With a name that succinctly champions vegetables as the sweet bounty of the Earth, New York restaurant Dirt Candy is a pioneer in the veggie-forward movement. Opening initially in a tiny space in Manhattan’s East Village in 2008, it not only changed how people think about plant-based food, but also showed that a restaurant serving vegetable cuisine could hold its own amongst the best restaurants in a city with so many great places to eat. In 2023 it became one of only two vegetarian restaurants in NYC to hold a Michelin star.

The heart of Dirt Candy

Much of this can be attributed to the talent, courage and hard work of its highly original, highly vocal, highly acclaimed Executive Chef and owner Amanda Cohen. Moreover, it is not only her culinary style that is pioneering, but also her ethical approach to working conditions and remuneration. When Dirt Candy moved to its current location on the Lower East Side in 2015, Cohen took the opportunity to eliminate tipping and raise the pay of her front-of-house staff accordingly, to eliminate pay discrimination between different restaurant employees.

With its floor-to-ceiling windows, Dirt Candy is bright and spacious inside. Decorated with pictures of plants and herbs, its whitewashed brick walls are lined with pink booths. The overall effect is welcoming, modern, and unlike most other restaurants. Eating at Dirt Candy has been described (in one notable New York Times review) as “like going to a children’s party in a country where all the children love vegetables.”

Born and raised in Canada (in Ottawa and Toronto respectively), chef Amanda Cohen studied at NYU before discovering the richness and variety of vegetable-based cooking while living in Hong Kong. Following this epiphany, she returned to New York to attend the Natural Gourmet Institute, going on after graduating to work at some of the city’s top vegetarian restaurants, from Angelica’s Kitchen and Blanche’s Organic Café to Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill. After a period as a consultant for Blossom and Broadway East, in 2008 she felt the time was right to open her own place, and Dirt Candy was born.

The following year, Cohen won a StarChefs Rising Star award and has since been a James Beard semifinalist and finalist.

An active and outspoken figure in the industry, she has fought for equal status and representation for women chefs, and for better pay and working conditions for restaurant staff in general. She was instrumental in the creation of the Independent Restaurant Coalition in 2022 and is a Board member and Treasurer of Women Chefs and Restaurateurs.

She regularly appears as an Iron Chef in the TV show Iron Chef Canada and is the co-author of Dirt Candy: A Cookbook, an account of the highs and lows of life in the restaurant presented in graphic novel form.

Even before it received its Michelin star, Dirt Candy had been selected by the New York Times for its list of 100 Best Restaurants in New York and called “The Absolute Best Restaurant on the Lower East Side” by New York Magazine. Wine Enthusiast included it as one of the 100 Best Wine Restaurants in America, and Paul Freedman’s Ten Restaurants That Changed America featured it as one of the Ten Restaurants Changing America Now.

The Chef

Born in Ottawa and raised in Toronto, Amanda Cohen studied at NYU. After spending a year and a half living in Hong Kong and discovering its vegetarian cuisine, she returned to New York to study at the Natural Gourmet Institute. Post-graduation, she worked at a series of NYC’s favorite veggie-forward eateries, including Angelica's Kitchen, Blanche’s Organic Café, and Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill.

She consulted for vegan restaurant Blossom and for Broadway East, before deciding in 2008 that she was ready to open her own place. That place was Dirt Candy, a vegetable-focused restaurant, originally located in a tiny space in the East Village, but now in larger premises on Manhattan’s Lower East Side since moving in 2015.

Cohen, a James Beard semifinalist and finalist, is an outspoken commentator on issues affecting the restaurant sector, including gender equality and fair pay, and is known for inspirational speaking at industry events and conferences.

In 2022, Cohen helped set up the Independent Restaurant Coalition, a trade association formed in response to Covid. She is also a Board member and treasurer of the organization Women Chefs and Restaurateurs.

Restaurant

Dirt Candy has been described by The Village Voice as “the future of vegetarian restaurants.” It originally opened in 2008 in a 350-square-foot, 18-seat space in Manhattan’s East Village, claiming to be the first vegetable-focused restaurant in the city.

During this original incarnation, it became the first vegetarian restaurant in 17 years to get a two-star review from The New York Times, among numerous other accolades. When Cohen reopened Dirt Candy in a larger location on the Lower East Side at the start of 2015, she took the opportunity to pioneer a change in staff remuneration, making Dirt Candy the first NYC restaurant to eliminate tipping, increasing pay and sharing profits with its employees.

New York Magazine has since named it The Absolute Best Restaurant on the Lower East Side. It has also been included in The New York Times’ 100 Best Restaurants in New York City and featured in Paul Freedman’s Ten Restaurants That Changed America as one of the Ten Restaurants Changing America Now.

Wine Enthusiast has selected it as one of the 100 Best Wine Restaurants in America.

In 2023, Dirt Candy was awarded a Michelin star, becoming one of only two vegetarian restaurants in New York to have received this honor.

Recipes and dishes

Cohen is known for her highly creative, painstakingly structured vegetable creations, having pioneered this kind of cuisine. Her recipes may include sugar, fat, and even dairy products, all with the goal of doing new things with vegetables and making them as delicious as possible, although Dirt Candy also offers vegan versions of everything on the menu. Popular dishes include jalapeño hush puppies; portobello mousse with truffled toast and pear and fennel compote; and a corn dish made with grits, pickled shiitake, corn fungus, and tempura poached egg.

Together with husband Grady Hendrix and artist Ryan Dunlavey, Cohen co-authored a comic book cookbook, Dirt Candy: A Cookbook, subtitled Flavor-Forward Food from the Upstart New York City Vegetarian Restaurant. Published in 2012, it was North America’s first cookbook in the form of a graphic novel.

In 2010, Cohen became the first vegetarian chef to compete on Iron Chef America, and she has been one of the featured Iron Chefs on Iron Chef Canada since 2018.

That year, she was also profiled in Maya Gallus's documentary film The Heat: A Kitchen (R)evolution, which profiles various women in the restaurant industry, exploring sexist double standards in fine dining.

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