I'm not a vegan and, when I was younger, I was a very meat and potatoes guy.
But a friend introduced me to Buddhist cuisine of ancient China where they would use tofu to create an imitation meat that has the look, texture, and taste of meat.
I think Chef's Table did an episode on Buddhist cuisine.
The dish and cuisine I had was so successful in its taste that I never imagined I'd eat only non-meat for an entire meal.
I would go back and order it occasionally to the Buddhist restaurant. This was in California though.
I think they have similar places here in NYC.
I found this one Buddhist restaurant on google with over 900 reviews (very positive). They appear to serve both meat and vegan dishes.
http://www.buddha-bodai.com/menuUpdate.html