Best of 2015 . NYC Eats

Alright folks, it’s that time of the year for a big recap of all the yummy things I’ve filled my tummy with this year, as well as other foodie highlights. Plus, the answer to a very important question: how many bowls of ramen did I eat in 2015? Anyone wanna guess?

Even though this meal was in early 2015, the mushroom custard and tofu gnocchi from the veggie tasting menu at The Musket Room still remain high on my favorite dishes of the year list.

Vegan Chef Chloe Coscarelli opened her first restaurant, and it was so fun chatting with Chloe at the grand opening. Everything at By Chloe’s is delicious, but the mac and cheese is my favorite so far.

Whenever I mention that there’s great vegan sushi in NYC, people ask me what’s in it. Vegetables, duh! Beyond Sushi has become one of my favorite casual vegan eateries, and their colorful creations are so tasty.

What’s better than a boozy brunch? The Better Booze Festival a.k.a. a vegan boozy brunch. I’ve had a blast working and eating with U.S. Veg Corp this year. Oh, and let’s not forget the time I ate 10 burgers at The Burger Supremacy.

I may have had a lot of vegan burgers this year, but The Cinnamon Snail’s Beastmode Burger is the most gloooooorious one of all. Counting down to the grand opening of snaily’s permanent location in The Pennsy!

The $29 two-course lunch at The NoMad might be one of the best fine dining lunches in NYC. The gnocchi was fantastic, but the milk & honey dessert was the perfect grand finale.

2015 was the year of vegetarian ramen. Actually, scratch that, every year is a ramen year for me. There are a few more bowls I’d like to try before doing a big veggie ramen writeup, but Momofuku’s hozon chickpea ramen is currently my #1. Honorable mentions: Ippduo’s wasabi shoyu, Chuko’s miso veggie, and Ivan’s miso butter mazemen and veggie shoyu.

P.S. I ate 15 bowls of ramen in 2015*. How fitting! (*Counting restaurant ramen only)

I ate a lot of buns this year, and they better not all be going to my buns. My top pick are Ippudo’s mushroom and eggplant bun and Momofuku’s shiitake bun. Baohaus does a nice tofu bao, and Ivan Ramen’s veggie burger bun is tasty too.

Dirt Candy is the kind of place where you make a reservation 2 months in advance, forget all about it, then are thrilled when you receive a reminder the day before. I can’t get over how much I love this place. The love affair continues.

I did Restaurant Week at Dovetail and dinner at Narcissa this year, and I have to say, I impressed with Chef John Fraser’s full flavored dishes. The carrots wellington is definitely a top contender for dish of the year.

When I eat out, I’m often to full for dessert, but I’m glad I still had room to enjoy the rhubarb-hibiscus pavlova at Narcissa and coffee semifreddo at Dovetail. The lovely rosa panna cotta at Boulud Sud is another really lovely dessert!

I celebrated my 30th birthday at Fraunces Tavern. It’s not the most veggie friendly, but it’s a such great space for a large group. Thanks friends for celebrating with me!

Let’s Nom Nom hit 1000 followers on Instagram in early December, and what better way to celebrate than with cookie shots from Dominique Ansel! My sister and I didn’t realize that they don’t sell the cookie shots until 3pm, but the wait was worth it.

This year, I’ve also been pretty busy in the kitchen. The highlights include: learning more about veggies thanks to the CSA, veganizing some my favorite recipes, experimenting with homemade seitan, making vegan mushroom “bacon”, and making gnocchi from scratch. You can expect more recipe posts in 2016!

This list wouldn’t be complete with a mention of Semilla. Like I’ve said before, this was one of the best meals I’ve had all year. That turnip stuffed brioche with truffle sauce… oh la la! Both desserts had very interesting flavors. (Photo below courtesy of the Dishelin Guide)

Vegetable focused is taking over NYC (yay!), and my recent meal at Wassail from 2 days deserves a mention even though I haven’t written the post yet. Here’s a peek at the farro risotto, my favorite dish from that evening…

So there you have it! I ate a lot of good stuff this year and should probably be hitting the gym more often, huh?

Cheers to 2016! Happy new year, everyone!