Named after the simple idea that peace begins on your plate, Peacefood Café is a vegan restaurant focusing on providing delicious, innovative food to vegans and nonvegans alike.

Is this your first restaurant?

Yes, and our second location opened in March 2011 in Manhattan near Union Square.

When did Peacefood open?

June 22, 2009.

Is the new restaurant designed differently?

Yes, we designed the new restaurant ourselves from scratch [based on] the way that we see it: as a new generation of vegan restaurant.

What’s your favorite dish on the menu?

The Shanghai dumplings—the vegan ones are better than the originals.

What’s your most popular appetizer?

It’s a three-way tie among the daily soups, Shanghai dumplings, and chickpea fries.

What’s the most popular entrée on the menu?

Another tie: the Japanese pumpkin sandwich, French horn (king oyster) mushroom panini, and Peacebowl (three vegetables served with brown rice and ginger oil).

What’s your most popular dessert?

So many popular ones: chocolate ganache cake, grasshopper cookie sandwich, key lime pie, etc.

What do you feel is special about your restaurant?

We provide affordable, delicious, conscious food to the public. As owners, we are both very hands-on, participating in all aspects of the business. It’s like inviting friends over for dinner at our home; we want to make sure they will have a positive and memorable experience.

How often do you change your menu items? Do you have daily or weekly specials?

The main menu doesn’t change because we do provide a great variety of vegan food, but we do have daily specials for lunch and dinner.

Do you have gluten-free, soy-free, and sugar-free options on your menu?

We have gluten-, soy-, and nut-free items. We also have raw options.

What do you do to reduce your environmental impact?

As a vegan restaurant, we have helped reduce the carbon footprint. We also do not sell bottled water and encourage customers to drink the filtered water we provide.

What are the most important lessons you’ve learned as owner or chef of this restaurant?

We have to be conscientious in what we are doing and generous to everyone—customers and employees. We also need to keep a positive attitude, and our meditation/yoga practices help us keep ourselves centered.

What led you to want to open a vegan restaurant, and/or what led you to the vegan diet yourself?

We were vegetarians for about eight years; at the time, Eric was a stricter vegetarian and I was an ovo-lacto vegetarian. Then I stumbled into Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's Compassionate Cooks podcast and we turned vegan on New Year’s Day 2007. We, as owners, are both vegan, and this is the best way to spread the message to be compassionate to animals.

In the time since your restaurant first opened, how has the plant-based food movement changed? Do you find more demand now for vegan food?

I think there are more and more vegan restaurants opening. Yes, the demand is much greater now than even a few years ago. That’s why we’ve opened a second location.

Since your restaurant first opened, has your view of what constitutes healthy or delicious foods changed? Have you changed the types of foods you offer?

Things change all the time; we have to keep improving ourselves based on what we learn from our operations, and we try not to follow all the trends and fad diets even though some are plant-based. We want to provide delicious vegan comfort food for people. Our goal is to make vegan food accessible to people.

Where do you see the plant-based food movement going in coming years?

The plant-based food movement will grow tremendously in the coming years. It is good for personal health, the environment, and the animals. It can solve so many problems in the world; most importantly it shows that we care for our animal companions and don’t consume them like a commodity.

Roasted Spaghetti Squash, Cauliflower, Garlic, and Mashed Potatoes with Porcini Mushroom Gravy

Serves 4

1 cup whole cloves garlic

5 tablespoons olive oil

4 pounds spaghetti squash, cut lengthwise into quarters

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 head cauliflower, florets cut from stem

For the mashed potatoes:

1½ pounds peeled potatoes, cut into large cubes

4 tablespoons vegan butter

1 cup unsweetened rice milk

Salt and pepper, to taste

For the porcini mushroom gravy:

3 tablespoons olive oil

½ cup diced white onion

Pinch salt

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 ounces dried porcini mushrooms, rinsed and soaked in 2 cups warm water until soft; reserve liquid

2 cups sliced mixed mushrooms* (small pieces)

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

3 cups vegetable broth

2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with ¾ cup cold water

2 tablespoons vegan butter

* White, oyster, white beech, or any of your choice will do.

For the vegetables: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the peeled garlic cloves and 4 tablespoons olive oil in a pan over medium heat and cook until light brown. Reserve oil.

Brush the spaghetti squash with 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste. Spread out on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, then cover with foil paper. In a bowl, toss cauliflower florets and fried garlic with reserved oil. Add salt and pepper to taste; spread cauliflower and garlic on a cookie sheet, uncovered. Place both squash and cauliflower florets in the preheated oven. Remove the cauliflower after 15 minutes, or until they are soft. Remove the squash after approximately 1 hour, when a fork can easily pierce the squash.

For the mashed potatoes: Put potatoes in a large pot and add water to just above the top of potatoes. Bring water to boil, then uncover. Continue the boiling until water evaporates and potatoes are soft, about 10 minutes. Remove pot from heat. Strain any remaining water and mash the potatoes with fork. Add vegan butter, rice milk, and salt and pepper. Mix very well and set aside, covered.

For the porcini mushroom gravy: Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large sauté pan. Add onions and a pinch of salt, and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add minced garlic, all the mushrooms, and mustard; keep stirring the pan for another 3 to 5 minutes, then add more salt and pepper to taste. Add the liquid from the soaked porcini and the vegetable broth, bring the sauce to boil, then lower it down to simmer. Continue cooking for another 10 minutes. Pour in the cornstarch mixture and butter, stir for another minute, then remove the pan from heat.

To assemble: Arrange each plate with a piece of squash, top with cauliflowers and garlic, and set mashed potatoes next to them. Ladle gravy on top of the potatoes and vegetables. Serve immediately.

Award-Winning Chickpea Fries

Serves 4–6

5 cups water

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast powder

1 tablespoon dried fenugreek leaves

¼ cup shredded unsweetened coconut

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

4 tablespoons blended spices*

1½ cups chickpea flour

Salt and pepper, to taste

* To make the spice blend, mix together a pinch of each: ground coriander, turmeric, cumin, chili, fenugreek seeds, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom seeds, bay leaf, fennel, and onion flakes, or use a commercial Indian spice pack.

Combine water, nutritional yeast, dried fenugreek leaves, and shredded unsweetened coconut. Stir and mix well, and set aside in a bowl. In a heavy pot, pour in olive oil and add minced garlic and ginger; sauté over medium heat for 3 minutes. Add blended spices and sauté for another minute, and add mixture in the bowl. Then add flour. Stir constantly to keep mixture from sticking on the bottom of the pot. Stir about 20 minutes until the thickness of the mixture resembles cookie dough. Remove from heat and add salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer mixture to an oiled cookie sheet, spread evenly, and let it cool in refrigerator overnight. To serve, cut mixture into 3 x ¼ rectangles, then deep-fry them in preheated oil or bake them in an oven at 350 degrees for 20 to 35 minutes until they are golden brown. Serve immediately with our Caesar Dipping Sauce (see recipe below).

Caesar Dipping Sauce

Serves 4–6

2 tablespoons tofu sour cream

4 tablespoons Vegenaise

½ piece fermented bean curd*

½ tablespoon nutritional yeast powder

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Salt and pepper, to taste

* Available at Asian markets.

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Refrigerate 2 hours before serving.