Since I came back to New York, about three weeks ago, I have decided to become a vegetarian. Not for any moral reasons (exactly), and not because I believe it to be healthier, but because my friend Tobi in Germany told me far too much about the meat producing industry and the conditions under which animals are raised. Again, I have no problem with killing animals: animals kill each other for food all the time, and I do not consider humans any better. My problem is with the way animals live, not with the way they die. At the same time, I am being a total hypocrite, since I continue to eat fish and other seafood, as well as milk and eggs. I am going to spare you the horrid details egg farming. But we all do what we can… In any case, this is going to have little effect on my date, since I very rarely ate red meat before. So, goodbye chicken.
I remain, however, an unreformed hedonist, and therefore it was a pleasure to rediscover a restaurant where it is a pleasure to be a vegetarian (and even a vegan, believe it or not): Curly’s Vegetarian Lunch. On 14th street between 1st and 2nd avenue, this is essentially an all-American diner without the all-American beef. They make pretty much everything your (American) mother made, with soy and tofu. I am generally not a big fan of meat-wannabe products, I’d rather have more sincere vegetables that are comfortable with their photosynthesizing selves, and so I highly recommend their macaroni and cheese (which comes vegan if you insist, but I’m not turning down cheese), but today I enjoyed a “Suna” melt. I didn’t ask what it was made of, and it definetely didn’t taste like tuna, but it tasted good!
The real highlight tonight, however, was the dessert, which is truly worth becoming a vegetarian for. tortilla stuffed with bananas and “Mexican chocolate” (chocolate with chili that is, though you can have it bland if you are a p*ssy). It comes with vanilla ice cream, vegan or not. Their servings are far too big to justify dessert, but you didn’t have meat, so you deserve it. There are several other similarly Mexican-esque dishes, many also with plantanes or bananas – some even with beans!
Their prices are extremely reasonable, especially now that this neighborhood’s gone upscale, and the lemonade is great. I’ve been wanting to try their coffee but I always end up there for dinner. I hear those vegans do great lattes…
