Candle Cafe Explained

Candle Cafe
Current-Owner:	Joy Pierson and Bart Potenza
Food-Type:	Vegan
Street-Address:	Multiple locations in Manhattan
City:	New York
State:	New York
Country:	United States
Website:	candlecafe.com

Candle Cafe, Candle West and Candle 79 were fine-dining vegan restaurants in Manhattan, in New York City.^{[1] [2] [3]}

Candle Cafe opened in 1994 as a juice bar and health food cafe, and was owned by Joy Pierson and Bart Potenza.^{[4] [5]} The Potenzas used $53,000 they won in the New York State Take Five lottery in 1993 to start the restaurant.^[6]

Celebrities such as Woody Harrelson were known to frequent the restaurant.^[1]

All three restaurants closed as of December 2020. However, a new Candle Cafe location reopened at 388 3rd Ave in March 2023.

Reviews

In 2015 PETA named Candle 79 one of the six best vegan fine-dining restaurants in the U.S.,^[7] BuzzFeed named them one of 24 "bucket list" vegan restaurants,^[8] and vegan studies scholar Laura Wright referenced them as one of two "famous vegan restaurants."^[9]

In 2013 Travel + Leisure named Candle 79 one of the best vegetarian restaurants in the U.S.^[10]

In 2013, Zagat's gave Candle Cafe a 25 rating for food, making it the second-highest rated of the 46 New York City health food restaurants rated by the survey.^[11]

Shape named Candle 79 one of the top 10 upscale vegan restaurants in the United States, calling them "one of the 'Grand Dames'" of upscale vegan dining.^[12]

Works

• Joy Pierson, The Candle Cafe Cookbook: More Than 150 Enlightened Recipes from New York's Renowned Vegan Restaurant, Random House (2003).
• Joy Pierson, Angel Ramos & Jorge Pineda, Candle*79 Cookbook: Modern Vegan Classics from New York's Premier Sustainable Restaurant, Ten Speed Press (2011). ISBN 978-1-60774-012-4

See also

• List of vegetarian restaurants

External links

• official website

Notes and References

1. Book: New York and New Jersey . James Bernard Frost . Hunter Publishing, Inc . 2011 . January 15, 2013. 9781588438836 .
2. Book: Clean Plates N.Y.C . Jared Koch . May 1, 2010. January 15, 2013. 9781458757999 .
3. Book: Happy Pig's Hot 100 New York Restaurants: A Stubbornly Offbeat Guide . Mark Fleischmann . Quiet River Press LLC . 2004 . January 15, 2013. 9781932732054 .
4. Book: Low-Stress Food . Joon Yun, Stephanie Daniel . Lulu.com. 2007 . January 15, 2013. 9780615148090 .
5. Book: The Complete Idiot's Guide to New York City . Anita Gates . Penguin . November 4, 2008. January 15, 2013. 9781440653360 .
6. News: Feng Shui and Vegan Fare Battle a Neighborhood Curse. Alex Witchel. New York Times . August 6, 2003 . January 15, 2013.
7. Web site: Prater . Danny . June 10, 2015 . The Top 6 Vegan Fine-Dining Establishments in the U.S. . PETA . 7 February 2019.
8. Web site: Paul . Lauren . July 5, 2015 . 24 Vegan Restaurants That Belong On Your Culinary Bucket List . Buzzfeed . 24 February 2019.
9. Book: Laura Wright. The Vegan Studies Project: Food, Animals, and Gender in the Age of Terror. 2015. University of Georgia Press. 978-0-8203-4855-1.
10. Web site: Stewart . Sarah L. . October 10, 2013 . Best Vegetarian Restaurants in the U.S. . Travel + Leisure . 9 February 2019.
11. Web site: Candle Cafe | Manhattan | Restaurant Menus and Reviews . Zagat . February 6, 2013.
12. Web site: Yolen-Cohen . Malerie . August 7, 2012 . Top 10 Upscale Vegan Restaurants in America . Shape . 9 February 2019 . February 9, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190209180552/https://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/meal-ideas/top-10-upscale-vegan-restaurants-america . dead .