Urban Vegan Kitchen- Quick Review

It wasn't until I was in an Uber headed for Urban Vegan Kitchen that I realized it was located in the former Blossom on Carmine space. I thought it surprisingly fortuitous for one vegan restaurant to replace another until I arrived and my friend told me she thought they were still affiliated. I glanced around and the similar decor seemed to support that theory. A quick Google search brought up results from places like Seamless and Open Table that referred to UVK as, "formerly known as Blossom on Carmine," and,  "a.k.a. Blossom on Carmine-" seemingly suggesting definitively that she was correct. This article confirmed the association.

Unlike, say, Peacefood Cafe's severely limited brunch, the UVK brunch menu lists an impressive amount of offerings. As it happened, my friend and I both chose the same: breakfast sandwich: crispy tofu rounds, avocado, kala namak, shiitake bacon, hollandaise aioli, arugula, red onion, multi-grain english muffin served with garlic sauteed kale, homefries, ketchup. A note about the homefries: you can order them separately and they are described as seasoned potatoes with chives. I was very excited; potatoes can sometimes be the star of the show and I'm okay with that.

The dishes and mugs that UVK uses are beautiful pottery pieces that really lend themselves to the presentation, but I found the components of the meal to be considerably less stellar. The homefries for which I'd had such high hopes were under-salted and seemed "seasoned" with only pepper- nary a chive to be found. As my friend pointed out, the sauteed kale looked like the decorative or ornamental variety you see planted around strip malls in the fall. It was wilted and chewy and I began to wonder if it was meant to be edible. Another Google search does not recommend:

"...there is ornamental kale, and there is culinary kale. Both are members of the brassica family, but they're not quite the same...Ornamental kale is still edible, but you probably wouldn't enjoy it much, as the plant is fairly tough and chewy."

The sandwich, although in desperate need of hot sauce, was good- albeit oily. Curiously, it consisted of three, thin, fried, stacked, rounds of tofu along with the aforementioned accoutrements, but even the English muffin was soaked with oil- presumably from the grill? Again, the overall taste was relatively yummy, but rather underwhelming. Coincidentally, this has also been the issue in the past with Blossom on Carmine. Tastewise: way better than Blossom du Jour's messy egg, cheese, and bacon muffin...nowhere near as good as Terri's simple but delicious bacon, egg, and cheese muffin with hollandaise.

All this to say that I think UVK is simply a new concept for Blossom and it's not necessarily one I'd care to revisit. Coming in at $16 for the plate (one of the less expensive menu items), this turned into a $25+ brunch with OJ, tax, and tip. I guess brunch isn't one of the meals I tend to splurge on (ahem, dessert), but just speaking in terms of good food for the price, this falls skewed towards not-really-for-me as opposed to would-go-again. I guess I should just be happy they didn't charge a brunch surcharge.

Blossom on Carmine: Brunch #2 (Vegan MoFo 2013)

This second visit started off kind of odd, as a friend overheard the host telling another table of diners that Blossom on Carmine is not really affiliated with Blossom and is hoping to have their name changed. A particularly perplexing statement given that, in addition to the name, the menu is quite similar....and they share the same website.  For the record, this theory was categorically debunked by V-Note staff later that same evening. 

In any event, onto the meal.  My friends shared the black-eyed pea and potato cakes: chili pepper aioli to start.  I, on the other hand, snootily abstained: holding out for my preferred pea-cake for dinner.

But, let's get right to it: I knew the moment the tofu Benedict: English muffin, steamed potatoes, grilled asparagus, ham, hollandaise sauce was placed on the table that it was yet another disappointing, BoC tofu dish.  Damn!  I really wanted to like this place.  But, the ham was straight out of a package and barely warmed.  And, I can only assume it was unappealingly placed on top because it was hiding the seemingly unseasoned/un-marinated tofu still in block form underneath.  The English muffin was chewy- my friend thought stale.  The "Hollandaise" had the distinct consistency of Veganaise mixed with a little bit of something extra and had been dolloped, not poured. I'll be damned if I couldn't have made this quickie, lazy Benedict at home. Champs, a significantly less expensive and less-pretentious restaurant could have knocked it out of the park.  And, to make matters worse, it had come highly recommended by our waitress, so TWO of us were suckered into this catastrophe.

Worse than that, the potatoes were boiled and, therefore, tasteless. Why would anyone purposefully boil potatoes unless they were going to mash them?  The only saving grace of the plate was the asparagus, which was fresh and perfectly prepared. Unfortunately- particularly on my friend's identical plate, they were coated in the mayodaise and could not be saved.

