Dirt Candy

MICHELIN Guide's Point Of View

One Star: High quality cooking

Chef Amanda Cohen was an advocate of vegetable- and plant-based cooking long before it was cool, and her Lower East Side flagship continues to flourish as a pioneer in ethical eating with refined technique. Now, it enters an exciting new chapter in its long history. A single tasting menu yields a breadth of dishes that never masquerade as meat. A simple-seeming salad is anything but, with a blend of fresh and pickled iceberg lettuce with roasted celtuce, crispy puffed rice, and labneh that hits every mark. Then, a single yeasted donut is filled with a tomato, topped with smoked feta, and finished with concassé cherry tomatoes for an inventive take on a single ingredient. Dessert, too, follows in the same imaginative vein, with savory onions making their way into sweet dishes. A meal of this caliber is a true experience, and guests are sure to leave feeling nourished.

Gastronomy & Sustainability

MICHELIN Green Star

"As a vegetarian restaurant we support a meat-free supply chain and help change the way diners think about vegetables. From ordering local and seasonal produce to purchasing dairy products from a group of local small farms, we reduce our carbon footprint and support our local suppliers because while our global impact is important, our local impact is essential. The treatment of our employees is of the utmost importance. Our wine list celebrates women winemakers producing biodynamic wines."

Amanda Cohen