan food a
glam makeover. Celebrated chef Amanda Cohen was an early pioneer of
the veg-forward movement, having opened the first all-vegetable
restaurant in the city. Today, her love for legumes culminates in
two tasting menus (the 10-course “Vegetable Garden” is better
value) packed with flair and finesse. DIY brussels-sprout tacos
arrive on a sizzling-hot plate, aubergines are flambéed tableside
and a mushroomy chocolate pudding is rich and velvety. Be frivolous
and opt for the paired wine flight; all wines are sourced from
women-run wineries. Dirt Candy isn’t strictly vegan but near-enough
every dish can be adapted to suit.

Catering for your hard-to-please, steak-eating friends, your
die-hard veggie mates and those who just want to nod their head to
some old school jams, this easy-going Ethiopian restaurant in
Brooklyn serves standout sharing food with no dud dishes. The
easiest route to ensure everyone gets a bit of everything is to
order The Feast, an array of brightly coloured stews that are
served in the style of a Pollock painting. Tear off slices of
injera, a spongy pancake-cum-sourdough hybrid that is fermented for
two days and used as a bowl, utensil and bread. Dip it into yellow
split peas, fiery red lentils and an addictive kale-avocado medley
called kedija selata. Avoid wearing white – this is strictly finger
food territory.

The Butcher’s Daughter can be likened to your friend that’s
sporting that post-LA glow after completing a social-media detox on
the West Coast. Get your own with one of The Butcher’s Daughter’s
slaughtered-on-site cold pressed juices or its elite-level avocado
on toast. Inside each of its four locations – the OG Nolita site is
our personal favourite – it’s all succulents, bleached-wood banquet
tables and herbal home remedies lined up on the back bar. Extending
beyond the flat whites (with oat milk, obvs), huckleberry-ginger
muffins and homemade granola, is an all-day menu that chops, filets
and carves vegetables into squash-noodle carbonara,
quinoa-and-sweet-potato “crab cakes” and tacos made with lettuce
tortillas and jackfruit chorizo.

The country’s first vegan food truck quickly outgrew its four
wheels and pitched up in The Pennsy Food Hall, next to Penn
Station, for its first brick-and-mortar offering. Expect lengthy
queues as the crème brulee doughnuts and gooey cinnamon snails (a
take on cinnamon rolls) are decadent enough to bring anyone over to
the green side. The Cinnamon Snail’s cult L.A.B. (a
lentil-artichoke burger) has had a facelift; the 2.0 version comes
with moreish cucumber marinated in umeboshi plums, artichoke hearts
and white-bean purée on a grilled pretzel bun. Order a side of
kimchi tater tots with sizzling sriracha mayo for snacking.

We’re a huge fan of anywhere that serves four types of fondue –
even more so when one is made with chardonnay and another from
bubbling chocolate. Transforming from a dreamy date-night venue to
drunken food spot without, Ladybird’s falling ferns, pine-coloured
velvet armchairs and ornate stucco ceilings attract everyone from
Lower East Side mothers enticed by the mildly nutritious promise of
vegetable-packed cocktails to wild groups keen to chomp on breaded
mac ‘n’ cheese bites and continue the party with barrels of boozy
kombucha. Aside from providing late night sustenance, Ladybird
serves an ever-expanding menu of sophisticated small plates. The
part-raw, part-fried medley of seaweed and avocado is a winning
example of this restaurant’s haute vegetable harmony.

With vintage kung-fu posters plastered over the walls and a menu
that’s heavy on the (cashew) cheese fries, Toad Style is a low-key,
laid-back joint with a grab-and-go vibe – helped by the fact it’s
as small as a Brooklyn studio apartment and that there are only 14
seats (which are nearly always taken). Try the Casino Dog (which
pays homage to the owner’s New Jersey roots), the
portobello-mushroom riff on a Philly cheesesteak and the
barbecued-jackfruit on a potato bun. All ingredients right down to
the ketchups, mustards and pickles, are made on site and everything
is soy-, palm oil- and GMO-free – this is junk food at its
finest.

Despite its (slightly cringe) Woodstock-esque name that conjures
up images of Birkenstocks and bowls of brown rice, Modern Love is
less hippie and more high ceilings, industrial chandeliers and
Brooklynite grit. Heavy on the comfort food and light on the
microgreens, its plates come piled high (expect Southern-sized
portions) with little concern for waistbands. The gut-busting
truffled poutine comes with a jenga-stack of fries slathered in
gravy and topped with fresh almond ricotta while the Caribbean jerk
tofu curry is served with thick plantain chunks and a tower of
coconut rice. A long-standing favourite, the French onion soup
surpasses the original non-vegan recipe. Melted Swiss “cheese”,
grilled garlic bread and a generous portion of gloopy onions at the
bottom is simply glorious.

Ditch the dollar slices in a favour of this all-vegan pizza
joint. You’ll be hard-pressed to taste the difference between
Screamer’s Pizza and the classic pies found on the sidewalk. The
Clean Slide is nothing like its name suggests; expect layers of
broccoli rabe, seitan sausage, pesto, sunflower seeds and enough
vegan cheese chucked on top that it threatens to slide to the floor
– avoid disaster and fold the paper plate in half and take a hefty
bite. For an extra slap of greasiness, order the Napoleon Dynamite
pizza covered in garlic oil, tater tots, punchy house chilli and
oozing nacho cheese.