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She Says: Pure Food and Wine
Last night I was treated to a wonderful and unique Valentine’s Day Dinner at Pure Food and Wine, which is located just outside Union Square in Manhattan. From the outside, it likes like any ordinary restaurant, but on the inside it’s a sleek and chic raw foods outpost. But unlike other hip restaurants, the atmosphere was friendly, not uncomfortably snobby or judgmental. They also played great music, including one of Mark’s favorites, “You Don’t Know How It Feels” by Tom Petty.
When we get there at 8:30 it was pretty crowded, but we had a reservation and only had to wait a few minutes for our seat. While we waited I perused the cocktail menu.
I chose the Jasmine Kiss, which was an excellent choice on my part because it was refreshing, light and subtly sweet.
The menu was slightly different from the one I’ve been reading online on a daily basis.
The appetizer I previously picked out was off the menu, so Mark and I decided to split the Salsify Fettuccine with Provencal Winter Truffle – pine nut and celery root alfredo, fresh parsley leaf and pinoli parmesan.
My first bite of a raw food was … interesting. As soon as I got over the urge to to warm up my cold fettuccine, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The alfredo sauce was delicious and strikingly similar to something you would get at an Italian restaurant, but did not leave me feeling gross and heavy. I was, however, surprised by how much oil was in the bottom of the tiny bowl.
For dinner, Mark chose something I’d been eyeing myself – White Com Tamales With Raw Cacao Mole marinated mushrooms, tomatillo cilantro salsa
I had several bites! The mole sauce was amazing, especially with a forkful of the risotto-like filling of the corn husks. It was really a unique taste.
I chose the Pinoli Tomato Tostada with Honey Cumin crusted Crimini.
Part of the fun of eating at Pure was not knowing what I was eating the majority of the time, but I’ll do my best. In between the crisp tomato tostado was a layer of salsa, heart of palm and avocado and then a lawyer of mushrooms and zanahoria pickle. I loved the taste of the “guacamole” layer and dipping my tostada in there. The pimenton crema added a nice smoky flavor to everything. I didn’t love the bottom layer because I don’t really like mushrooms or pickled things, but I tried!
And then came dessert. Trio of Dark Chocolate Covered Indian Spiced Ice Cream Treats. From left to right: Chai Creamsicle, Pistaccio Ice Cream Sandwich, Chocolate Covered Coconut Ice Cream Cone.
Raw ice cream is closer to the consistency of soy ice cream than cow milk ice cream, which I think means it’s more icy than than creamy. Don’t get me wrong, it was smooth, thick and flavorful and there was not one bite left on that plate when we were done. It had Mark and I debating how all of these treats were made and we even went to Whole Foods after to read the back of a raw ice cream container!
Overall, the cone was my favorite. I loved the flavor of the ice cream and the consistency and taste of the cone … whatever it was made of!
Of all the ice cream flavors, I liked this chai flavor in the creamsicle the best because it had all the flavors of a wonderful spiced chai tea. I ate most of it, but left the chocolate coating for Mark.
Mark’s favorite, but my least favorite, was the ice cream sandwich. While the soft chocolate sandwich was good, the ice cream tasted more like almond extract to me. Also, around the sandwich was another thick chocolate lawyer that was just too much chocolate for me!
As far as fullness, I had about 1/3 of the appetizer, 2/3 of my meal, several bites of Mark’s and 1/2 of the dessert and I was full, but not overstuffed in any way. We walked around after, and maybe it was just the Valentine’s spirit, but I told Mark I felt energized. I thought Mark was going to need more to eat, but he said he was full and didn’t eat anything for the rest of the night. He said he would have still been hungry without eating some of my dinner and the dessert.
It was a wonderfully fun experience and made for a very memorable Valentine’s celebration. I want to return and try everything on the menu, but budget wise, it’s definitely a special occasion kind of place!
xoxo HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY xoxo
Oh my, what a unique restaurant! Glad you and Mark had a nice Valentine’s. Oh, the love
Mmm. Sounds delicious. What a great dinner.
I agree, raw foods can be tricky. I usually love the “pasta” type things nad I love love love raw cheese (usually with mac nuts). BUT my favorite thing is raw dessert. Specifically raw cheesecake or pie. In fact, I may even like it more than regular desser. Maybe I should try making some soon…
Wow, what a special meal! I was wondering about that fettuccine – don’t they need to cook it? I’m sure this was quite the experience. It’s very cool how open Mark is to things like that. My husband would never ever go to a place like that. Anyways, now I want to try that raw ice cream (probably the only thing that can be easily recreated at home… by purchasing it at WF
)
Wow, that looks so good! I’ve heard of that restaurant before – it doesn’t look like you can go wrong
Happy belated Valentine’s Day!
[...] as Mark and I went to Pure Food and Wine on Friday night. I wrote all about it here, but that actually wasn’t the first time Pure was featured on Hangry Pants. If you look back [...]
this restaurant looks so cool. and delicious.
Great Valentine’s Day! When we went to Pure a few weeks ago for my bday my hubby got that dessert, it was soooo good, you pics brought back all the memories! Haha! I am excited for your raw challenge!
What, you didn’t want the Master Cleanse Tini? Does that sound unappetizing or what!?
Looks like a really fun dining experience. I’m a sucker for avocado and would have ordered the same entree.
[...] year, I made Mark some brownies and we went to Pure Food & Wine. This year’s Valetntine’s Day dinner is going to be just about as far away from that as [...]