Our other friend went simple and had the best plate at the table: spicy tofu scramble with sauteed bell peppers, black beans, cilantro, cheddar cheese, pan fried bacon and potatoes, roasted plum tomato, garlic butter toast.  Having now been disappointed twice, I definitely think BoC is overpriced for what it is; still, I would have taken this dish over mine at any cost.

I'd been looking forward to sharing their awesome chocolate kahlua tart for dessert, but I was so disgusted by my meal that I skipped it.  A restaurant like this absolutely can and should do better than store-bought ham and a block of unseasoned tofu.  Other people have had better experiences, but I'm officially unimpressed.

Luckily our day looked up as we made our way to Governor's Island for Fete Paridiso.  A glimpse:

It runs through the end of September 2013, so try to make it if you can.

Blossom On Carmine

A few friends and I scheduled a catch-up brunch and wanted to do it up right.  We considered returning to V-Note, but after considering the trek to the UES, chose instead to make an inaugural visit (for most) to the new (Cafe?) Blossom on Carmine.  The visit started off on an especially high note when we entered the restaurant and were greeted by one of our favorite waiters from Sacred Chow.  He was as charming as ever and our waitress was just as friendly.

Blossom on Carmine serves four small black-eyed pea and potato cakes with chili pepper aioli as their version of the coveted appetizer.  They are as good as any, but there is a contentious debate brewing as to the best offering of the pea cakes in all of the Blossom restaurants.  In contrast to these four small, Blossom on the UWS serves two medium pea cakes.  But, at this meal it was definitively decided 2 - 1 in favor of the large, sole black-eyed pea cake offered at both V-Note and Blossom on Ninth.  Frankly, there isn't a pea cake I'd turn down, but BoC's fell a little heavy on the breading side for me; I prefer a much higher proportion of potato: 2 mediums or 1 large prevail.

I really like that BoC offers a "lunch" menu that includes both brunch and lunch offerings.  Two of my friends ordered the southern fried seitan: with herb and cheese biscuits, gravy, sautéed kale and they both loved it.  I'm not a huge seitan fan, but I thought it was delicious.  And, while I don't like even the idea of biscuits and gravy, I find brown gravy significantly more appetizing than white; nice choice.


photo courtesy of JD Gut

Our server was kind enough to let one friend sub the brussel sprouts special for the standard kale: a generous portion of humongous sprouts that rivaled the somewhat less impressive (but nicely prepared) serving of kale.

As much as I hate to say it, my banh mi sandwich: with marinated tofu, kimchee, sprouts, cucumber, carrot, mayo, avocado, cilantro, basil, mint, toasted baguette was almost a total fail.  For starters, it was served sloppily on this odd, airy, thick bread instead of a baguette.  The pickled vegetables (carrot, kimchee) were limp instead of crisp, and there was no cucumber or basil to speak of.  Instead, there was the unexpected additon of a sea vegetable- which, in and of itself is unpleasant, but- as an accompaniment to the non-traditional inclusion of avocado, was extremely off-putting.  The only thing good I can say about the sandwich is that the tofu was prepared nicely.

I don't think I've ever in my life sent a dish back, and I didn't make this an exception.  I could almost have forgiven the poor execution, but it would have been nice if I had been- at very least, informed that they were out of baguettes; who eats a banh mi on bread most likely intended for French toast?  And the un-advertised sea vegetable?  I'm sure it's not just me that doesn't like to be surprised with seaweed: blech.

To make matters worse, while our server was kind enough to let me sub their mouth-watering sounding salt and vinegar garlic fries for regular, there was no discernable salt or vinegar taste detected.  Fine fries with lots of garlic- that's it.  Boo.

Because I was headed to The Vegan Bake-Off later that day, I made a conscious decision to skip dessert at brunch.  My friend, however, could not resist the chocolate kahlua tart: with date and hazelnut crust, vanilla ice cream that we were all eyeing.  And, when it came out beautifully presented in a mini cast-iron pan on a slab of wood we were all struck unusually giddy with admiration.  This is where the photography stopped because none of us could resist digging in- it was adored even by the non-chocolate lover of the group.  As good as the food generally is, I've never enjoyed a decent dessert at Blossom...until now.

To re-cap, the space is pretty and the staff is refreshingly pleasant, accomodating, and efficient.  Despite my meal having been a huge disappoinment, I would definitely return to give them another chance- perhaps for dinner.  However, it has not gone unnoticed that Blossom isn't new to the game; misses like this plainly shouldn't occur.  They are easily avoidable and won't be forgiven twice.