Peacefood Cafe NYC
My relationship with New York City has drastically changed over the past decade. I grew up outside of New York, and spent most of my teens and early twenties frequenting the city to go to Phish shows, drink copious amounts of alcohol, and enjoy the perks of being in ‘The City that Never Sleeps.’ Since that time, I have dropped alcohol from my life, started studying yoga, adopted a daily mediation practice, and gone from vegetarianism to veganism. With this evolution, my trips to NYC have also evolved. In 2011, after returning from India, I began to travel into New York to practice with Sri Dharma Mittra, at the Dharma Yoga Center. I found his approach to Hatha Yoga in line with the style of yoga I had been practicing in India. I was encouraged and motivated to continue my self-practice through Dharma’s practices and teachings. As I began to visit the city in this way, I started to expand my trips to include stops at many (almost all) of the vegan eateries on the island. It was during one of these excursions that I first happened upon Peacefood Cafe.
The first time I visited Peacefood, I was spending the weekend on the Upper West Side, so I made a couple of stops at their UWS location during the weekend to indulge in their variety of vegan baked goods, and their PHENOMENAL Brazil-Nut Chai Latte. I enjoyed the food and atmosphere so much, that I decided to visit their downtown location on my following visit to the city. It is located on East 11th and University Place, amongst NYU. Again, the food, and the chai, were absolutely incredible, and Peacefood officially found an indelible place in my heart.
This week, one of my besties, yoga buds, fellow traveler, and vegan, Anika, has been celebrating her birthday. In fashion fit for a yogi, we decided to trek into the city, and experience an epic day of kirtan, meditation, asana and, of course, delicious vegan food. After careful consideration, Anika chose Peacefood Cafe as our lunch locale, and we couldn’t have been happier with that decision.
Of course the meal began with Brazil-Nut Chai Lattes (you must try this!). We shared a plate of Chickpea Fries, which are served with a house sauce, that I believe to be a tahini based dipping sauce. This was a perfect sized appetizer for the three of us, and the light indian spices were a perfect seasoning. For my lunch, I ordered the Pumpkin-Kale-Tofu Quiche, from the specials menu. The layered quiche was gluten free, vegan, and absolutely divine. Layered scrambled tofu, kale and seasoned Japanese pumpkin did not disappoint this hungry vegan! For dessert we indulged in a slice of Peanut-Butter Cheesecake. Again this was superb, albeit one of the more decadent choices for our meal. We finished off our meal with some smoothies and juices to-go. I enjoyed the Green Lemonade blend of juice, with a healthy dose of lemon and ginger. The juice was a perfect way to recharge and digest after this delicious meal.
From the kind and helpful staff, to the simple and clean decor, Peacefood Cafe has all of the ‘plant-bases’ covered. Next time you are in NYC and you are looking for healthful, fresh, inspiring, vegan food, give this place a visit. I’m sure you will be impressed!
