May in NYC: Counter for Dinner

The next stop on the Memorial Day weekend in NYC tour (see previous post) was Counter for dinner. Between Los Angeles and New York, I've been fortunate enough to try many incredible and sometimes gourmet vegan restaurants. Counter, which is vegetarian, is quite possibly the best of the best. My dad said it's among the best restaurants (vegan and omni) that he's ever dined!

We ate early by NYC standards because we were on our way to see Rent on Broadway.



The server started us with complimentary whole grain bread accompanied by a wonderful dipping concoction.


Our appetizers were outsanding! We shared a mezze of Artichaut Farci (from the menu: stuffed artichokes), Corn Beignets with Remoulade Sauce, and Panisse with Aioli (chickpea fries).

Our other appetizer was the Potato-Almond Gnocchi (lemon-thyme sauce with crispy sage).

For the main course, we shared Chef Geraud's Signature Vegetable B'Steeya (phyllo pastry stuffed with a melange of saffron-basmati rice, vegetables, pine nuts, almond-orange blossom butter, and a side of mint-cucumber creme fraiche). Our server intuitively told me that the creme fraiche was vegan (Counter serves a few dairy items).

Who could pass up Chocolate Fondue served with fresh fruit and muffins for dessert? It was nothing short of divine.

Counter is absolutely a new favorite. Their food is flavorful, rich without being heavy, and truly gourmet. I'm struggling to find words to adequately describe the dinner experience I had there, but I certainly will return.