Dirt Candy

The prospect of a hearty meal was the only thing that could pull me out of my apartment tonight. A friend had invited me out for a belated birthday dinner, so I'd reserved one of Dirt Candy's nine tables. As I walked outside, hail hit me on the head, and a harsh wind assaulted me. But all I could think about was the opportunity to reacquaint myself with Amanda Cohen's vegetarian cooking, which I had so admired at now-defunct Heirloom.

My friend and I started out with a plate of jalapeno hush puppies, happily smearing our spicy cornmeal crunchies with lots of maple-flavored butter. (Like all other dishes on the menu, the hush puppies can be made vegan on request. That does not mean that any random request will be fulfilled - I was surprised to overhear a diner try to order scrambled egg whites.) Next, we enjoyed bowls of vibrant, ginger-scented spinach soup. Not being cream-based, the soup was deliciously light. In each bowl floated three dumplings stuffed with smoked tofu and diced water chestnuts.

One of my favorite dishes of the evening was the portobello mousse appetizer with truffled toasts. The mousse had the texture of Japanese goma-dofu, but with an intense mushroom flavor instead of sesame. The square plate also included some sweet fennel-pear compote and a heap of meaty-tasting portobello slices.

Our main courses were arranged like meat-based dishes, with proteins at the center of beds of vegetables or grains. The crispy tofu resembled a seared salmon fillet, and it lay atop a melange of green vegetables like edamame and kohlrabi. I ordered the tempura egg on stone-ground grits... the white was well-done, but as I cut further in, the bright orange organic yolk ran out and swirled into the grits. There were also pickled shiitakes, corn kernels, watercress, and huitlacoche (edible black corn fungus) in the dish. I really don't think a meat-eater would go hungry at Dirt Candy! (According to Ms. Cohen, the majority of her clientele are not total vegetarians.)

A birthday isn't complete without dessert, and there were two versions of "cake and ice cream" on the menu. One featured sesame and grapefruit, the other, chocolate, sweet potato and chili. (The pastry chef, Debbie Lee, used to work at P*Ong, one my favorite restaurants. Incidentally, I was just there last night, devouring the hot dark chocolate with milk foam and pomegranate.) I ordered Cake and Ice Cream #2; there was a scoop of sweet potato sorbet adorned with a dried sweet potato chip, some chocolate chili ice cream, and a square of fudgy chocolate cake. (I just wish the cake had been hot, so I could have made a glorious mess with the ice cream and sorbet. But the dessert was still very enjoyable!)

Maybe I'm jumping the gun, as I just got home, but my next visit to Dirt Candy will involve mixed greens with grilled cheese croutons, carrot risotto, and popcorn pudding.

Dirt Candy: 430 East 9th St., (212) 228-7732.