Hankering for a “Slice”

There are times when “bad” food just tastes so good, no matter what food one considers to be bad. It must be a psychological thing – like the good girl who wants to date the bad boy (wasn’t that the storyline to “Grease”?) Well, grease is a good metaphor since most of what I am no longer eating is greasy or high in fat. Even though I am endeavoring to make my diet totally (or almost totally) plant-based, every once in awhile I get a hankering for pizza. Most of the time I’m good about it – I look in the window and see all that cheese, and I realize that as good as it tastes, it really isn’t the best choice for me. And most pizza places don’t offer non-dairy options.
So you can imagine my surprise and my excitement when walking down First Avenue in New York a couple of weeks ago I saw a chalkboard outside a pizza store that boasted “Vegan Pizza.” I had to stop to look at the menu. The store—SLICE on First Avenue between 73rd and 74th Streets in New York City—offers not only vegan pizza, but a variety of thin honey wheat crust options. But for folks who are looking for wheat-free or gluten-free options, they offer that, too. For meat eaters, there are free-range, antibiotic and hormone-free chicken in dishes like Sesame Chicken salad, Buffalo Chicken Chili, and chicken sausage on the Master, The Bomb, The Miki and The Guru pizzas.
I was told that I could order any of the pizza choices with vegan cheese (minus the chicken), although some pies use goat cheese and there is no vegan version of goat cheese. In addition to dairy-based part-skim mozzarella and goat cheese, the restaurant offers Daiya vegan mozzarella and vegan lactose- and casein-free cheese. When I was choosing, they told me they only had Teese. Being a vegan virgin, I had never tried it, but was really, really surprised at just how good it tasted, even just raw shredded, which the pizza maker gave me to try. On the pizza, it melted niceIy. I chose the “Advanced” which featured marinara sauce and three types of mushrooms sprinkled with parsley on a crust so thin it was cracker-like. It was by far the best thin-crust pizza I’ve ever had.
There are no ready-made pies sitting around waiting to be reheated—everything is made fresh to order. They encourage creating your own custom pies as well as recycling their packaging. In addition to a variety of soft drinks, Slice serves wine and organic or gluten-free beer. Desserts also include vegan chocolate brownies and a chocolate chip muffin-top cookie. Although I did not try the chocoloate chip muffin cookie, I did try the brownie, and it was very comparable in flavor to a “regular” brownie. It was NOT carob, as a friend of mine assumed it would be. A good treat.
The shop caters parties and school lunch programs with bite-sized options, and they deliver locally on the East Side of Manhattan. They also offer delivery to three drop-off points in Central Park—the Great Lawn, the Sheep Meadow, and Fifth Avenue at 72nd Street. So the ball game or birthday party in the park can include a great thin-crust pizza, or an Upper West Sider who doesn’t want to trek so far east for pick-up can arrange to get delivery in the park and bring it home from there. Other NYC locations are in the West Village and on Hudson Street between Perry and Charles.

Check out their blog at www.sliceperfect.tumblr.com.

My Vegan Valentine -- peacefood cafe

Between my moving at the end of February and not having had a proper Valentine’s Day celebration, I decided to treat myself to an excursion to find a vegan eaterie; now that I am meat-free, I’ve only eaten what I cook myself. In NYC on the Upper West Side, I didn’t have to go far. Only a few blocks actually.

Between 83rd and 82nd on Amsterdam, I found peacefood café. I knew the word “peace” equaled vegetarian. Probably there for years, it was the first time I had noticed it. A peek at the menu made my mouth water, and I was in the mood for Asian dumplings. Their pan-seared shanghai-style dumplings are filled with chives, shitake and wood ear mushrooms, marinated tofu, vegetarian protein and served with a ginger balsamic dipping sauce ($7). I could already taste them as I walked through the door. The place was packed for lunch (President’s Day), so I ordered to go. The soups of the day were posted on a board behind the cash register and the cauliflower and parsnip soup called to me. I ordered, and while I waited at the counter drinking filtered water, I was mentally picking out my next visit’s choices. The vegetable tamale served with jalapeno and cilantro oil ($6) sounded good. So did the panini with pan-seared French horn mushrooms with sun-dried tomatoes, arugula, artichoke, aioli, mint and basil pesto ($9.95).

Sandwich orders for other diners made their way past me and I made a mental note that the tahini sprouts sandwich ($9)with sprouts, avocado, cucumber, onions, shredded carrots and miso tahini with poppy seeds spread was another possibility . Salads were another option and the other Caesar sounded tasty, as did the Asian greens ($9.95 each).

Once home, a taste of soup revealed a thick puree with small bits of cauliflower spiced up by the more piquant parsnip flavor. The puree had a hint of potatoes mixed in. A nice mild but tasty dish served with crispy bread slices to crumble on top. The shanghai-style dumplings were absolutely wonderful. The meatiness of the mushrooms and the subdued tangy balsamic sauce blended perfectly for a hearty lunch.

Next time, I’ll sample their desserts…mmm, brownies, cheesecake, tiramisu and chocolate ganache. Who needs a date for Valentine’s Day when food this good can fulfill your passion and be good to your heart at the same time?