Pure Food & Wine (raw vegan)

jeunefilleparis · July 16, 2004

It could be that the found the prices somewhat high for what they were eating, though I agree with your commentary. I've always felt the same way about Honmura An - people say it's expensive, but I've never had a meal there come close to $100... How can it? It's only noodles. But for noodles, somewhat expensive.
PFW is somewhat expensive for just being vegetables. Compared to the average meat-serving restaurant, it's a deal.

I guess being in the industry I see the cost of a dish to come down to 2 things, 1) ingredient costs and 2) the art of the dish.

I guess I can understand how a dish that is $17 and only vegetables is pricey, however, the artistic aspect of the dish has to be applied. I mean if you go to TGIF for example and order the $20 sirloin, its gonna be beef slapped on potatoes with some veggies,,,, you know they didnt do a damn thing about plating,,,,, even at Peter Lugers, I never noticed any type of real art aspect, its just about the beef.

for me a meal is as much about the food as the presentation, maybe thats why I dont find PF&W to be expensive!

lauren

alacarte · July 16, 2004

Some of the dishes do sound somewhat labor- and/or time-intensive.

jeunefilleparis · July 16, 2004

Some of the dishes do sound somewhat labor- and/or time-intensive.

definately,,,,,,,the zebra lasagne with all its layering looks time consuming

Dryden · July 19, 2004

Sarma-

Just wanted to say that we had dinner at PFW on Saturday and it was wonderful. As we live in the neighborhood, we look forward to being back very soon!

By the way, what happens with the outdoor garden if it starts to rain?

sarmasarma123 · July 19, 2004

Sarma-
Just wanted to say that we had dinner at PFW on Saturday and it was wonderful. As we live in the neighborhood, we look forward to being back very soon!
By the way, what happens with the outdoor garden if it starts to rain?

Thank you! Very glad you enjoyed it!! Hope you'll say hello next time you come by! Regarding the garden in the rain... I have become a weather.com junkie... Unfortunately, when it rains we have to keep the garden closed, which is not so bad, as I love our cozy dining room, and a few people can always sit in that little outdoor covered area that has the built in bench and pillows. If it's only going to drizzle, we have plenty of umbrellas to cover the area. Some nights it's a judgement call... whether we think we're going to get a thundershower. Furthermore, it gets very complicated with staffing, as you can imagine. We'll keep it open throughout the early fall as well, with those area heaters for when it gets chilly.

Regarding some of the previous postings: I think Lauren asked about one of the newer dishes on the menu - it's a White Corn Tamale with Raw Cacao Mole Sauce, Marinated Mushrooms and Green Tomato Salsa. :)

Also... regarding the expense - we do use very high quality ingredients and the preparation is very labor intensive. For example, we use young thai coconuts in many of the ice creams (and other dishes as well), which each need to be whacked open with a cleaver and then the white 'meat' (what else do I call it?? :)) needs to be pulled out and any bits of the outer shell scraped off... each pint of coconut ice cream probably has at least three of these coconuts, in addition to whole vanilla bean, and agave nectar, which is also really costly compared to refined white sugar. That's just one example. Not to mention, the greenmarket is no bargain! We have sugarplum ice cream on the menu tonight... sugarplums and sour cherries from the greenmarket - our pasty sous chef Debbie came up with a really yummy sour cherry and almond tart w/ sugarplum ice cream. Matthew and I are so busy that it's so nice when our staff gets inspired to work on new dishes as well! I also always go overboard buying too many cool herbs like lime basil and others when I stop at the market...

sarmasarma123 · July 19, 2004

BTW... forgot to mention, if anyone is interested, Pure Food and Wine will be on CNN tonight at 7pm - Anderson Cooper's show "360" - they came and interviewed us about the restaurant and about raw food and took footage of a lot of the food in the garden as well as some of the prep in the kitchen. The show focuses on celebrity lifestyles I think, so they fit it into that context somehow. :)

Dryden · July 19, 2004

Thank you! Very glad you enjoyed it!! Hope you'll say hello next time you come by!

Will do!

