In the short year that it’s been around, Dirt Candy and its chef Amanda Cohen has garnered numerous accolades and made it into the 2010 Michelin Guide. Upon opening, Dirt Candy instantly attracted fans who had been waiting for a vegetarian restaurant like this their entire lives: one whose mission is to serve tasty, fresh and fun cuisine, not the bland and radically health-driven menus commonly associated with vegetarian restaurants. The ingenuity and rich flavors of the dishes stand so fully on their own that you won’t even miss the meat. Most surprising to me is Chef Cohen’s precision in cooking crispy tofu. Bean curd is my favorite food in Chinese cuisine because of the countless forms and delicious ways to prepare it, but it never impressed me in vegetarian restaurants in the States. Until now. With Chef Cohen’s tofu, the crispy outside and tender inside show respect to bean curd. Tofu’s flavor and tone are set by the foods you pair with it. At Dirt Candy, I’ve had it with the green vegetable ragout, a medley of delish veggies with varying textures. The tofu is currently paired with broccolini. Amanda Cohen has found a winning formula: following her heart by cooking exactly what she wants and unleashing creativity and having fun along the way.

Photography Credit: Debbie Lee