Peacefood Cafe Uptown- Then & Now

Haven't been to the Peacefood Cafe in a while, so I hit up the uptown location when I was in the area recently. Um, what the hell happened? First of all, this place use to be bustling. It was practically empty on a Friday night. I'm not complaining about that; it was good for us. Or, was it?

We started out by ordering an old favorite: chickpea fries "an award-winning recipe with a hint of Indian spices, served with our house dipping sauce." These hardy and flavorful spiced fries are famous for being served in jenga formation.

THEN

On this recent visit, however, they were instead served to us as though they'd insultingly been thrown onto a plate from across the room. They did not taste the same either- likely because the proportions were compromised with the smaller fries. Also, the dipping sauce was in a paper cup such that you might find in a dentist's office to rinse out your mouth: totally unappealing.

NOW

For dinner, I wanted to order the PFC unchicken basket of fried breaded plant protein tenders with the option of chipotle sauce. Once upon a time, you could order this considerably sized dish with half the chicken, subbing their delicious potato salad for the the other half. Peacefood downtown has never allowed you to make this adjustment and, now, neither does uptown. With such a small menu to begin with, this seems like an odd place to draw a line.

So, I begrudgingly went with the tempeh avocado sandwich: baked marinated tempeh, creamy avocado, pickled radishes, shredded carrots, and cilantro served on toasted whole spelt rye sourdough bread. This sandwich has always been unapologetic hippie food, but once upon a time it was hardy and decently sized. 

THEN

On this visit it was considerably smaller and served rather sloppily- although slightly less obnoxiously than the fries. The bread was heavily toasted, which made me wonder if it was stale, and the tempeh had no flavor whatsoever. It's hard to believe it won "best sandwich" as recently as the 2010 vegan guide when, all these years later, it just seems basic and unimaginative- yet interestingly at a pricepoint that rivals the likes of Cinnamon Snail's behemoth, flavor bombs.

NOW

Although not necessarily conscious, I think I originally stopped going to Peacefood because their menu never changed; even their "specials" have remained largely constant. Now I see there are more reasons to avoid. A shame, really; this once popular spot has a niche, so long as their food and service remains thoughtful- which it obviously hasn't. Our waiter never even checked in to see how the food came out or if we needed anything else over the course of our meal. He literally just never came near our table at all- we had to track him down in order to procure the check.

To add to the disappointment, on my way out, I noticed that the dessert case- once boasting one of the most impressively sized and varied offering of vegan desserts in the city, had nary half of what they once had on offer and not a single thing that appealed to me. Mind-boggling.

Anyone else been there recently and can tell me my recent experience was a drastic departure from what's normally going down?

Peacefood BRUNCH?! (psst: there are vegan omelettes involved)

A while back a friend invited me to brunch at Peacefood.  I've been going to Peacefood a long time: I don't believe their menu has changed significantly during that time (even their "specials" seem to stay the same) and I've never seen a brunch menu, but he was adamant that it existed.

 

I couldn't make it that day, but recently found myself downtown with another friend at 10am on a Sunday morning and what do you know?  Brunch!

In addition to this mini-menu, we were told that we could order off the regular menu (love that) [UPDATE 2017: they no longer allow you to order off the regular menu during brunch] and there was also an omelette special that could be ordered two ways:

• filled with mushrooms, carmelized onions, and Daiya
• filled with tomatoes and vegan goat cheese

I went the omelette route and chose the mushrooms, carmelized onions, and Daiya version.

My friend subbed tomatoes for the mushrooms.

photo credit: JD Gut

As far as omelettes go, this one fell somewhere between Organic Grill (thick and dry) and Mi Lah Vegetarian (omelette perfection). The omelette itself did err on the semi-thick and somewhat dry side, but the delicious accoutrements contained therein created an impressive balance.  The mushrooms and onions were perfectly prepared, mozzarella Daiya was a nice touch (I'd expected cheddar), and the accompanying potatoes were crisp and lightly seasoned with rosemary.

Our omelettes were pretty enormous, but I've seen other people's IG photos since and it seems like the size varies.  That being said, we also shared a ham and cheese croissant (don't judge).

 

I highly recommend sharing because it's really rich (also it's nice to share).

cheddar Daiya!

You can probably guess what happened next.

 Yep, chocolate chip cookie sandwich to-go.

Since the dining room was almost empty when we were there, I thought I'd spread the word that while the brunch-specific offerings are somewhat abbreviated, Peacefood does, in fact, offer an (early) brunch- which is hard to find in Manhattan.  Check it out!

PS: Anything you can eat I can eat vegan.

Peacefood Cafe Downtown: Same and Different

For everyone who prefers to remain below 14th Street, Peacefood's Downtown location has finally opened!

We were reminded of their recent opening when we spied the crowd that had formed around their USQ table after the Veggie Pride Parade.

There, they were giving generous samples of chocolate chip brownie bites and gluten-free chocolate chip cookies and macaroons.

