Manhattan Vegan Discovery - by Chloe

"The question is not, "Can they reason? nor, "Can they talk?" but "Can they suffer?" 

                Jeremy Bentham, The Principles of Morals and Legislation 

On December 12, I went to Manhattan to see NYC in all of its Christmas finery, visit the Highline and have lunch at the new vegan restaurant ‘by Chloe.’ owned by Chloe Cascarelli who made history by winning an episode of cupcake wars with her vegan cupcakes. Of course, Rockefeller Center was festive with lights and ice skaters and Times Square was full of the teeming masses hoping to get their photos taken with dueling statues of liberty. (not sure how they get that green stuff off their face) The views from the Highline were inspiring and an oasis from the crowded streets below despite seeing only the remains of the summer plantings and navigating slowly along with many fellow travelers on the winding path.

Since this is a vegan blog, I would like to concentrate on my experience with ‘by Chloe’. First of all, let me say that I am always excited when a new vegan restaurant is born. Since this is in Manhattan, there are already many to choose from, but exciting nonetheless. Can you ever have too many?

‘by Chloe.’ is located near Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village and all the details can be found at www.bychefchloe.com. It isn’t very large and has room for about 30 diners inside and 8 or so at tables outside. The website states that the food is 100% vegan, plant-based and kosher meaning no meat, dairy nor eggs. It also means no saturated animal fats, cholesterol, preservatives or artificial flavors. The menu has salads, ‘burgers’ and sandwiches, fries and sides and pasta.

The day I and my companions were there at lunchtime it was very crowded but the people who prepare and deliver the food were very efficient and the line moved fast. It was so hard deciding which delicious sounding item to order. Of course, we saved time by not having to second guess the ingredients to find out which we could eat…….. we could eat them ALL!!!!

I decided to order the pesto meatball sub (meatballs made of Portobello mushrooms and veggies) full of meatballs, marinara, sweet peppers, basil pesto, cashew mozzarella, almond parm and a sub roll. 

 

My fellow diners ordered other items so we could sample more than 1. One ordered the guac burger made from black bean-quinoa-sweet potato patty, corn salsa, onion, guac, tortilla strips, chipotle aioli and whole grain bun.

 

 

 

 

 

The other ordered the mac N’cheese – sweet potato-cashew cheese sauce, shitake bacon and almond parm and side dishes of sweet and white potato fries. I tried everything and it was all so fresh and delicious. Everyone agreed.

So my final words would be that I recommend this eatery and hope that this review inspires some of you to try vegan food even if it’s just one day or one meal a week. Every time a vegan meal is eaten, you can feel good about not eating the product of some form of animal abuse, preserving the environment and improving your health. You just may find out that eating this way can be delicious and not some sort of unpleasant sacrifice. J