JennyUptown · July 19, 2004

Regarding some of the previous postings: I think Lauren asked about one of the newer dishes on the menu - it's a White Corn Tamale with Raw Cacao Mole Sauce, Marinated Mushrooms and Green Tomato Salsa. :)

Hmm...that sounds like sometimes even I (an avowed meat-lover) would eat.

:biggrin:

rozrapp · July 20, 2004

BTW... forgot to mention, if anyone is interested, Pure Food and Wine will be on CNN tonight at 7pm - Anderson Cooper's show "360" - they came and interviewed us about the restaurant and about raw food and took footage of a lot of the food in the garden as well as some of the prep in the kitchen. The show focuses on celebrity lifestyles I think, so they fit it into that context somehow. :)

This hour-long show is, basically, a news program and this week, they're running a lifestyles series regarding different health-related diet "fads." Tonight, it was about the raw food diet. The segment came on the last quarter hour of the show and lasted maybe 5 minutes. I was expecting to hear some discussion of Pure Food & Wine and its menu, to see some nice shots of the interior and the garden, etc. However, if you blinked, you would have missed the quick reference to the restaurant, the shot of what I think was the lasagne, and two quick glimpses of prep in what I presume was PF& W's kitchen since they were interspersed during the general report and no mention was made as to where the kitchen shots were taken. (Was that you, Sarma?) What a disappointment! :sad: Tomorrow's topic: the bottled water craze.

Dryden · July 20, 2004

By the way, when we were there, the thai lettuce wraps were really great... What kind of lettuce is it?

jeunefilleparis · July 20, 2004

is there any sugarplum icecream left?:) :biggrin:

sarmasarma123 · July 20, 2004

yes... kind of embarassing now that i pointed out the CNN thing... after seeing it, I was suprised too and how completely short it was. And yes, that was me.

After spending two and a half hours w/ them through the interview, filming all the dishes and the garden, I was rather bummed and suprised that they didn't even name the restaurant, (although shocked that they pronounced my name right) and from the way the segment was going... it made it seem like the restaurant was in Los Angeles. And the whole focus was on the "diet" part of it... OH WELL!!!

And regarding the above.. the greens are actually collards! "Collard" just sounds not so great, but they taste great and work amazingly well for wraps, when the stem is cut out and they are marinated a bit.

And one last thing... in my previous posting... I did not mean to call Debbie a "pasty" sous chef! Sorry Debbie! Clearly... a pastRy sous chef she is. ;) and a good one at that!

JennyUptown · July 20, 2004

Ah, Sarma...it's the nature of the business. Don't feel badly.

I can't tell you how many of my clients' features have ended up on the cutting room floor.

Pumpkin Lover · July 21, 2004

:wub: :wub: ANDERSON COOPER :wub: :wub:

Sorry, carry on!

sarmasarma123 · July 23, 2004

is there any sugarplum icecream left?:)

We were out yesterday, but we're getting more at the market today! (sugarplums) We also missed the sour cherries the last couple days, but got these amazing tiny little wild raspberries instead... they were really cute and so pretty. But I prefer the sour cherries in the tart... Debbie keeps them in the dehydrator during service, so they are nice and warm on the tart when served. Hopefully we'll get more today. And regarding the last posting... love Anderson Copper too! :wub: But then again... I've always had an odd sort of crush on Jeffrey Steingarten too...

Don't think Matthew is getting too worried, though. Even though I would get completely flustered and go weak in the knees if I ever met Mr. Steingarten - and I know how he feels about vegetables...

alacarte · July 26, 2004

Last night Mr. alacarte & I had dinner at PF&W

To me, the highlights were the fresh lemonade with mint (I could have sworn it was a mojito) and the chocolate "cookie" served with non-dairy pistachio and chocolate "ice cream." The dessert was so beautifully plated, and the ice cream was rich and refreshing, even though the cookie wasn't to my taste (reminded me of the chewy carob bars from the health food store).

I have to say that the staff couldn't have been nicer -- after the first day I would tire of explaining what's in the "cream sauce" that isn't made of cream (answer: celeriac!) or the "ricotta cheese" that doesn't include cheese (answer: pignoli nuts!). And the food was indeed beautifully presented.