The sweets were yummy and the ladies were extremely friendly and popular with the crowd; it was just too bad they were tabling next to Green Compassion / Youth Buddhism Communications (whose website doesn't seem to exist) as they munched on McDonald's of all things.  Yes, really.

Anyhoo, a small group of us decided to check out the new Peacefood outpost for dinner.  We were immediately impressed by the beautiful and spacious dining room- much more upscale and less of a frenetic atmosphere than uptown's comparatively cramped and often noisy space.

I was surprised to find that the menu and "specials" are exactly the same as the uptown location, but it turned out being kind of nice to have the familiarity of the highly-regarded, original menu to choose from. 

We shared the chickpea fries: an award-winning recipe with a hint of Indian spices, served with house dipping sauce for an appetizer.  In keeping with their sister restaurant's habit of unorthodox timing, our appetizer was inexplicably presented at the same time as our dinners. We noticed this was a trend throughout the dining room even though there was no one waiting for a table and warranting a rush.  The poor party behind us was forced to eat their soup with their parmesan!

For dinner, one friend chose the protein-packed kale salad: kale leaves, diced seasonal tofu, tempeh bacon, pumpkin seeds and raisins tossed with our chef's secret dressing, a longtime favorite of hers.

The others of us went a different route.  In case, like us, you're wondering if Peacefood Downtown honors the uptown location's habit of allowing you to have a half order of the pfc unchicken basket with a half order of the chef's potato salad: chunky potatoes mixed with celery, capers, a touch of onion juice, and vegan mayo; they do not!  To remedy that unfortunate decision, simply take matters into your own hands: find a buddy who likes it too, order a full order of both, and share (don't forget to ask for side plates; they seem not to bring them otherwise).  You're welcome.

Everything was as delicious as always and I would be remiss if I didn't mention that our waitress- a new addition to the Peacefood family, was extremely friendly and attentive: the most pleasant and professional service I've experienced at Peacefood- by far.

I'm also happy to report that there was no shortage of enticing and familiar dessert options. 

After considerable conversation, we determined that the offerings were the same in number and variety as uptown- exhibited in a much larger case.  You know what that means?  Room for more!  I nominate the tri-colored cookies that were spied recently as being part of the pastry chef's repertoire...

I'm sure I'm not the only one who is already planning to visit Peacefood much more frequently now that the downtown location has opened.  Gorgeous space, upscale atmosphere, consistently good food, and a significant improvement in service?  See you again soon.  Now if only the museums would relocate, I might never have to venture uptown again.

 I wish them lots of success.

Busy Day: Bagels, Markets, Sushi, Eclairs, Party, Peacefood

One recent* Saturday was a ridiculously busy one; luckily I have a very good friend who can plan and execute with the best of them!

We started off at Ess-A-Bagel: my first time there!

They had a number of different vegan cream cheeses (Tofutti?): scallion, raisin walnut, plain, and veggie.

And they make their giant bagels fresh right behind the case (ours was served warm).  My friend- who is vastly more familiar with the shop, told me that they boldly have no toasters on premises.  Judging from the constant line, I can't imagine they'd ever need them. 

Bagel flavors:


blurry because I was being jostled by the crowd


We went with whole wheat everything...

blurry because I was hungry

with veggie cream cheese.

Then we visited the Union Square Farmer's and Holiday Markets.

After that we grabbed another friend and headed over to Beyond Sushi, where we wanted to try their new(ish) bowls.

Since it was so early, they only had the coconut curry soup base as an option; the miso and spicy broth were still being made.  Carrots, baked tofu, asparagus, roasted romain hearts (YUM), and choice of noodes.

With udon and cilantro:

not mine

 With soba, hold the cilantro:

mine

Another great juice; this one is my favorite so far: freshly squeezed strawberry, kiwi, yuzu juice.  As anticipated, I craved this again during a recent Shop-up and bee-lined to Beyond Sushi on the way back from Brooklyn.

I also got some rolls as take-out to share with VM (for the next day; I'm not a bottomless pit).

Everything was packed neatly; even the sauce came in squeezable containers for home-adornment.

November roll of the month: sweet persimmons, allspice roasted parsnips, & grilled haricot vert topped with seaweed salad, white miso sauce and toasted chili-spiced panko flakes.

Pickle me: six grain rice, gobo, carrot, pickled daikon, and avocado with carrot ginger sauce.

The la fiesta: black rice, avocado, pickled jalapeño, chayote, and cilantro leaf with mango chili sauce.

Sweet Tree: six grain rice, avocado, sweet potato, and alfalfa sprouts with toasted cayenne sauce.

It wasn't plated as nicely as at the restaurant, but I did okay for a first-timer.

Later, on the way to the Bust Holiday Craftacular, two of us picked up an eclair (yes, you heard me) from Viva.  A friend of a friend had tried one and reported back on the authenticity; we had to give it a try.