I guess I'm not a "raw food" person, although I was certainly enthusiastic about all the new ideas presented. I just couldn't warm to the idea of a cold vegetable "lasagna," for example (pun intended) and I craved starch...I would have enjoyed a layer of polenta or couscous or even mashed potatoes in the lasagna to make it more substantial. I loved all the bright colors and felt virtuous dining on all those fresh, beautiful vegetables. But even with an appetizer, an entree, and a shared dessert, I walked away still hungry, which is no fun when the check is that steep. (About $100 including tip, and that's with non-alcoholic beverages). Oh well, on to the next food experiment.

Phatlouie07 · July 26, 2004

can kelp(seaweed) be turned into pasta or something?? does anyone know what restaurants in nyc serve those types of food?

bloviatrix · July 26, 2004

Sarma, I saw you on NY1's segment on raw food this morning.

Jinmyo · July 26, 2004

can kelp(seaweed) be turned into pasta or something?? does anyone know what restaurants in nyc serve those types of food?

Yes, kombu can be thinly sliced and served as a noodle salad. This is a very common dish so I'm sure there are places in NY that serve it.

bloviatrix · July 26, 2004

BTW, this is the NY1 segment. You can download the video and see what the food looks like.

jeunefilleparis · July 28, 2004

I ate there on Monday night. We started with the lettuce wraps and the summers rolls which were excellent as always. So fresh and flavorful. We also were gifted the tomato tartare which i really love, it tastes so pure, reminds me of my mom's tomato garden

the entrees, were both new for me, the pizza flat bread and the coconut curry noodles iwth veggeis. I really enjoyed both of these with one exception to the pizza, i guess i just dont like spelt b/c the crust or whateer you call it didnt do it for me, it didnt taste bad at all, but i just didnt love the texture. the actually stuff on the pizza was awesome, its a chick pea free hummus,,,, Sarma, what was it again? pine nuts, lemon olive oil? lots of olives and tomatos, i would love that anytime- just with out the flat bread,,,,,

The noodles were excellent, my guest was a bit shocked for lack of better word that there were not noodles there, but the curry flavor was great and everything was well, yes fresh again,, i need to get some more synonyms for fresh before my next post.,,

My favorite part of the meal was dessert. we had the sour cherry tart with almond cream and an almond fennel crust. oh my god, sinfully good. Great sour cherries and that creamy sweet almond cream, what a pair! Debbie you rock. We also got a small portion of the choc. pudding which is awesome too. Next time i want to try the parfait again bc they keep changng the fruit flavors!

ahr · July 28, 2004

I had a fine meal here last week with a vegetarian cousin. (He keeps vegetarian the way that some people keep kosher: fish, or even meat, is vegetarian if eaten sufficiently far from home, but he does his best.) Because of its necessarily limited palette [artistic reference, not a misspelling], this isn't food I'd crave on a regular basis, but it was inventive, fresh, and generally delicious. Even fellow carnivores should give it a try.

Jinmyo · July 29, 2004

BTW, this is the NY1 segment. You can download the video and see what the food looks like.

A nice piece. Thanks for posting it.

hshiau · August 2, 2004

Given all the positive feedback here, my wife and I are going to grab dinner at Pure Food & Wine tomorrow night. Although I'm an avowed meateater, an alternative dining experience is always welcome. Many of the descriptions in this forum has really given me a desire to go try out the various dishes. We're looking forward to it.

Edited August 2, 2004 by hshiau (log)

alacarte · August 2, 2004

I think the Pure Food & Wine takeaway "kiosk" is about to open or recently opened in the space that used to be "Verbena to Go" (on 17th St. between 3rd & Irving).

I hope they sell the non-dairy ice cream by the quart, I will buy one in every flavor.

In retrospect, I've decided that the key to raw food is moderation. An entire meal left my stomach feeling a bit, um, unsettled thoughout the rest of the evening. But I'd gladly go to PF&W's takeaway for a quick bite, or to the restaurant for dessert or drinks & appetizers. Just not perhaps an entire dinner again. The food was lovely but too much roughage for my system to take all at once.

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