It looked, smelled, and tasted like a traditional eclair; there was just one problem: the cream was almost completely frozen!  We guessed that they'd been delivered frozen and hadn't adequately defrosted yet- either that or Viva needs to turn up the temperature in their fridge.  Also not sure exactly whose eclair it was; Viva's treats are usually from Vegan Treats, but this wasn't marked as such (and I do consider myself a bit of an aficianado). 

After that we went to another friend's birthday celebration, where the outpouring of warmth for the newly out-of-city transplant was palpable (had some AWESOME trail mix there too) and, finally, ended the day at Peacefood.

One friend went with the Charlie Brown rice: red bean chili, salsa, guacamole, lettuce, radish, cilantro, and fried tortilla:

I had a savory cheddar and roasted veggie biscuit that was hugely disappointing; they're usually great, but this one tasted as though it hadn't been thoroughly cooked; wah.

And two of us had the Asian greens salad, "seasonal baby Asian vegetables, mixed sprouts, shredded carrots, tomatoes, marinated and baked tempeh, and ground peanuts in a garlic, ginger, cilantro [you can't taste it], ponsu, and sesame dressing."

You might not believe this, but the service was the best I've ever experienced at Peacefood- by a mile.  The server was friendly, efficient, and actually had personality; thanks, Sam.

Finally, inspired by this NY story from foodfeud, I thought I'd share mine.  When I was attempting to park in the East Village on this day, it wasn't going well.  Finally I spied a spot, but there was a giant, fluorescent orange, pick-up truck parked significantly over the line.  I couldn't pass up the space, so I tentatively pulled in and took a second to decide what to do.  Then I noticed that Mr. Fluorescent-Orange-Pick-Up-Truck was actually standing right behind his truck!  I backed up a bit, rolled down my window, and asked if everything was ok (he was fiddling with something on the truck).  When he said yes, I informed him that he was parked so far over the line that he would have to hit me with his door in order to get into his car.  He told me he was leaving, so I offered to give him time to get in before pulling fully into my space.  "That's ok; I'll just get in from the passenger side: go ahead."  So, I pulled in as far to the opposite side as possible, and jumped out to tell him he should be okay.  True to his word, he was already climbing in via his passenger door.  Thanks for the chivalry, sir.

Scowling Through Dessert Brunch at Peacefood Cafe

Remember, at Cafe Blossom, when I said it's nice to be made to feel like the staff is glad you're there?  That rarely happens at Peacefood Cafe.  But the baked goods are so scrumptious that, from time to time, I deal.

From the moment she laid eyes on us, it was obvious that the waitress was in a foul mood.  It was one of those situations where you wondered if it was something you'd said, even though you had yet to say anything.  Nothing like creating a pleasant brunch atmosphere; she managed to maintain her perpetual scowl throughout our entire interaction.  The only saving grace was that we were able to witness this same scowl in action with all of our fellow patrons, so at least she was consistent and it was obviously nothing personal.  That's something?

To start: black coffee and a Brazilian nut chai.  Glad I tried their chai again because I liked it much better this time.  Ok, I added sugar.  Sue me!!  We must have looked well-hydrated because even though we proceeded to eat our weight in baked goods, the scowler never asked us if we wanted a second beverage to wash them down.

Of course, our favorite chocolate-covered macaroons.  They also sell them plain, although I'm not sure why.

The raspberry crumb bar was a bit different than I remembered: no nuts in the crumbs and a much higher quantity of a seemingly sweeter filling.  Still good, just more artificial tasting. 

It's been suggested to me that this is really a pan au chocolat, but as far as I'm concerned it's simply the best vegan chocolate croissant I've ever had.  Be warned; this is very rich.  And, coming from me, that's saying something.

I have a love/hate relationship with Peacefood's chocolate chip cookie sandwiches.  Usually there are a ton of these delicious monsters in their refrigerated case, but on this day there was only one.  Because I've often seen the staff removing a platter of chocolate chip cookies from the case and returning, minutes later, with a platter of superior cookie sandwiches in its place, I asked if it was possible to request a fresh one.  There was an exorbitant amount of unnecessary resistance to this request from the scowler, but eventually the cookie sandwich creator herself kindly delivered this epic one to our table.  It was sort of our dessert dessert.

And then a Peacefood miracle happened.  I'm not sure if our waitress went on break or if she was just busy scowling at other people, but the skies unexpectedly cleared, the clouds parted, and a great beam of sunshine shone down upon us; the waitress (with the awesome eyeglasses) who brought our check and cleared our plates was great!  She smiled and chatted and... made us feel like she was glad we were there!  Hallelujah, Peacefood.  More of that, please.

I would like to go on record as saying that I was saving my macaroon for last, and then I just couldn't do it.

I wound up enjoying it later, in Margaret Mead Green, with VM- of all people, scowling at me.  She maintained that it wasn't out of jealousy; it was just her way of making sure I had the full Peacefood experience.